Man pushed off train over 'Jai Shri Ram'

KOLKATA: A 20-year-old madrasa teacher was allegedly punched, kicked and pushed off a local train at Kolkata's Park Circus station after he refused to chant "Jai Shri Ram" at the bidding of some fellow passengers who were carrying saffron flags. Md Shahrukh Haldar, nursing a black eye, has been unable to resume work since the train assault on Thursday.
Railway police have received a counter complaint filed by another passenger, accusing a group of youths on the same train of assaulting him and some others. The complainant was in a group travelling to Kolkata to attend a Hindu Samhati rally.
Both incidents occurred on a Canning-Sealdah local train. Haldar, sporting a beard and wearing a skull cap, was seated in the middle of a compartment when a few youths boarded the train at Canning station, on the outskirts of city. More people joined the group at subsequent stops, he said.
"Some of them approached me when the train was nearing Dhakuria station, asked me about my attire and demanded that I chant 'Jai Shri Ram' along with them. They started beating me when I refused," Haldar told TOI on Tuesday.
He tried to escape but was allegedly pushed out of the train before it came to a halt at Park Circus station.
Hindu Samhati, the organisation to which the accused belong, contested the allegations and said its supporters were the ones at the receiving end of an assault.
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References

1. ^{^} madrasa (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
2. ^{^} Park Circus (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
3. ^{^} fellow passengers (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)
4. ^{^} Dhakuria (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)

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