Islamo-leftist propaganda rag The Wire has a penchant for villainising Hindus and giving communal spin to almost every incident wherein the victim happens to be a Muslim. The left-liberal cabal vilifying Kanwariyas has become an annual ritual. On 10th August, The Wire published a report with a carefully crafted headline, “24-Year-Old Muslim Man Dies After Alleged Assault by Kanwariyas in UP, Booked For Attempted Murder of Auto Driver.” It claimed that a Muslim mini-truck driver Mohammad Azeem (24) died at a hospital due to injuries caused during an attack on 31st July by Kanwariyas in Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur.

The Wire played the shrewd game of selective emphasis on Kanwariyas in the headline even as the dispute began after a road accident in which Mohammad Azeem’s mini-truck collided with a parked autorickshaw belonging to one Mohammad Farhan (19). Farhan’s auto rickshaw was booked by four Kanwariyas, Ankit, Lokesh, Manish, and Shivam.

The collision occurred near the Shiva Dhaba under the Garhmukteshwar Police Station precinct. The Wire report claimed that after the accident, Kanwariyas dragged Azeem and brutally assaulted him, leaving him severely injured.

The Wire report says that Mohammad Azeem was rushed to a hospital in Meerut and later transferred to Delhi. Azeem, who went into a coma, succumbed to his injuries at a Delhi hospital on 4th August without ever regaining consciousness.

The Islamo-leftist rag’s reporter Omar Rashid deliberately did not lay equal emphasis on the alleged involvement of Mohammad Farhan in thrashing Mohammad Azeem.

Notably, the police have reportedly made no arrests but have confirmed that deceased Mohammad Azeem’s father, Intezar, has filed a complaint against Mohammad Farhan and the four Kanwariyas. In his complaint, the deceased person’s father named Farhan, the four Kanwariyas, and two unknowns. All residents of Bajheda Khurd village.

Intezar alleged that after the collision of Azeem’s mini-truck and Farhan’s parked auto rickshaw occupied by the Kanwariyas, Farman and the passengers dragged Azeem out and assaulted him.

Mohammad Farman was also critically injured and under treatment at AIIMS Trauma. In a counter-complaint, Farman’s father Imran accused Mohammad Azeem of deliberately running over his mini-truck with the intention to kill him. Azeem was not alone in his Tata mini-truck.

“Mohammad Azeem deliberately rammed Farman, who was standing roadside, knocked him down, and then intentionally drove over him a second time with wheels over abdomen and chest, with intent to kill, and fled. Farman suffered severe injuries, including those on the head, ribs, spine, and abdomen. His spleen and intestines ruptured and were surgically removed, causing permanent disability,” Imran’s complaint reads.

The FIR says that Farman is in a coma at AIIMS Trauma Centre / JPNA Trauma, New Delhi, after initial treatment at Saraswati Hospital, Pilkhuwa. Local police noted details and prioritised treatment.

The Garhmukteshwar Police Station SHO has said that because Mohammad Azeem is dead, the police are processing closure of the FIR against him.

In both the Hindi report and its English equivalent, The Wire placed selective emphasis on Kanwariyas, portraying them as the main assailants, even as the FIR names Farman as the primary accused alongside the four Kanwariyas in the complaint lodged by Azeem’s father, Intezar.

While in its report copy, The Wire subordinated Farman and placed Kanwariyas in the spotlight as the actors who killed the ‘sole breadwinner of a poor Muslim family’, they withheld any mention of Farman in the headline.

Despite it being a case of a road collision that turned into a serious assault between two vehicle parties, and not a one-sided ‘Kanwariyas killed Muslim man’ incident. With its sinister headline, The Wire not only made Azeem’s death about Muslim victimhood but also furthered the lies that Hindu Kanwariyas are by default violent and out to target Muslims.

Even if it is assumed that Kanwariyas joined Farman in assaulting Azeem, it would be a crime. However, The Wire effortlessly and without any factual basis communalised the incident despite there being no reported religious motivations demonstrated by either party in attacking each other.

The Wire, however, was not the only Hinduphobic portal to push this communal ‘Kanwariyas killed Muslim man’ bogey. The Hindu also reported the matter with a similar “Driver dies days after assault by group of kanwariyas in Uttar Pradesh; FIRs give conflicting accounts” headline.

Similarly, Muslim Mirror, another Islamist rag notorious for peddling fake Muslim victimhood and spreading hatred against Hindus, reported the incident in question with a headline, “UP: Muslim driver Azeem dies days after Kanwariyas attack him in Hapur.”

Another Islamist propaganda outlet, Maktoob Media, also blamed Kanwariyas alone for Azeem’s death and published the headline, “Muslim driver dies after coma following Kanwariya assault in UP’s Hapur; 7 booked for attempt to murder.”

The Wire and other Islamo-leftist portals are selectively giving a communal colour to the incident and downplaying Mohammad Farman’s alleged role in the incident even as the police are still investigating the matter. Apparently, for the Islamo-leftist media, a Muslim deceased and mention of Hindu Kanwariyas alone is enough to concoct a ‘Kanwariyas killing Muslims’ bogey.

The same Islamo-leftist cabal either downplays the religious identity of Muslims when Muslim mobs pelt stones at Kanwar Yatra processions out of sheer hatred towards Hindus, somehow blames Hindus only for their misery, or skips reporting such incidents altogether.

The Wire’s selective framing villainising Kanwariyas as anti-Muslim appears to be a part of a broader pattern to vilify Kanwariyas and, by extension, Hindus to further the ‘Muslim minorities under threat’ bogey. Recently, an Islamist Maulana Sajid Rashidi had called Kanwariyas ‘terrorists’.