Today, India saw yet another victim of lynching. Rakbar Khan and his friend were lynched mercilessly by the local people because they were suspected of smuggling cows. However, Rakbar Khan did not die because of the lynching but because he did not reach the hospital on time. He died because of the lack of concern for human life by the police, who allegedly decided that taking a tea break was of a higher priority than doing their duty.
It’s amusing and sad how a certain group of people are waiting for some issue of this sort to happen so they can start spreading hate across social media. For instance, Rahul Gandhi, on his twitter handle went on to say that “This is Modi’s brutal “New India” where humanity is replaced with hatred and people are crushed and left to die”. It is funny how just the other day, the Congress chief hugged the Prime Minister of India in the name of love and goes on to spread hate in such a manner. On Twitter, some people have started calling India as “Lynchistan”, and of course blame it all on the BJP.
If were to talk about lynching, today, a 22-year-old Dalit man was lynched to death over an affair with a Muslim woman in Rajasthan. In Madhya Pradesh, a woman was lynched to death by the locals because she was suspected of child theft. But somehow, it is only Rakbar Khan’s case that has made it to Nidhi Razdan’s show “Left, Right and Center”.
Of course, there are other issues attached to the Alwar case, like why did the police take so long to get to the hospital. While these are important questions, I am sure there are issues with the other cases as well but they are not going to be brought to the light probably because it doesn’t suit a certain group’s agenda.
Lynching has been happening in India for a very long time, regardless of the government in power. If we start making a list, start pointing fingers and play the blame game, perhaps there would be no end to it. Politicizing such issues for election purposes demeans the death of the people and the people who continue to suffer. While playing such divisive politics might push an agenda further, it doesn’t really help find a solution to the core problem. Using these issues to paint a certain picture of the current government and voice hatred seems petty, egotistical and downright hypocritical.
The response to hate should not be hate. If that is your response, then you are no different than the one you are condemning.
