Hate, Hope and Citizenship | Documentary on violence against Muslims in Mewat
Channel: Maktoob
Date: 2021-06-22

On 16 May 2021, Asif Khan was lynched in Nuh, Mewat while he was returning home after buying medicines. His killing is the latest in a long list of hate crimes against the Meo Muslims of India. 

In addition to illiteracy, socio-economic backwardness and lack of development and employment opportunities, the Meo Muslims of India have also been the target of communal violence by Hindutva groups and cow vigilantes. 

This short documentary talks about two Mewati families, the family of Junaid Khan who was lynched on a train in 2017 and a Mewati family who were the victims of the North-east Delhi pogrom in February 2020. It has been more than three years since Junaid Khan was lynched and a year since the Delhi pogrom, but justice still eludes these families. 

After the assurances of Mahatma Gandhi during the 1947 partition of India and Pakistan, Meo Muslims chose to stay back in India. The present scenario of rising hate crimes, new citizenship laws and denial of justice has led to them feeling alienated. Through our two subjects, we focus on the larger questions of hope, hate & citizenship among the Muslims of India in general and Meo Muslims in particular.

Concept: Imaad ul Hassan
Camera: Asma Hafiz and Ifreen Raveen
Editing: Tasneem Fatima and Saleem Javed
Additional Footage: Prabhat Kumar

#mewat #muslim #antimuslimviolence #film #hindutva