Deceased imam's message of unity reflects idea of India

NT Correspondent

Gurugram: A believer of communal harmony of HinduMuslims, Hafiz Mohammad Saad, a young deputy imam in a Gurugram mosque, was killed by a Hindutva mob.

Ironically, on a day when he was supposed to leave for his home, Sitamarhi, it was his dead body that was taken to his village in Bihar. After the killing of the imam, one of the prayers, which says, "Hindu-Muslim baith ke khaye ek thali mei, aisa Hindustan bana de ya Allah, (Ya Allah, let the day come when Hindus and Muslims eat from one plate) is viral now.

“Uski zindagi abhi shuru huyi thi, bachcha tha wo (his life had just begun, he was just a kid),” Shadab, the elder brother of Hafiz Saad, who was travelling with the dead body told a media house.

“Saad was a positive thinker, he believed in humanity and communal harmony and loved to recite naats,” said Shadab.

On Wednesday, Hafiz Saad was buried in Sitamarhi. “I want the killers to be hanged,” the brother added. The elder brother, who stays elsewhere in Gurugram and gives tuition for a living, was of the view that Saad should leave for a "safer" place, mindful of the communal violence there.

However, for the younger sibling, the call of duty was too compelling. Saad's father Mushtaq smells a "conspiracy" against his son, unable to come to terms with reports that the mild-mannered youngster was attacked with swords before being shot dead.

"What was my son's fault? Why did the mob attack him and not others who were inside the mosque? I want justice," said the crestfallen father.