It was just another day for Navaz Pasha, a popcorn seller, who was preparing to make popcorn early in the morning on Saturday, June 11, at Lalbagh Botanical Garden, known to draw local morning walkers and joggers, especially on weekends. Navaz tore open an oil packet with his hand and put the torn fragment of the packaging in his mouth while filling the empty oil bottle at his stall and spat it away later.
Meanwhile, a middle-aged jogger was observing Navaz, clad in a white kurta and pyjama and listening to an Islamic recital, from a distance. He walked towards him and asked for his name. As soon as he heard, “my name is Navaz,” he gathered a mob by shouting, “look, this Muslim boy has spat in the oil thrice.” “I kept pleading in front of everyone, you can check if I have spit, but they didn’t let me speak,” he recalls. “The middle-aged man even came close to hitting me, but thankfully, he didn’t hit me,” says Navaz. The jogger kept blaming him for lying.
“Why would I spit in the food? We don’t even do this with our enemies. I, my friends, children, all of us eat the popcorn; why will I spit in the oil, then?” says Navaz. A Siddapura constable, who was doing rounds near the Lalbagh, got involved and alerted other senior officials who came to the spot and detained him. He was caught and dragged away by the collar, and even his oil bottle was seized, “I felt humiliated and embarrassed with the way I was treated and by the media coverage,” says Navaz.
“They did this to me only because I am Muslim. The man created an issue only after hearing my name. He might have let go of me if I had said a different name, a Hindu name,” feels Navaz. He was taken to the Siddapura police station for further interrogation, where Navaz denied all the allegations. The police also seized the popcorn machine and took it to the station.
The accuser refused to come to the police station to even file an FIR against Navaz, because of which police had to register a case suo motu. They have charged him under Sections 269, 270, 272, and 273. Sections 269 and 270 deal with offences affecting public health and safety and are used to penalise negligent acts that would potentially spread infection of diseases that are dangerous to life. Sections 272 and 273 prescribe punishment for adulteration of food or drink intended for sale.
Navaz was later released on police station bail with the help of Ajmal, his neighbour. Ajmal tried to persuade the cops to drop charges against Navaz, but the police said, “it has become a big issue and is in the media, and they have no option but to file a case against him.”
Upon knowing about Navaz’s arrest, his distraught mother and her daughter reached the Siddapura police station. His mother, who is a patient of low blood pressure and fits, sat outside the police quarters under a tree, crying and refusing to eat the entire day. Her health deteriorated to the extent that she had to be taken to the hospital on Tuesday, June 14.
Navaz is unaware of the sections under which he has been charged, the FIR filed against him, or the fine that he might have to pay. Moreover, he has been asked not to visit Lalbagh. He says he is waiting for the call from the police and, as of now, has no idea about the lawyer or about the court proceedings.
The sole breadwinner of the house, who has lost his father, works for a contractor to whom he has to hand over 40% of his earnings from selling popcorn. He is also a regular supplier at local events held in hotels and residences but remarks that it was the first-ever time he had been accused of unhygienic practices. “Now, what will I do if a customer calls me for an event, as I do not have my machine with me yet? My client will find another popcorn seller, and I will lose the business,” says Navaz.
Navaz has taken a loan of 50,000 from his friend this month, hoping he will earn during the weekends at Lalbagh and manage his expenses to take care of his family. But his machine has been seized, dashing his hopes.
The vilification of Navaz in the name of #ThookJihad (Spit Jihad) is the latest in thes series of hate crimes against Muslims and part of a campaign run by radical Hindu right-wing organizations and some Christian groups. It follows a pattern of accusing the Muslim-owned eateries or individuals of spitting in the food that is served to the customers or calls for boycotting food products with halal certification.
Recently, Chandru Moger, a coordinator of the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti in Bengaluru, called for the boycott of Muslim fruit vendors, thereby ending their monopoly in the business, by alleging that the community indulges in spitting in fruit and bread before it is sold to the customers.