Swarajya Exclusive: Tarek Fatah On What Happened At Rekhta And How The Islamists Hounded Him Out

We published a little while ago how Islamists at an Urdu fest, Rekhta, manhandled and abused Tarek Fatah and hounded him out of the venue premises.

Swarajya asked Fatah for his side of the account. This is what he has to say:

I had gone there as a member of the public and was initially overwhelmed by supporters wanting to take selfies and get my autograph.

This upset some of the visibly orthodox Mullsh types in the area and as I was heading to the bookstores, I was surrounded by a howling mob of about 100 ppl who started hitting me from the back with sticks and kicks.

All the time raising slogans "Modi ka kutta, Tarek Fatah" and "Death to Tarek Fatah".

The police instead of stopping the attack, manhandled me, claiming I was the reason why the crowd was upset and that I should leave the premises.

When I refused, they put me in a cordon of cops and dragged me, but I refused and sat down in a chair where I stood my ground for two hours until the DCP came and apologised for the police action.

The Rekhta organizers were conspicuous by their absence, leaving me with the impression that it was they who had sent the Muslim mob to attack me and that it was at Rekhta's request that the police acted against me, threatening me repeatedly that they'll take me away in their 'laal gaadi'