‘Kiya Musalman Insaan Nahin Hain?’

“ Musalman samajh ke maar diya…musalman insaan nahin hain?... Begunah Musalman family le ke chal raha hai, kyun musalman ko maar diya… Musalman hamare bhai nahin hain, kitne musalman hamare pados mein hain, woh hamari raksha karte hain, unko bhai or behan maanti hoon main…hamen bas nyaya chahiye. “

They killed him thinking he is a Muslim, are Muslims not human beings. They kill innocent Muslims, are they not our brothers? We have Muslims living in our neighbourhood, they protect us, I count them as my brothers and sisters… Please, we just want justice.

Mother of the 19 year old student Aryan Mishra shot dead after a 25 km chase in Haryana quietly, in tears, sobbing said all that the politicians and particularly the media has been unable to say. Her son was killed by supposed cow vigilantes who apparently “mistook” him for a Muslim, chased him and then shot him dead in his car. Five of them have been arrested for the moment. But the narrative being spun by television channels is back to more of the same. Mishra was a case of mistaken identity. The cow vigilantes were ‘tipped’ off, and mistook him for a cow smuggler read Muslim. Unfortunately the wrong person was killed and that is horrific.

The young boy’s mothers whose world has collapsed around her, did not lose her sense of justice even as TV reporters and camera persons hounded her and her family. To repeated questions, she basically asked them why they were reacting as if it was fine to kill a Muslim, how is that right? How is it right to kill innocent Muslims walking on the roads with their families, are they not human beings, she asked. They are innocent, and not persons who have committed a crime. And then added, something that journalists crowding her home are not even questioning — and even if they have committed a crime you cannot kill them, tell the police. Do not take law into your own hands. And then she took it several notches further by reminding the reporters that Muslim are their neighbours, who protect us, and how the family regards them as brothers and sisters. And against this background she pleaded for ‘justice’.

What an amazing woman, defying the hate and divisiveness that has taken over the streets and filled the newsrooms of the large media houses in particular. The on and on commentary of how Mishra was killed as he was mistaken to be a cow smuggler (Muslim) and not a word questioning the existence and support for such vigilante groups who have been allowed to take law into their own hands, and kill with impunity. Several Muslims have been targeted and attacked, some grievously injured and others killed, across the states. The latest incident in Haryana where the innocent 19 year old student was killed is part of a series of such attacks, with barely a murmur now from the media that is complicit in spreading hate. And justifying violence with a brazenness that smacks of complicity, ignorance, and sycophancy.

It is time for the government in the states and the centre to take immediate action, rein in the vigilante groups, and ensure that the fabric of peace and democracy is not torn apart. This continuous bleeding of humanity needs to end, Now.