NEW DELHI – When India was celebrating its 69th republic day on Friday,64-year old Muhammad Ramzan was spending the day recovering from pain andtorture.
Speaking to BBC Urdu, Ramzan recollected the tale of how he was ambushed bypolice officials four days earlier, from his village in Haryana. “How canthey accuse me of being a link>Pakistanilink> ? How can they beat me?” he cried.
Ramzan told BBC Urdu that he was heading home after a day’s work and wasaccompanied by a helper, when officials forcefully took him to the policestation. “Police officials who were in the vehicle, ordered me to stop thecar and then they took us to the police station”, he told BBC.
According to Ramzan, the officials ordered them to take their clothes off.“When I protested, they called me a link>Pakistani link> and a fundamentalist. Theycalled me a Muslim and said I was a bad man.
“They tore my clothes and beat me up.” As a result of the incident, the64-year-old now has trouble sitting. “They repeatedly kicked me, as if Iwere a football”, Ramzan said adding that the pain in his hip is unbearable.