Allah, they killed my brother, my only brother. They killed him. I don’t even have a father, and he was the only one earning for us. They killed him too.” These were the sentences that Sameer’s sister kept uttering continuously, sitting near his bed, when the Shaagird Foundation first visited their house.
A 20-year-old Muslim boy identified as Sameer was lynched to death in September 2021. He completed his training as a mechanic and had joined Tata Sales at Shamli two months before his lynching. A wave of happiness swept over the family when they learned about his job; little did they know their unbridled happiness would soon be taken away.
On an ill-fated day, Sameer went to open his bank account, and on his way he was assaulted brutally by an alleged Hindu extremist mob. As per the details of the heinous act, attackers kept smashing his head to the road till he lost his consciousness. Meanwhile, eyewitnesses came to rescue him and rushed him to a local hospital, where he was referred to another hospital as his injuries were grievous.
Following this, Sameer was rushed to a private practitioner, who declared him dead. His obituary notice was published in newspapers, broadcast on news channels, and made the rounds on all social media platforms. Learning about his death, the Shaagird Foundation traveled to his home in Banat, Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, to talk to the grieving family.
On our way towards Sameer’s home, our team gathered all the strength to talk to the family, console them, and show them glimmers of hope. But the strength that we had mounted was sliced down after seeing their condition. Sameer’s devastated sister was sitting in a corner of an unpainted room, continuously screaming “Ya Allah, Ya Allah, My brother.” A group of women were trying to provide her solace. On the other side of the room were Sameer’s brothers, Aasif and Rihan; they were weeping silently, but their tears spoke of pain that no words could explain.
We could not do anything but sit quietly and feel their pain; this was our first encounter with a mob-lynched family. We left Sameer’s house after a few hours.
After a few weeks, we again gathered strength and traveled to Shamli and talked to Rihan, who seemed devastated.
“My brother was innocent; hatred has killed him; now what do we have, nothing?” Rihan said. He further revealed that Sameer had worked hard to run the expenses of the family, but with his death, Rihan’s education also vanished due to financial constraints.
“He used to pay my school fees too. Now who will? Will I be able to continue going to school?” Rihan added with a worrisome expression on his face.
While talking to Rihan, we thought about his education and promised to assist him in seeking knowledge. We enrolled him in a private institution in Banat, Shamli, and helped him attend classes by bearing the expense of the school fee. Riihan is a student of standard 7th now. Our two-year journey with him has been commendable; from seeing him worried about his education after Sameer’s death to witnessing his academic achievements, we have created a beautiful bond.
On our recent visit to Banat, we met Rihan; he seemed happy and excited to talk about his education. “I learn something new every day and read new things regularly. I really enjoy school,” he said.
We wished him luck and dreamt of educating other kids like Rihan. The happiness that Rihan radiated inbuilt a mission in our hearts—a mission to build a school for the children of Mob-lynched families and other survivors of dehumanization. We have named this mission ‘smile school’. We are on a journey to construct it for children like Rihan; our school will provide education to these children and will help them seek the knowledge they deserve.
