Lynching most foul

The lynching of a Muslim man, the 24-year-old Tabrez Ansari, in Kharsawan district of Jharkhand on the suspicion of theft on June 18 is much more than a hate crime; it is also indicative of communal hatred, the audacity of the perpetrators the crime, and the breakdown of law and order in the state.

Ansari was thrashed for more than 18 hours before being handed over to the police. He was forced to chant the slogans ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and Jai Hanuman,’ a video of which has gone viral. He couldn’t survive the merciless beating, succumbing to the injuries at a local hospital on June 22.

Ansari aka Sonu suffered this brutality, which ultimately killed him, because some people suspected that he was a thief. It is the job of a court of law to determine whether a person is a thief; if people suspect somebody to be a wrongdoer, they should hand over that person to the police who are mandated to interrogate into the matter and prosecute him or her.

This is a basic principle that is followed in every civilized country. Sadly, several parts of India have discarded this civilizing norm. While it is good to see that Prime Narendra Modi has expressed his anguish over the killing, the PMO’s tweet was not a categorical statement: “The lynching in Jharkhand has pained me. It has saddened others too. But, some people in the Rajya Sabha are calling Jharkhand a hub of lynching. Is this fair? Why are they insulting a state. None of us have the right to insult the state of Jharkhand: PM @narendramodi.”

The ‘but’ in the statement could have been avoided. Any criticism of the awful land and order situation in Jharkhand is not an insult of that state; maybe it is disparaging for the state authorities, and not without reason, but it surely doesn’t demean the state per se. By that logic, any adverse comment on any outrage in any state would be an insult to that state.

The ruling dispensation must refrain from politicking if it wants to stop the recurrence of barbaric practices like lynching. And it must do more than offer platitudes and homilies. Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “Jai Shri Ram can be chanted by embracing people and not after throttling them. Such incidents cannot be justified. We have committed that we won’t let the destructive agenda dominate the development agenda.”

But isn’t that obvious in a democracy, Mr. Minister? Why state the obvious? And why not do something effective to ensure that no such incidents take place in the future?

Eleven people have been held for Ansari’s murder; a special investigation team has been constituted to inquire the incident. The Central and state governments should ensure that the culprits are brought to justice as soon as possible.