Analysis | Jai Shri Ram: the three words that can get you lynched in India
- Organised violence against Muslims has increased sharply since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP came to power
- Mob violence, fanned by the policies of the right-wing nationalist government, often comes accompanied by a Hindu chant: ‘Victory for Lord Ram!’
As the night grew darker in the Bhagirathi Vihar neighbourhood of Gokalpuri in northeast Delhi, about 30 men on motorbikes approached the house of a local Muslim man named Musharraf, whose family had decided to stay indoors after communal violence had flared in nearby areas on February 24.
The men, all chanting “Jai Shri Ram”, began pounding on Musharraf’s door, according to his neighbours. When nobody from the family opened the door, the mob splashed kerosene on the house and threatened to set it on fire. To stop them, Musharraf came out of the house. He was promptly lynched, said his brother Munjid. Media reports say his body was thrown in the gutter.
Mobs whimsically lynching Muslims was not limited to the violence in Delhi, but is common since the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party came to power several years ago.
Most of the lynchings of Muslims have been carried out by organisations that have overt backing of the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu fundamentalist group that is the parent organisation of the BJP.
