On 14th July 2008 a person named Shailendra Prasad was beheaded in Murshidapur1. This was done at the behest of a Kangaroo Court called Shalishi Sabha. The reason for execution was his marriage to a Muslim lady Munera Bibi. As reported by The Telegraph “Lack of education and poverty sustain shalishi sabhas in the state- economists and sociologists said in the wake of the beheading in Murshidabad.”2 Just to remind you this beheading was done in very cold blooded manner by an organized social structure. Also, note that Murshidabad is a Muslim majority district with little more than 60% Muslim population.

This beheading did not prompt any of our enlightened journalists and intellectuals to write long editorials criticizing the evils of majoritarian mentality. No one blamed Islam squarely. No one bothered to even talk about it on the sidelines.

Cut to 2015, the lynching of a Muslim man in Dadri is debated widely at national level. Compare the headlines of these two incidents. While the headline of Murshidabad incident was “Kangaroo court 'executes' man for marrying outside religion”, in this case it was “Dadri Beef Rumour: Hindu Mob Lynches Muslim Man Suspected Of Killing And Eating A Cow.”

Do we want to provoke Muslims across India with such explosive headlines? Here I am not comparing the two tragedies just to prove that Dadri murder was somehow justified. Both the incidents are condemnable and culprits need to be brought to justice and punished. What I am trying to highlight is the difference between the treatments meted out to these two incidents.

With this context let me talk about a scathing article written by PB Mehta on Dadri killing, in The Indian Express. The article, though a reaction on another article by Tarun Vijay, basically makes three main points.

Dadri Killing is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a larger communal hatred in the country. Current government (or at least the party heading current government) is somehow responsible for this. By logical deduction from point 2, Modi is responsible since he is PM of this government.

Is communal hatred increasing in recent years?

Let’s analyze first point. From the years 2003 to 2013 on an average 250 people died in communal violence in India in 8473 reported incidents in that decade. This means about 845 incidents on an average per year. In 2015 until 31st of May, 43 people reportedly died in 287 reported incidents. These numbers in 2015 if projected for full year would be around 100 deaths in 700 incidents, which is just like any average year during UPA rule too. This surely is not a sign of a healthy society but an increase in communal incidents is definitely not seen from the available statistics. If Mehta is talking about environment of communal tension in the public discourse, then should the media not try to diffuse it rather than using provocative headlines as shown above?

Is BJP responsible for recent communal tensions?

Let’s now come to the second point. Mehta makes these allegations on BJP based on few statements from BJP leaders. He selectively taked two statements, one from Tarun Vijay’s article and one from what Union Minister Mahesh Sharma spoke to journalists. Tarun Vijay writes “… lynching on mere suspicion is totally wrong…” Mehta’s interpretation to this is “…lynching is ok if it was not based on mere suspicion...” This kind of interpretation is astounding if one reads Vijay’s entire article. Though, I do not agree with what he writes in the article, it doesn’t convey what Mehta wants us to infer. In fact Vijay has unequivocally condemned the communal violence.

Mehta then quotes Mahesh Sharma where the minister said that Dadri incident was an accident. This sounds entirely wrong if read in isolation. But if you read the entire statement from Sharma, it is very clear that he is merely making a case of not communalizing the whole incident. I quote Sharma,

"This (incident) should be considered as an accident without giving any communal color to it. Two other families live with the affected family in the middle of the village with their walls adjoining each other. About 10-12 houses of other community are in the outlying part of the village but no incident has happened there. I feel this incident occurred due to some misunderstanding and the law should truthfully act against whoever is responsible for it."

Does this sound like anything Mehta is trying to interpret it to be?

However, point is not about defending Sharma or Vijay. The point is how our esteemed thinkers and intellectuals are trying to paint the ruling government of time by picking up statements and misinterpreting them.

While blaming BJP, Mehta forgets that maximum number of communal incidents are reported in UP and West Bengal. Both states are ruled by non-BJP governments. Even for Dadri killing it is the Samajwadi Party that should be held accountable. Except for the 2002 Gujarat riots there is no large scale riot reported in BJP ruled states, yet our media puts all blame on BJP always.

It is Modi who is responsible for Dadri and other communal incidents?

As per recent reports of the UP police, Dadri incident was masterminded by an individual for revenge of some personal animosity with Akhlaq. That person had also put pressure on temple priest to announce that Akhlaq slaughtered a cow and ate it. This same person then led the provoked crowd to beat Akhlaq which lead to his tragic death.

If an enlightened thinker like Mehta thinks that Modi should be blamed for this then basically we are saying PM is responsible for every crime in the country. In such a case PM should also be controlling law and order of entire country directly. If this is done, will it not prompt the same thinkers to turn around and say that Modi is dictatorial?

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