In yet another instance of anti-Muslim harassment in Uttar Pradesh, a muezzin in Muzaffarnagar was allegedly abused and assaulted by police moments after the morning prayer call.
CCTV footage from the Medina Masjid in Sarwat shows a police officer pushing and striking the muezzin, triggering widespread outrage among Muslim organisations and renewed concerns over policing bias.
The survivor, Muhammad Irfan, is the muezzin of the neighbourhood mosque.
A muezzin is the official who delivers the adhan, the call to prayer, five times a day.
Speaking to Maktoob, Irfan said the assault occurred immediately after he stepped out of the mosque on Wednesday morning: “After giving fajr adhan, I was placing the donation box outside when this inspector arrived and started beating me without saying a word.”
He said the officer accused him of reciting the adhan illegally, despite the mosque having written permission from the district administration.
“I tried to show the formal permission, but he didn’t listen. He kept asking why I was giving the adhan and continued thrashing me,” Irfan said.
The CCTV recording shows Sub-Inspector Vinod Chaudhary confronting Irfan aggressively and hitting him. Irfan said the officer arrived with 4–5 constables who dragged him to the police station while continuing the assault.
Inside the station, Irfan says Chaudhary unleashed explicit Islamophobic abuse: “He used anti-Muslim slurs and said, ‘Adhan dene ka itna shauq hai toh Pakistan chale ja.’ Other officers were standing there. Nobody objected.”
Irfan said he was held in illegal custody for several hours until local residents reached the police station and demanded his release.
Community members say the episode reflects a growing pattern in Uttar Pradesh, where routine Muslim religious practices, even those fully compliant with law, are treated as provocations.
Leaders from several Muslim organisations visited the mosque on Wednesday. Later, a delegation from Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind filed a written complaint with the Senior Superintendent of Police, seeking immediate suspension of SI Vinod Chaudhary and departmental action.
Maktoob made repeated calls to the Civil Lines police station in Muzaffarnagar. Calls went unanswered. This report will be updated if a response is received.
Advocate Javed, a local legal practitioner, told Maktoob: “Unless the administration takes swift action, such incidents will deepen mistrust between the police and minority communities.”
Calling the assault a violation of constitutional freedoms, he added: “Debarring a citizen from practising his religious right is seditious. The officer should be arrested and charged. Keeping Irfan in illegal custody despite no wrongdoing is itself unlawful.”
The post Muzaffarnagar muezzin assaulted after morning prayer adhan; CCTV captures UP cop saying “go to Pakistan” appeared first on Maktoob media.
