‘It could have been me’: Why the train shootings have struck fear in Muslims

After a constable killed three visibly Muslim men, many community members say they are afraid of being targeted in trains and other forms of public transport.

Aug 3, 2023 - 07:30

‘It could have been me’: Why the train shootings have struck fear in Muslims

On Monday, when reports of a Railway Protection Force constable allegedly seeking out and killing three Muslim men – all of them bearded – on a Mumbai-bound train reached Shadab Anwar, he was alarmed.

He called up his brother, Mohammad Saad, the 22-year-old imam of the Anjuman mosque in Sector-57 Gurgaon, urging him to cancel his plans. Saad was supposed to take a train home to Sitamarhi, Bihar, on Tuesday afternoon.

“I felt it was not safe for him,” Anwar told Scroll.

In a video shared on social media, the constable, Chetan Singh, can be heard hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath as the body of one of the Muslim men lies at his feet.

“They operate from Pakistan, this is what the media of the country is showing,” Singh is heard telling passengers in the video. “If you want to vote, if you want to live in India, then I say, Modi and Yogi, these are the two, and you’re Thackeray.”

According to the family of one of the victims, 43-year-old Syed Saifullah, the constable had also asked him his name, before picking him out as a target.

As it turned out, Anwar was right to be worried about his brother’s safety, though...