The shahi imam, or priest, of a mosque was slapped, heckled and abused by a group of Bajrang Dal activists after he refused to say "Vande Mataram" and "Bharat Mata Ki Jai" in the Hisar district of Haryana on Tuesday evening.
The incident happened near the Lahoriya Chowk mosque in Hisar, where the Bajrang Dal members were protesting against the attack on the Amarnath Yatra pilgrims on Monday.
The terrorist attack had claimed the lives of seven people and injured another 19 in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, the Bajrang Dal men can be seen slapping and heckling Mohammad Yaseen, the imam of the mosque, after he objected to being forced to say "Vande Mataram" and "Bharat Mata Ki Jai."
According to India Today, the Bajrang Dal men saw the imam named Yaseen, a mango trader from Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, come out of the mosque while they were protesting against the attack on the pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.
They then ganged up on him and tried to force him to raise slogans. They then thrashed and heckled him when he refused.
The local traders' association has filed a complaint with the police over the matter, after which security in the area has been beefed up.
