TAP TO UNMUTE A group of men sport black armband to protest against atrocities on this auspicious occasion of Eid. | Photo Credit: Facebook

Lucknow: As Muslims around the world celebrate Eid - marking the end of Ramadan fast - on Monday, the mood in India is a little different this year. In view of the recent atrocities against Muslims in the country, people across religions are planning to sport a black band on their arms.

It is not secret that the country has seen an increase in public lynching, especially involving Muslims since 2016. The most recent incident involves a 15-year-old Muslim youth Junaid Khan, who was travelling with his friends via train from Delhi to Mathura.

The young boy was travelling with his brothers and was heading home after Eid shopping. His brothers were also beaten up brutally by a group of 10-15 people. Not long ago, another Muslim police officer Mohammad Ayub Pandith was lynched to death by an irate mob in Jammu and Kashmir.

Another lynching incident involves a dairy farmer Pehlu khan, 55, who was openly lynched on a highway by a large group of cow vigilantes. Such incidents have naturally triggered a sense of injustice across the nation.

Read: Kashmir's bloodiest Ramzan in years with 42 deaths

In view of these atrocities against minority groups, a campaign was started on social media to raise a voice in support of Muslims in the country on Saturday. It quickly picked up pace the following day with multiple hashtags - #StopKillingMuslims and #EidWithBlackArmBand.

Some of the people who joined the campaign expressed their views on Twitter, condemning the BJP government for not taking action against the public lynching of Muslims. Some noted figures have said that the word lynching has become a familiar word in recent times and that these incidents are becoming the new ‘normal’.

Coming back to the campaign it referred the day as 'Black Eid 2017' and called upon the Muslims to wear black bands on their right arm when they go to offer the Eid namaz.

However, not only Muslims but people across religious boundaries have promised to join the movement. "We are going to wear the black bands in solidarity with them," said Rajeev Yadav, an active campaigner told The Times of India.

While there was huge uproar after Mohammad Akhlaq Khan, a resident of Dadri, was lynched to death in 2015 on a mere suspicion. No action was taken against the perpetrators. While the people in power rubbished this off as a one-time incident, the number of lynching incidents in 2016 kept increasing a frightening pace.

Now, halfway through 2017, it can be said that atrocities against minorities – Muslims have Dalits – have increased exponentially, but as mentioned earlier, these incidents are still being rubbished as ‘one-off-incidents’.

On this day, at a time when a public lynching without consequence is becoming popular, the government has to take steps to crack down on such illegal acts of violence.

(Picture courtesy: Affan Ahmad/ Facebook)