Ishrat Jahan, who was residing in a Muslim-dominate locality in Howrah area of West Bengal, has also been a petitioner in the Supreme Court of India in a politically and religiously significant case seeking the abolition of the Islamic practice of Triple Talaq – a practice of divorcing someone by reciting the word "Talaq" three times.
Jahan, an activist of the West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party, was ousted by her landlord along with her son after a mob from their Muslim locality on Tuesday cornered her for attending a nearby event devoted to worshipping Lord Hanuman.
The mob allegedly heckled her for participating in the Hindu religious event and reciting Hanuman Chalisa, a prayer dedicated to Hinduism's Lord Hanuman, as one of the devotees.
“I was scared to find myself surrounded by such a large crowd. They kept yelling at me and saying ‘this is Ishrat Jahan’ who participated in a Hanuman Chalisa chanting programme”, she has submitted in her police complaint.
Stating that the mob wished to know why she took part in a Hindu event while wearing Islamic attire, a hijab, Jahan also claimed that she has been receiving death threats since the incident.
“I am receiving death threats. I demand protection. I live alone with my son; anything can happen to me anytime”, she was quoted as saying by news portal Times Now.
Earlier in the week, Howrah city’s BJP workers blocked a road near Jahan’s house to organise a “Hanuman Chalisa recital programme” in which Jahan participated. She was allegedly spotted distributing a printed booklet of Hanuman Chalisa by some locals after the event.
Defending her participation, Jahan said chanting Hanuman Chalisa is a holy affair and her act was in no way intended to offend Muslim fraternity.
