Waquar Hasan | Clarion India
NEW DELHI – Two incidents – namely, setting a Muslim boy on fire for refusing to chant Jai Shri Ram in Chandauli and lynching a retired Muslim soldier in Amethi – incurred a lot of public outrage against the Yogi Adityanath government.
Social activists also came down heavily on the Yogi government and the Centre over the recent killings and hate crimes against Muslims in the state. They said that it’s a matter of shame for the entire country that such incidents are happening, and that these resemble target killings.
On Sunday night, a minor was set ablaze by some people who forced him to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ after kidnapping him in Uttar Pradesh’s Chandauli district. Earlier, a 64-year-old retired Muslim army officer, Amanullah, was lynched at his home by a mob in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi.
UP-based human rights activist Rajiv Yadav holds Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath accountable for these incidents. He said that these killings are not mob lynching, but essentially target killing. According to him, the chief minister is seemingly in denial of the fact that mob lynching is happening in the state.
“We cannot call this mob lynching anymore. It is ideological target killing. Why does this mob frequently kill only Muslims? Why does this mob kill only Dalits? Why did this mob kill its opponent Subodh Kumar? The mob seems to have a definite ideology, and CM Yogi Adityanath responds to these killings by saying that there is no mob lynching in Uttar Pradesh,” claimed Yadav.
He added that whenever they get a chance, they only kill Muslims and Dalits in fake encounters and invoke NSA against the same.
He said that even though the Supreme Court has asked the government to make a law on mob lynching and the law commission has also proposed the same, no tangible action has been undertaken yet. He demanded strict law against mob lynching which would result in life imprisonment for the convicts. But at the same time, he wants the law to specifically mention the caste and religious killing as he is apprehensive that the police might use the law against the backward sections itself.
Reacting to the gruesome incident of the boy who was set ablaze for refusing to say Jai Shri Ram, human rights activist and DU professor Apoorvanand Jha said that these incidents reveal a culture of violence against minorities that is being promoted across the country.
“This is a matter of death in shame for the entire country. This fire, which has burnt this minor will engulf all of us if we don’t take any action. Needless to say that the government is involved in it, and has come to power by doing all this. It is unnecessary to say how the CM and the PM is not speaking up on this incident, and as a result, the entire country is being pushed into civil war,” said Jha.
He is of the opinion that this incident has been carried out systematically to send a message to fringe elements that they are free to do whatever they want and that no action will be taken against them. If they are arrested in any case, they would be allowed to walk free.
“The result of Muzaffarnagar and Jharkhand cases is the testament to this fact. A culture of violence against minorities is being promoted and it is spreading across the country,” he said.
