Palghar: The postmortem report

Rohit Shrivastava | 29 April 2020

“Lynching”, a phenomena that occurred when mankind was in its primary stage of evolution, when mankind existed as barbarian and nomadic tribes. A time when the concept of society, family, culture, education and law did not exist in any formal manner.

This was an era in history, when humans were following the ‘law of the jungle’, that dictated the survival of the fittest.

With the passage of time, we as the human race learned to enrich our existence; ‘from being nomadic scavengers, to becoming agriculturist and farmers’, ‘from being ignorant and superstitious, to becoming logical and developing a sense of reasoning’, and ‘from existing in under the cloud of fear, to living under the umbrella of peace and harmony’.

It is this progressiveness that has differentiated humans from all other beings that exist on planet earth; this made humans as the ‘Superior Race’.

However, over the past few decades, we as humans have retarded in certain behavioral aspect, which were developed, cultivated and nurtured during the past several centuries of human evolution.

In today’s modern world, where we are envisaging of colonizing far extra-terrestrial planets like Mars, or sending our probes to the Sun, the heart of our solar system; we on the other hand interpolated and have resorted to certain medieval practices that have no place in modern and civilized society.

This research study, is focusing on one such medieval gruesome practice ‘Lynching’ that is once again being witnessed in certain section of society. Most human beings have progressed from the doctrine of the ‘Jungle Raj’, to the philosophy of ‘Live and let Live’, and this is the most widely accepted way of life. However, certain outliers still exist to the peaceful coexistence of mankind, possessing an ugly threat to the delicate bond of trust, harmony, tolerance and harmony within different sections of society.

The case study in this research is the most recent Lynching that has happened in Palghar, India on April 16, 2020. This is not only one off incident, but a part of ongoing such episodes, over the past few decades.

The attempt made in this research, is not to identify the persons who had in person committed this horrific crime; but to identify the reasons of their vulnerability that led them to commit such a brutal and barbaric act.

On investigating information available in public domain, the following points emerged:

The actual persons who committed the lynching were from the extremely backward section of the society. A section of society, where the day to day existence itself is a challenge for many.
These persons have been devoid of basic amenities like proper healthcare, education, meaningful employment. Making these people extremely vulnerable to propaganda. Where they can very easily be brainwashed and manipulated.
The modulus operandi, in which the crime was executed, required intrinsic planning, choreographed coordination, extensive logistic support, considerable finance, and privy to confidential / personal information. This clearly is was beyond the means and capability of the persons who committed this horrendous crime on ground zero.
Hence, there exists a module that planned, provided and controlled this entire inhuman happening.
By understanding the accrued benefits to different entities, as a result of this lynching, it is possible to get an understanding of the masterminds who are actually behind this entire episode.
By attempting to understand this entire incident in a structured and scientific manner, it is attempted to define a rough framework / method of analyzing any further such occurrences. Wherein the information can be constructively utilized in order to avoid, negate and disperse any false narratives that tend to circulate as a result of spontaneous backlash, while bring out the truth in its actual form, for justice to be done, and prevailed.

Prelude

Before one even attempts to unearth the unfortunate happening of the unmindful and unruly lynching, and subsequent murder of two holy men, holy Sadhu’s, and their unsuspecting innocent driver by a frenzied and instigated mob that will be documented in history as perhaps one of the most brutal and barbaric lynching and murder done in police presence in modern times; one needs to understand the background Palghar; Including its history, its formation, and dynamics that will encompass the political, social and economic dynamics.

Understanding of these parameters is essential, as it is these factors that have accumulated over a period of time and resulted in this latest condemnable mishap.

The Formation & Growth of Palghar

Palghar was formerly a part of Thane District, in Maharashtra, India. The primary reasons behind the demands for Thane’s division were its size and spread, which made administration quite a challenging affair ⁽⁰¹⁾.

According to the 2011 Census of India, Thane was the most populated district in the nation, with 11,054,131 inhabitants. Its population comprised of 9.84 % of Maharashtra’s population and its density was 1,157 persons per square kilometer.

With the separation of Palghar from Thane, on August 1, 2014 ⁽⁰²⁾, Thane District now includes the rapidly-growing urban talukas of Thane, Kalyan, Murbad, Bhiwandi, Shahapur, Ulhasnagar and Ambernath.

Whereas, Palghar District comprises of the tribal-dominated, coastal talukas of Dahanu, Palghar, Talasari, Jawhar, Mokhada, Vada, Vikramgad and Vasai. The Government has dissolved the ‘Thane Zilla Parishad’, while the existing ‘Thane District Central Cooperative Bank’ continues to exist for both the districts.

Palghar District is spread across a geographic area of 9,558 square kilometers. The district has 24 Assembly seats ⁽⁰¹⁾.

Palghar has an urban population of 14,35,210, that is 48% of total population is living in Urbanized Area ⁽⁰²⁾.

According to the 2011 census the population in Palghar District was 30,14,434 ⁽⁰³⁾. The number of BPL (Below Poverty Line) families was 1,01,551. A data released by Census authorities has revealed that the average size of an Indian family is 4.8 personnel, and that of an Indian family in Maharashtra is 4.6 persons ⁽⁰⁴⁾.

With 1.01,551 families living below poverty line in Palghar, the total population that lives below poverty line would be 4,67,134, roughly comprising about 15.5 % people living below poverty line. This is a healthy percentage considering the fact that in 2011, 21.2 % of Indian population was living below the poverty line ⁽⁰⁵⁾.

In 20011-12, Planning Commission has reported that 25.7 % of rural Indians, and 13.7 % of Indians in the urban areas are living below poverty lines ⁽⁰⁶⁾.

Based on which, a further breakup by extrapolating the above data reveals that in rural and urban pockets approximately 18.4 % and 10 %.

These statistics indicate that Palghar as a District, has performed well above the national average economic figures that have been revealed in 2011 census.

Why was Palghar made a Separate District?

In 2014, Palghar was made a separate district, dividing Thane district into two part, and putting an additional burden of Rs 430 crore on the state exchequer ⁽⁰¹⁾. The district has 24 Assembly seats, as mentioned above and they are key for the Congress-NCP alliance ⁽⁰¹⁾.

In 2009, the Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Seat was created for Palghar ⁽¹⁵⁾. ‘Balram Jadhav’ was the first Member of Parliament, followed by others:

Election	Member	Party
Until 2008	Seat did not exist
2009	Baliram Jadhav	Bahujan Vikas Aghadi
2014	Chintaman Vanaga	Bharatiya Janata Party
2018 (By Poll)	Rajendra Gavit	Bharatiya Janata Party
2019	Rajendra Gavit	Shiv Sena

Palghar has the distinction of having India’s first atomic power plant located at Tarapur ⁽⁰²⁾. The industrial town of Boisar, in Palghar district, is also home to one of Maharashtra’s largest industrial areas (MIDC).

Some of Maharashtra’s largest fishing ports are located in Palghar district; Satpati, Dahanu, Arnala, Vasai and Datiware. Further, Dahanu and Palghar are the best known for their ‘Chickoo’ production.

This combined model of economic growth, wherein a mix of industrialization, fisheries and farm produce is tailor made to the population profile of Palghar. Wherein, the district has 59.7 % of Non-Indigenous, 37.4 % of Schedule Tribe and 2.9 % of Schedule Caste population split ⁽⁰⁷⁾. The district can also boast of a healthy literacy rate of 77 %.

This combination is ideal for the manpower requirements of the industries and other developmental vehicles that are operating in Palghar.

Hence, it is obvious to question the incorporation of Palghar, as a separate district, when it was exceeding all national growth matrix and indicators, even as an integral part of Thane District.

Palghar, the Political Legacy

Palghar Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 48 Lok Sabha (lower house of Indian parliament) constituencies of Maharashtra state in western India. This constituency was created on February 19, 2008 as a part of the implementation of the Presidential notification based on the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission of India constituted on July 12, 2002. The seat is reserved for Scheduled Tribes. It first held elections in 2009 ⁽⁰⁸⁾.

Palghar Lok Sabha constituency comprises 6 ‘Vidhan Sabha’ (Legislative Assembly) segments.

Constituency Number	Reserved for (SC / ST / None)	Name of Constituency
128	ST	Dahanu
129	ST	Vikramgad
130	ST	Palghar
131	ST	Boisar
132	None	Nalasopara
133	None	Vasai

The village Gadchinchale, where the horrendous lynching and murder took place is located in the constituency of Dhanu, which is a reserve Schedule Tribe Vidhan Sabha seat. As per Census of 2011, Gadchinchale has 248 households. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 30.42% ⁽⁰⁹⁾.

The table below exhibits the lack of any formal education, or structures employment in this particular village. As published data is not available on the ratio of families that are surviving below poverty line in this village, it can only be estimated based on the above published literacy rate that a minimum of 70 % population is either living below poverty line, or very near about the poverty line.

	Total	Male	Female
Workers (All)	637	313	324
Scheduled Tribe	1198	567	631
Scheduled Caste	1	0	1
Population	1208	572	636
Non-Workers	571	259	312
Marginal Workers: Others	17	4	13
Marginal Workers: Household Industry Workers	0	0	0
Marginal Workers: Cultivators	9	3	6
Marginal Workers: Agricultural Laborers	93	38	55
Marginal Workers (Total)	119	45	74
Main Workers: Other	44	20	24
Main Workers: Household Industry Workers	7	3	4
Main Workers: Cultivators	428	229	199
Main Workers: Agricultural Laborers	39	16	23
Main Workers (Total)	518	268	250
Literates	292	171	121
Children Aged Below 6 Years	248	119	129

In contrast, Boisar Constituency, which also has a reserved seat for Scheduled Tribes in the Vidhan Sabha, has a total of 20319 male persons and 15832 females and a total number of 4896 children below 6 years in Boisar as per report released by Census India 2011 ⁽¹⁰⁾.

Child Sex Ratio in Boisar is around 919 compared to Maharashtra state average of 894.

Out of total population, 14,372 were engaged in work or business activity, 12,312 were males, and 2,060 were females.

In census survey, worker is defined as person who does business, job, service, and cultivator and labor activity.

Of total 14372 working population, 89.32 % were engaged in Main Work while 10.68 % of total workers were engaged in Marginal Work.

Literacy rate of Boisar city is 88.49 %, higher than state average of 82.34 %.

According to the 2011 census, of total 36,151 population of Boisar are Hindus (83.84%) constitute the majority of the city population. Schedule Caste (SC) constitutes 4.82 % while Schedule Tribe (ST) were 1.76 % of total population ⁽¹⁰⁾.

This is in sharp contrast to the split of the overall population of Palghar district (59.7 % of Non-Indigenous, 37.4 % of Schedule Tribe and 2.9 % of Schedule Caste population split) ⁽⁰⁷⁾.

Although, both constituencies being reserved for Schedule Tribe candidates, a sharp contrast is evident in terms of socio, economic and political resultants.

‘Bahujan Vikas Aaghadi’ (English: Majority Development Front) is a political party in Vasai-Virar region of Maharashtra, originally known as ‘Vasai Vikas Aaghadi’; won the Vidhan Sabha elections from Boisar in 2009 (Vilas Tare), 2014 (Vilas Tare) and 2019 (Rajesh Patil) ⁽¹¹⁾.

The party is headed by Hitendra Thakur, and has been gaining popularity ever since its first win in Loke Sabha elections of 2009, where ‘Baliram Jadhav’ became their first ever member of parliament ⁽¹²⁾. Currently, the party has its winning candidates as Vidhan Sabha members in three constituencies; Boisar (Rajesh Patil), Nalasopara (Khitij Thakur) and Vasai (Hitendra Thakur). Both, Nalasopare and Vasai, are non-reserved seats.

Unfortunately, the growth and development that have been witnessed not only by Boisar, but with both Nalasorara and Vasi, that have flourished with the real estate boom and the influx of the educated Indian middle class; Dahanu, the constituency that has the village Gadchinchale, has been left behind.

Traditionally, Dahanu had been a strong hold of Indian National Congress, with a power tussle with CPI (M) ⁽¹³⁾. In 2014, BJP had for the first time manages to win the Vidhan Sabha seat from Dahanu, but for whatever reason was unable to retain it in 2019, loosing to CPI(M)’s candidate by a narrow margin of 4,707 votes.

1962: Shamrao Patil, Indian National Congress
1967: Mahadeo Kadu, Indian National Congress
1972: Mahadeo Kadu, Indian National Congress
1978: Shankar Chavan, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
1980: Mahadeo Kadu, Indian National Congress
1985: Shankar Nam, Indian National Congress
1990: Shankar Nam, Indian National Congress
1995: Shankar Nam, Indian National Congress
1999: Krishna Ghoda, Indian Nationalist Congress
2004: Krishna Ghoda, Indian Nationalist Congress Party
2009: Rajaram Ozare, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
2014: Paskal Dhanare, Bharatiya Janata Party
2019: Vinod Bhiva Nikole, Communist Party of India (Marxist)

As of 2011 India census, Dahanu has a population of 50,287. Males constitute 52% of the population and females 48%. Dahanu has an average literacy rate of 71%: male literacy is 77% and, female literacy is 64%. In Dahanu, 13% of the population is under 6 years of age ⁽¹⁴⁾.

Adivasis (Warlis, Dubla,Dhodi), Bhandari, Agri (Mangela) and Bari community people dominate the population of the town with significant amount of Jain, Parsis, and Muslims.

Detailed breakdown of Dahanu’s demography in terms of absolute numbers, is not readily available in public domain; hence it can only be inferred that between the two constituencies in Palghar district, their lies a stark contrast of development and social upliftment.

The Vidhan Sabha seat from Palghar is currently occupied by Shrinivas Vanga of the Shiv Sena, and the Vikramgad Vidhan Sabha constituency seat is held by Sunil Bhusar of the Indian National Congress ⁽¹⁵⁾.

Constituency Number	Reserved (SC / ST / None)	Name	Name of Incumbent MLA	Party
128	ST	Dahanu	Vinod Nikole	CPI(M)
129	ST	Vikramgad	Sunil Bhusara	INC
130	ST	Palghar	Shrinivas Vanga	Shiv Sena
131	ST	Boisar	Rajesh Patil	BVA
132	None	Nalasopara	Kshitij Thakur	BVA
133	None	Vasai	Hitendra Thakur	BVA

Palghar, as a district did come into local lime light for small notorious incidences taking place. However, nothing to the tune of the barbaric lynching and murder of two Hindu Sages, had ever taken place in the past.

The Current Political Equation

From the above history and present political scenario; a political equation can be attempted to be arrived upon, with an objective of establishing a motive for the above incident of lynching of Hindu Sages.

Kashinath Chaudhary a district panchayat member of NCP, along with CPI(M) panchayat members; Vishnu Patra, Subhash Bhavar and Dharma Bhavar were present during the incident ⁽¹⁶⁾.

In the above sections it had been mentioned that ‘Rajendra Gavit’, who was a former member of the BJP, now with the Shiv Sena, is representing Palghar in the Lok Sabha, as its Member of Parliament.

Taking a top down approach, the following salient points have been noted:

Maharashtra Government, is currently a fragile collation of three parties (Shiv Sena, Indian National Congress & NCP), none of these parties in actual have common ideologies, or any common manifestos; apart for hunger of power, which in turn will enable each of their representatives to share the spoils of victory.
The portfolio allocation has been done keeping each parties and persons vested interest in mind.
In line with the above, the collation is headed by Shiv Sena, by appointing its founding father’s son, to the position of the Chief Minister
The next powerful portfolio, of the Home Minister has been gifted to NCP, who has been critical in the cementing of this dubious deal, along with the cash rich portfolio of ministry of finance
Congress, has got the extremely lucrative portfolio of ‘revenue’, accompanied by the porous portfolio of ‘Public Works Department’, or PWD.
The detailed portfolio distribution is a follow ⁽¹⁷⁾:

Party	Leader	Ministry
NCP	Ajit Pawar	Finance
NCP	Jayant Patil	Water resources (Irrigation)
NCP	Anil Deshmukh	Home
Shiv Sena	Eknath Shinde	Urban Development
Congress	Balasaheb Thorat	Revenue
Congress	Ashok Chavan	Public Works Department (PWD)
NCP	Chhagan Bhujbal	Food and civil supplies
NCP	Dilip Walse Patil	Excise and labour
NCP	Jitendra Awhad	Housing
NCP	Rajesh Tope	Health
NCP	Rajendra Shingne	Food & Drugs Administration
NCP	Dhananjay Munde	Social Justice
Congress	Nitin Raut	Energy
Congress	Varsha Gaikwad	School Education
Congress	Yashomati Thakur	Women & Child Welfare
Congress	KC Padvi	Tribal Tevelopment
Congress	Sunil Kedar	Dairy Development
Congress	Vijay Vadettiwar	OBC Welfare
Congress	Aslam Shaikh	Textiles, Ports
Congress	Amit Deshmukh	Health, Education & Culture
Shiv Sena	Subhash Desai	Industries
Shiv Sena	Sanjay Rathod	Forest
Shiv Sena	Dadaji Bhuse	Agriculture
Shiv Sena	Uday Samant	Higher and Technical Education
Shiv Sena	Anil Parab	Transport & Parliamentary Affairs
Shiv Sena	Sandipanrao Bhumre	EGS
Shiv Sena	Shankarrao Gadakh	Water Conservation
Shiv Sena	Gulrabrao Patil	Water Supply

With 9 portfolios being allocated to NCP, 9 to Congress, and Shiv Sena keeping 9 portfolios, excluding the Chief Minister’s birth.
The district Palghar, with its 6 Lok Sabha constituencies; (The 3 developed one Boisar, Nalasupara and Vasai are being represented by BVA. The 3 backward constituencies of Dahanu, Vikramgad and Palghar are respectively represented by CPI(M), INC and Shiv Sena)
It is to be noted, that no constituency has been represented by NCP, and for a brief moment would like to draw the attention to the past ‘Bhima-Koregoain’ violence incident
However, as per reports widely available in public domain the in November, the Maharashtra police filed a 5,600-page charge sheet at a Pune court. It went beyond the caste violence and alleged a ‘Maoist’ conspiracy to stage violent attacks, including a plot to kill Prime Minister Narendra Modi ⁽¹⁸⁾.
Investigation by the police in the following months resulted in various arrests, such as that of ‘Rona Wilson’, in June 2018 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
In August 2018 five activists, including ‘Varavara Rao’, ‘Arun Ferreira’, ‘Sudha Bharadwaj’ and ‘Gautam Navlakha’, were picked up in simultaneous raids across the country, the police alleged that the activists had ties to ‘Maoists’, apart from links to the Bhima Koregaon incident ⁽¹⁹⁾.
The Koregaon Bhima Inquiry Commission had summoned NCP chief Sharad Pawar to depose before it as a witness in the 2018 caste-violence case ⁽²⁰⁾, which raises eyebrows.
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) MLC ‘Prakash Gajbhiye’ had written to Maharashtra Chief Minister ‘Uddhav Thackeray’ seeking withdrawal of cases filed against Dalits in ‘Bhima Koregaon’ violence ⁽²¹⁾.
NCP MLA Dhananjay Munde also wrote to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, demanding withdrawal of cases related to the Koregaon-Bhima violence, claiming the previous BJP-led government had slapped “false” cases against many including social activists and branded them as “Urban Naxals” ⁽²²⁾.
It becomes pretty much evident from the snippets above that there is some kind of camaraderie / soft corner between certain leaders of the NCP and the Maoists
Referring back to Dahanu, which is represented in the Vidhan Sabha by a member of the CPI(M), and within his constituency a horrendous lynching of two Hindu Sages takes place, which subsequently lead to the death of both of the Sages and their driver; a district panchayat member of NCP, ‘Kashinath Chaudhary’; along with CPI(M) panchayat members; Vishnu Patra, Subhash Bhavar and Dharma Bhavar were spotted and captured on camera, during the incident
This fact further strengthens the above hypothesis

The Wikipedia, page created on this incident, has a date stamp of April 20, 2020, its space had been reserved allegedly, on April 15, 2020; wherein the incident had occurred on April 16, 2020, by an unknown person registered as Pratap Pandit.

(To be verified, unable to establish a link and association of this image with the Wikipedia page on Palghar Murder)

Further, for Wikipedia page to appear on the web, a lead time of approval is required. Wikipedia, on its website, claims that it can be anything from 10 days to a several week; Link below

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Palghar_mob_lynching?fbclid=IwAR1E_CZxkA7JOawJmbguGTUynXu2no0-VZPD8kLx9MrbLcLe9CDA51rWL_8

23 Bangladeshis were arrested in Palghar after the incident ⁽²³⁾, how did they cross the entire country and land up in Palghar, which is controlled by CPI(M) / NCP

Considering these political inclinations and indicators, it is needed to establish a motive for the occurred crime. Who gains from it, and who gains the maximum?

Establishing the Motive

In a time when the entire world, not only India, is focusing on social distancing, and aggressively taking measures to implement ‘social distancing’, it is pertinent to find out who will instigate such a frenzied mob violence; blatantly braking the imposed lockdown, putting innocent lives at risk, and then attempting to destabilize social tranquility and peace.

BJP is in power in the center and has every reason to maintain peace and harmony, especially in this dire time of a global pandemic. Furthermore, it is ruling in 15 states in India. It only stands to lose if any unwanted incident takes place. Further, by advocating violence at a constituency level will not bring any gain to the ruling party, if it can, it will only create hardships for them. Hence, they hardly have a reason to be behind such a notorious plan.

Congress, which once use to be the ruling party, has lost its pan India control and is dependent on regional parties to maintain a meek pan India presence. In this tie up of Congress with regional alliances, Congress is more often than not been playing the junior partner’s role. With a collation government in Maharashtra, of which Congress is an integral part with 9 out of 27 portfolios; Congress will be desperate to make inroads in the state and strengthen its electoral base.

However, with only one out of the six constituencies under its stalwart ship in Palghar, and its fundamental lack of trust with both NCP and Shiv Sena both at a national and state level, Congress does not seem to have the required clout to undertake such a risky endeavor. The chances of Congress playing any active role in this incident are minimal. Although, the response to this incident from Congress has been very disappointing.

The Chief Minister, in the state of Maharashtra, being from Shiv Sena, definitely would not want his ruled state to break up in flames. That too realizing that he has to hold together a fragile collation government, whose long-term survival is not guaranteed. He would also be aware of the fact that an early exit of his government will spell an almost certain death for his party and his political ambitions. He also has to consider the fact that in the center his survival still depends on the ruling BJP, hence it is highly unlikely that Shiv Sena was knowingly a party to this conspiracy.

On the other hand, the NCP, once did harbor the desire to become a player on the national stage. But was never successful in realizing its ambition. This however did not dent NCPs rise to power a regional player, and command a certain amount of following and loyalty within the state of Maharashtra.

Maharashtra is divided into five geographic regions Konkan, Deccan, Marathwada, Vidarbha and Kandesh. Out of these five, Konkan, Kandhesh and Marathwada have traditionally NCP strongholds owing to the large number of Maratha population within these pockets.

NCP, shares certain similarities with Congress, within the state of Maharashtra. Firstly, it too is an integral part of the ruling collation government in Maharashtra, with a similar 9 out of 27 ministerial portfolios under its belt. Secondly, NCP has the all-powerful portfolios of ‘Home’ and ‘Finance’ under its control; making it extremely easy for NCP to avail the support of state security personnel, and to arrange for finance and logistics.

These elements are the key to the successful execution of any complex plan.

As mentioned earlier, their seems to appear a certain kind of nexus between NCP and the Maoists, with reference to the Bhima-Koregaon violence incidence.

Also, that the representative in Vidhan Sabha from Dahanu, is a member of the CPI(M), under whom a district panchayat member of NCP, ‘Kashinath Chaudhary’; along with CPI(M) panchayat members; Vishnu Patra, Subhash Bhavar and Dharma Bhavar conducted this violent saga; points at a coordinated conspiracy deviously designed, supported and implemented by the NCP and CPI(M) combine.

Both NCP and CPI(M) have been losing ground on their own turf over several years.

The gains for both of these entities, are there for the picking, should this game plan succeed. Firstly, pin all the blame for all wrong doings and mismanagement solely on the BJP government in the center, as the resultant of this drastic episode. Secondly, leverage this incident to aggressively convert tribal into loyal vote banks by attracting them to the Maoist propaganda.

The unrest created would have been intended to primarily create communal tensions, which would have been further compounded due to the restrictions imposed by the lockdown owing to COVID-19. This would make it easy to convert the unaware, uneducated and naïve tribal population into their blind supporters.

Since, all parties involved in this, are well aware that they could be completely out of power, if not in weeks, but with a fair amount of probability, within months.

So, as it appears form the above analysis, the brain, financer, and logistics; was most probability provided by the NCP-CPI(M) combine; since both have a lot to gain, and hardly anything to lose.

Executing the Murderous Plan

Having established the ‘Satraps’ behind this malicious scheme, those who planned, finances and provided logistic support, it brings one to the point of analyzing how this plan was executed, and who all were involved in the execution of this plan.

For driving this plan to the desired conclusion, the following pre-requisites need to be fulfilled:

The time and location; where and when to attack the victim. This information needs to be obtained. It is rather unbelievable, that such an attack was spontaneous.
Arranging for 100-150 attackers. This activity too has to be executed in advance; one cannot amass blood thirty murderers in these numbers in an instant.
The mob needs to be armed, arms need to be arranged and shipped.
The mob needs to be assembled at a secure location without being spotted by the respective authorities. Which is especially even more difficult when an area is almost under a curfew like situation.

Prohibiting the above activities, is the sole responsibility of the local level intelligence and law agencies. However, as this incident took place, and the above lapses have been exposed; question marks are they’re on the failure of the local law enforcement machinery.

Further questions are to be raised where local police has been caught on camera handing over the Hindu Sages to the blood thirsty mob. The authenticity of this video has not been questioned, and has been telecasted live on national television on several occasions ⁽²⁴⁾. The same video has identified, ‘Kashinath Chaudhary’, NCP District Panchayat Members, who has been spotted with CPI(M) panchayat members; Vishnu Patra, Subhash Bhavar and Dharma Bhavar.

A list of 101 arrested members has been made public by the Maharashtra Home Minister, Anil Deshmukh, a minister from NCP ⁽²⁵⁾. However, no information has been released as where they have been reprimanded, under whose custody are they kept and which detaining facility houses them. Why did the police commissioner of Palghar, claim that the police tried their best to protect the sages, where it is clearly evident that the police had escorted the sages to their death?

As a meek punishment, and as a futile pacifier ‘Niket Kaushik’, IGP, Konkan Range, Maharashtra Police, placed the two officers from Kasa police station in Palghar district under suspension ⁽²⁷⁾. ‘Anand Rao Kale’, an assistant police inspector, and another sub-inspector have been suspended until an inquiry is conducted into the mob lynching incident that occurred on April 16, 2020 in Palghar.

Former Mumbai Police Commissioner and Bharatiya Janata Party MP ‘Satya Pal Singh’ said that it was necessary to probe who provoked the villagers of Palghar to lynch three sadhus after labelling them as thief ⁽²⁶⁾.

Singh said he was the Inspector General of Palghar tribal area a few years ago and there was no crime there but now attempts are being made to convert people in the name of social service.

The social, demographic, economic and political recipe of Palghar Murders, clearly is indicating and pointing fingers at a cabala between NCP-CPI(M)-Local Police. These are the masterminds, the others in question are the foot soldiers, who are like cannon fodder, and they as it is will be caught once the epicenter of this plot is crumbled. It is imperative to identify, prove and implicate these dangerous and devious plotters. And ensure that justice is served.

And from the video footage captures, the images surely have the signature of the brutality that has been exhibited in the gruesome killings done by Communists in Kerala and West Bengal.

And just a flash from history:

How many know about the ‘Bijon Setu’ massacre on April 30, 1982, when 17 persons, including 14 Monks and Lady Monk, of ‘Ananda Marg’ were lynched and burnt alive, in Kolkata, under the then Communist regime ⁽²⁸⁾.

This is the list of the people who were killed on that day:

Name	Designation
Anandapraceta Acarya	Avadhutika
Ac. Adishivananda	Avadhuta
Ac. Artasevananda	Avadhuta
Ac. Balabhadra	Brahmacarii
Ac. Bhaveshvarananda	Avadhuta
Ac. Giirishananda	Avadhuta
Ac. Kamaleshananda	Avadhuta
Ac. Krpashivananda	Avadhuta
Ac. Mukul	Brahmacarii
Ac. Prashivananda	Avadhuta
Shrii Ram Raghuvir	Margii from Jaipur
Ac. Somnath	Brahmacarii
Ac. Subrata	Brahmacarii
Ac. Sutreshvarananda	Avadhuta
Ac. Venkateshvaranada	Avadhuta
Ac. Viirendra	Brahmacarii
Unidentified Margii	Body burned beyond recognition

They were killed by frenzied mobs, on frivolous accusations of child-lifting. They were dragged out of taxis and beaten mercilessly, before being set on fire. Police acted as silent onlookers, and didn’t lift a finger to save them. None of the real perpetrators of the crime have been brought to book till now, even though the massacre was carried out in broad daylight, in front of thousands of onlookers.

About

The author is professional manager with more than a three decades of experience across various functional domains like manufacturing, advertising, strategic planning and Information Technology.

Having worked with several large and multinational organizations like Dunlop India Limited, Euro RSCG (India), Datamatics Limited and Nucsoft Limited (Nucleus Offshore); handling businesses in US, Europe, APAC region, and as well as large corporate clients in India; holding positions at CXO levels. The author is able to leverage his past global and domestic business acumen, and apply the same to the current socio-political scenario present.

During the latter part of his career, the author embarked on academics and has been teaching taught in the capacity of Visiting Professor at several of Mumbai’s premium management institutes.

Having guided over several dozen of post graduate research thesis, and have published research papers on strategic management, the author has bought in his past experience to undertake this particular piece of research on socio-political behavior.

Having completed his graduation in Mechanical Engineering, from BIT Bhilai, and a MBA in Marketing, from ‘The Graduate School of Business’ RMIT University, Melbourne, the author has further pursued his PhD, in Management Sciences, that provides him with the academic know how to analyze these research findings.

Being a certified professional in SAP and SEO, the author is an avid student of military strategy, business maneuvers, and political ambitions; the author welcomes your feedback on the content of this research.

The author can be reached on:

@rohitbhopali

rohit.keshav.shrivastava@gmail.com

References