Seraikela, Jharkhand. June 2019
A gang of men, armed with sticks and crude batons, surround a twenty-four-year-old man. He is on his knees, tied to an electric pole. Heckling and booing, they question him:
Mob: ‘What’s your name?’
‘Sonu.’
Mob: ‘What’s your full name, full name?’
‘Sonu Ansari.’
Mob: ‘Sonu can not have Ansari as his last name. Give us your original name.’
‘Tabrez. Tabrez Ansari.’
Mob: ‘Ah! He’s a Muslim; Say Jai Shri Ram.’
Tabrez: ‘Jai Shri Ram’
Mob: ‘Say it again. Jai Shri Ram.’
Tabrez: ‘Jai Shri Ram.’
Mob: ‘Say Jai Hanuman’
Tabrez: ‘Jai Hanuman’
Mob: ‘Say it again; Jai Hanuman.’
Tabrez: ‘Jai Hanuman’
The mob trashed Tabrez (also known by his pet name, Sonu). With each one taking his turn, the brutal assault continued through the night. The next day, the mob accused Tabrez of stealing a motorcycle and handed him to the police. The police took Tabrez to the hospital, but within a few hours, he died.
Mob lynching is the new normal, a routine occurrence, in the world’s largest democracy. ‘Jai Shri Ram’ has become a mantra for India’s lynch mobs. Unfortunately, Ram–the mythic hero represented as a personification of dignity and grace in one of India’s greatest epics, the Ramayana–is now routinely invoked to intimidate and kill people. His name is exhorted not as an expression of Bhakti or reverence, but as an expression of hatred for India’s minorities, particularly Muslims.
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