As a father of a seven-year-old daughter, Haris Mahedazi was shook when he heard the news about little Asifa Bano, a 8-year-old Kashmiri who was held for days in a remote shrine in India and raped her repeatedly before she was killed and left for days in a forest. Her Muslim family was not able to bury Asifa in the graveyard in their village,, because a group of Hindus showed up and threatened them.
”What kind of human being can put [a] child through this trauma. "It is a hair-raising event," he stresses. “The suffering the child must have gone through,” wonders Mahedazi. Prayers went up but more work had to be done.
A rally, convened by the Alliance for Justice and Accountability (AJA) representing groups of various Indian minorities, was held it in front of the statue of Gandhi at the Indian Embassy in Washington DC on the 18th of April, 2018.
Mahedazi is the President of the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC) chapter in Washington DC. He lives in Ashburn and is from Pune, India. The Indian American Muslim Council, an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding India’s pluralist and tolerant ethos, works on education and awareness of Indian Muslims in United States. The Council has chapters across the States. The council has published white papers on several issues affecting the Indian Muslim diaspora.
He spoke at the rally along with Ashraf Syed. He believes it was a hate motivated attack to instill fear in the Muslim population. “Is this the India that we left behind? he asks the protestors, referring to the rise of extremism in the BJP governed India.
Lynching, killings over beef and now this- these are all manifestation of the same hate, says Syed.
"Wake up India! Punish the Rapist! Save India! Justice for Asifa!”
"Stop killing in Kashmir," yelled the 120-150 protestors, shaming the Indian government.
“Yesterday’s event became an interfaith event,” says Mahedazi. Hindu, Sikhs and some Christians added their voices against injustice.
At least twenty young Sikhs came and attended the rally.
One of the challenges is that many organizations concerned with justice overseas are run by first generation immigrants, said Mahedazi to the Muslim Link. “We must channel the energy,” he said and stressed involving and educating the next generation so "they take the bat.”
In a memo dictated to the Indian ambassador, the council demanded justice for victims and punishment of the perpetrators.
According to the memo, the council states that “not only the rapes and crimes are so ghastly, but it is well established that the elected officials (UP/J&K) are directly or indirectly involved or supported or protected the evildoers. This should not be a norm and should not be acceptable. Not only do the criminals be given the utmost punishment for their crimes, swiftly and timely, but the Govt of India should do much more in protecting innocent children and minority girls from the fangs of caste based or communal politics."
“This is not a representation of the Indian people or of the constitution,” says Mahedazi, as he urges Indian Americans to call their elected officials and pressure the Indian government.
"The laws need to be toughened the laws- hate crime should be added,” says Mahedazi.
"There seems to be a pattern in India,” he says, “There is a systematic campaign against Muslims and minorities that we are not completely aware of or we are not acknowledging it,” he adds.
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