According to confident sources, around 94 persons have been killed in the incidents of mob violence so far since 2015 in India. Incidents of mob lynching put a big question mark over law and order of the country. It is shocking that youth of Jharkhand became a victim of mob lynching recently and his father also lynched by the mob 15 years ago. It seems that there is no end to such incidents.
AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi has alleged that incidents of mob lynching are not going to stop because BJP and RSS have increased the sense of hatred against Muslims. They have successfully created a mindset where Muslims are seen as terrorists, anti-nationals & cow slaughters. Congress president Rahul Gandhi also expressed shock over the silence of ruling BJP after a 24-year-old youth was beaten to death in Jharkhand. He called it a blot on humanity. Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “The brutal lynching of this young man by a mob in Jharkhand is a blot on humanity. The cruelty of the police who held this dying boy in custody for 4 days is shocking as is the silence of powerful voices in the BJP ruled Central & State Govts.” On the other hand, the BJP has alleged that the opposition parties are politicizing this issue.
The brutal lynching of this young man by a mob in Jharkhand is a blot on humanity. The cruelty of the police who held this dying boy in custody for 4 days is shocking as is the silence of powerful voices in the BJP ruled Central & State Govts. #IndiaAgainstLynchTerror pic.twitter.com/4MKvli1ohC
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) June 25, 2019
It is remarkable that Tabrez Ansari (24) was beaten up by locals for hours on June 18 in Saraikela Kharsawan on suspicion of theft. According to Saraikela Kharsawan Superintendent of Police Karthik S, Ansari and two others had entered a house in Seraikela village at night allegedly with an intention to commit theft. However, the occupants of the house woke up and raised an alarm, following which villagers caught hold of Ansari and manhandled him, while his accomplices managed to flee. Ansari was found to be in possession of valuables, which he and his associates had allegedly stolen from other villages.
The police reached the spot in the morning and arrested Ansari on the basis of a complaint from villagers. Police also administered first aid to him. When the condition of Ansari deteriorated in jail on the same day, he was taken to the Sadar Hospital, where he was diagnosed with multiple injuries. Ansari was subsequently referred to the Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur.
It is notable that the police had said earlier that Ansari was tied to a pole and beaten up with sticks through the night. A video circulated widely on social media was handed over to the police by Ansari’s family. According to sources, Tabrez Ansari, accused of stealing a motorcycle, was tied to a pole, brutally beaten and forced to chant “Jai Shri Ram” and “Jai Hanuman“. He was handed over to the authorities only after he fell unconscious and died four days later in police custody. Ansari’s wife Shaista Praveen has accused the police of taking the deceased to jail first, instead of a hospital. She said, “The police should have taken him to a hospital, instead of arresting him and sending him to jail.” Praveen recently got married to Ansari.
A relative said Ansari and a group of his friends were going home, traveling from Jamshedpur to Saraikela-Kharsawan’s Karsova, when they were attacked barely five kilometres from home. His family has alleged that despite appeals the police did not arrange for proper treatment of Ansari, that they were not allowed to meet him, and that he died long before he was taken to a hospital. They have demanded action against all concerned, including the police and the doctors, who have yet to be questioned. The Congress has demanded Rs. 25 lakh compensation and a government job for his wife.
Tabrez’s father Maskoor Ansari was also lynched by a mob to death almost 15 years ago. He was caught by a mob while he was allegedly committing theft in Jamshedpur’s Bagbera area. He was then lynched to death by a mob. Police are now investigating the matter and trying to dig out details of the incident, which took place in November 2004. Mohammed Mosahid Khan, general secretary of Congress’s district said that he brought Maskoor’s body to the village from Jamshedpur. Some local residents in Bagbera still remember the infamous 15-year-old lynching of Maskoor. Social activist Subodh Kumar Jha said, “One day, residents of Ramnagar locality in Bagbera got hold of the man and he was beaten to death by an irate mob.”
The fresh incident of mob lynching has triggered angry reactions from various political parties across the country. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief and Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi said that such incidents now followed a familiar pattern. “This is the pattern with almost all lynchings. “First, a Muslim is murdered by cow lovers. Then the most ridiculous excuses begin: a ‘suspicion’ of beef possession, theft, smuggling and love jihad. So much for sabka vishwas when we can be killed over mere suspicions,” he said in a tweet.
The incident was also in raised the Rajya Sabha. Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said that Jharkhand had become a lynching factory. He said, “Dalits and Muslims are being killed there every week. Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, we are with you in the fight of ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’, but it should be there for people to see it. We cannot see it anywhere.”
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said in a tweet, “Tabrez Ansari was lynched to death in BJP-ruled Jharkhand. A Hindu mob thrashed him ruthlessly because he refused to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’. Is this NDA 2.0’s New India? Yeh kaunsa tareeka hai sabka vishwas jeetnay ka (what kind of a process is this to win everyone’s trust?”
Tabrez Ansari was lynched to death in BJP ruled Jharkhand. A Hindu mob thrashed him ruthlessly because he refused to chant Jai Sri Ram. Is this NDA 2.0’s New India? Yeh kaunsa tareeka hai sabka vishwas jeetnay ka?
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) June 24, 2019
Faced with mounting anger from across the country, the police admitted to lapses in procedure and formed an SIT. Two officers Chandramohan Oraon and Bipin Bihari have been suspended for not reporting the seriousness of the issue to the higher authorities and for their failure to register a case of lynching on the very same day. The special investigation team (SIT) in charge of the inquiry has been asked to submit its report to the Home Secretary and the Chief Secretary soon.
Seraikela-Kharsawan Superintendent of Police Karthik S said, “We are looking into all angles. His family members mentioned some unidentified miscreants in their complaint. Based on that, we have already arrested eleven people, including a man named Papu Mandal.”
