The Lynch Map

Mobs have taken over the streets since the BJP has come to power. Nobody is discussing the normalization of lynching. The cow vigilantes have been given legitimacy - thanks to the silence of the ruling party. Nobody is speaking about how caste oppression is being sustained and reinforced. Rabid discourse has taken over WhatsApp forwards, news channels, and the comments sections of social media platforms. Will there be a time when we start tolerating every act of brutality?

Listed below are some of the mob lynches and beatings that took place in 2017:

1. Sanjarwas village, Dadri district, Uttar Pradesh - A Dalit groom, Sanjay, was pushed down from the horse during the marriage procession and his family members were allegedly beaten up by a dozen upper caste men at Sanjarwas village in Dadri district.
   -April 4th, 2017. Hindustan Times
    
2.  Alwar, Rajasthan - Pehlu Khan, a dairy farmer from Nuh district of Haryana was brutally lynched by a group of 200 cow vigilantes affiliated with right-wing Hindutva groups. Six others who were with Pehlu Khan were also beaten up by the cow vigilantes.
   -April 5th, 2017. Hindustan Times
    
3. Guwahati, Assam - A mob allegedly lynched two men in Nagaon district, after they were suspected to be cattle thieves. This was the first case of cow vigilantes going to such extremes in the state.
   - May 1st, 2017. Times Now
    
4. Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh - A group of men thrashed Ghulam Mohammad days after one of his relatives eloped with a Hindu girl. The family of the 45-year-old man, who was beaten by a group of about 10 men, has blamed the right-wing group Hindu Yuva Vahini.
   -May 2nd, 2017. India Today
    
5. Seraikela-Kharsawan, Jharkhand - Locals lynched three people suspecting them to be members of child-kidnapping gang. They were Sheikh Sajju (25), Sheikh Siraj (26) and Naim (35).
   -May 18th, 2017. Hindustan Times
    
6. Barmer, Rajasthan - One person was beaten to death in Loharwa village of Barmer district when two groups clashed over a land dispute.
   - May 21, 2017. Times Now
    
7. Pratapgarh, Rajasthan - Activist Zafar Hussein was lynched allegedly by municipal workers in Pratapgarh district for objecting to photography and videography of women defecating in the open.
   -June 16th, 2017. Financial express

    

8. Ballabhgarh, Haryana – A 15-year-old Junaid Khan was stabbed to death on a Delhi-Mathura train by a mob that mocked his skull cap and called him a “beef eater”.
   - June 22nd, 2017. The Indian Express
    
9. Nowhatta, Jammu and Kashmir - Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohammed Ayub Pandith was attacked and beaten to death by a mob at Nowhatta, Jammu and Kashmir.
   - June 23rd, 2017. Scroll.in
    
10.  Durgapur, West Bengal - On Saturday, barely two days before Eid, three Muslim youth were lynched in Durgapur village, West Bengal, by a mob of cow vigilantes over suspicion of cow theft.
    - June 26, 2017. Times Now