On April 7, Junaid Jamadar, a first-year student of Savitribai Phule Pune University, was on his way  to hostel with friends after having lunch at Refectory, the university mess, when he was stopped by four men on motorcycles. Junaid and his friends were asked to produce their identity cards.

Confused, the students – two men, two women– handed over their IDs. The group of men, whom they couldn’t recognise, sorted through their Aadhaar cards and then turned to Junaid.

“They asked if I am Muslim,” the 19-year-old told Newslaundry. “When I said yes, they asked ‘What are you doing here with Hindu girls? You have come here to do love jihad.’”

Before Junaid could respond, the men “started beating me and hurling religious slurs at me”, he said. They also snatched his phone, telephoned his father, and allegedly said they would “kill his son”. While assaulting Junaid, they also allegedly told him they were members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad.

By that evening, Junaid’s family arrived in Pune and he filed an FIR at the Chaturshringi police station. Two days later, he’s still overcome by the trauma of what happened on campus.

“They slapped me seven or eight times,” he told Newslaundry. “They slapped my male friend. They took our two female friends aside and threatened them, saying they should not talk to or befriend Muslim boys, that they should stay away. They then sent the girls back to the hostel.”

Junaid said other students were too frightened to intervene. Meanwhile, he said the four assaulters called him “laandya”, a derogatory term for Muslims in Maharashtra, and asked how he “dared to befriend Hindu girls”.

“They took me to my hostel. Before I went in, they called my father in Solapur.”

“They told him he should cancel my admission and call me back home to Solapur, or else they would kill me. Before they left, they asked me to pack my bags and leave as soon as possible, or else they would beat me up again,” Junaid told Newslaundry.

Junaid’s father, Baban Jamadar, is a farmer in Baadole village in Solapur’s Akkalkot tehsil. Solapur is a political hot seat in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, with analysts predicting a triangular contest between the Congress, BJP and Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.

Jamadar told Newslaundry the men had said, “Iss madarchod ko lekar jaan yahan se, gaanv mein hee kaam karne lagao verna isko maar ke fek denge.” Loosely translated: “Take this motherfucker back to his village and make him do some work there only, otherwise we will kill and throw him away.”

“I told them my boy is not involved in any kind of love jihad,” Jamadar said. “I pleaded with them repeatedly not to harm him. I told them I will take my son back to the village and requested them not to beat him. I even told them he is just like their brother and they should not harm him.”

The assaulters then cut the call and left Junaid outside his hostel. As soon as they left, he telephoned his family again. His sister arrived from Mumbai, his father from Solapur, and accompanied him to speak to the university rector. At about 1.27 am, they filed a police complaint on which an FIR was registered too. 

“We immediately filed the FIR against four people,” said Ajay Kulkarni, a senior police inspector at Chaturshringi police station. “We don’t know their identities yet but while beating the victim, they told him they’re from the VHP. We are yet to ascertain their identities or organisation. They are still at large but we have CCTV footage of the incident.”

Kulkarni added, “We will arrest them soon.”

After the FIR was registered, Junaid’s father took his son home to Solapur to recover. 

“My son has been a good student throughout his career,” Jamadar told Newslaundry. “He studied here at KP Gaikwad school in Akkalkot till Class 10 and then completed his Class 12 from Dayanand College in Solapur. He managed to get admission in Pune University and was very happy. When we met his professors there, they also said he’s a studious and sincere student. He attends all lectures and is not involved in any kind of nefarious activities.”

Jamadar pointed out his son had been targeted “just because of his identity”. “How will our children pursue education if they are going to be beaten up or targeted like this?” he asked. 

Newslaundry contacted Parag Kalkar, pro-vice chancellor of the university to ask him about the attack on Junaid.

Kalkar said, “I am not responsible for this. Administration department takes care of it. However, we have formed an inquiry committee to investigate it. An FIR has also been registered. There are 7.5 lakh students in the university with a daily footfall of 10,000 students. It’s not possible to check everybody because it’s a public university.”

Importantly, the attack comes just two months after students of the same university were assaulted by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidya Parishad for staging an adaptation of the konkani play Dashavatar. Read all the details here.

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