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India
Opinion

Why India’s great communicator Modi has fallen silent on mob lynching epidemic

Amrit Dhillon says India’s prime minister has a lot to say, just not about the rampaging mobs who have killed Muslims, Dalits and migrant workers, or about the members of his party who cosy up to these killers

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks during an event marking World Environment Day in New Delhi on June 5. Photo: EPA-EFE
Amrit Dhillon
If any further proof were needed that the Narendra Modi government gives out signals approving mob violence and vigilantism, it came on July 6, when Civil Aviation Minister Jayant Sinha was photographed greeting and giving garlands to eight men convicted of lynching a Muslim cattle trader last year.
The men, and the mob they were part of, killed Alimuddin Ansari in Ramgarh after suspecting he was carrying beef – a suspicion that haunts all Muslims who work in the meat trade. India’s ban on beef has given rise to Hindu cow vigilantes looking for a pretext to attack Muslims.

The eight men dragged Ansari out of a car and killed him. Last week, they were released on bail pending their appeal. Sinha, who maintains the men are innocent despite the conviction, greeted them warmly.

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These photo-opportunities are not accidental. Since this government came to power, whenever Muslims or Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) have been lynched, it has failed to express disgust and outrage. The odd minster might make a pathetically anodyne remark – too many days later and under media pressure – about how “the law must be maintained” but none of these remarks have conveyed genuine revulsion at innocent people being killed.

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