False narrative of mob lynching gets a rebuttal; 62 dignitaries smack conspiracy to malign India
New Delhi, July 26: Slating an example of being a democratic country, a secular nation, India in the past few years have seen examples where people have been deliberately trying to spread unwanted controversy of intolerance. Speaking out of nowhere, a group 49 members from the film fraternity, historians and authors wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, raising concern over increase in incidents of lynching and branding of citizens as “anti nationals”.
Trying to malign the position of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by deliberately pointing out instances of mob lynching where Muslims are targeted, these 49 members got a befitting reply from 62 personalities as they have written an open letter against the "selective outrage and false narratives". Titled 'Against Selective Outrage & False Narratives,' the letter terms those who wrote about mob-killings as "self-styled guardians and conscience keepers" and charges them of political bias.
The letter by 62 personalities includes actor Kangana Ranaut, CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi and classical dancer Sonal Mansingh, instrumentalist Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, filmmakers Madhur Bhandarkar and Vivek Agnihotri etc. Slamming the 49 -styled 'guardians' and 'conscience keepers' of the nation, the letter published by them on July 23, 2019 aims at tarnishing India's international standing and to negatively portray Prime Minister Modi's untiring efforts to effectuate governance on the foundations of positive nationalism and humanism which is the core of Indianness.
The letter of those 49 members signed by filmmakers Mani Ratnam, Shyam Benegal, Anurag Kashyap, Aparna Sen, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Ketan Mehta, among others, asked the Prime Minister to act in this regard and ensure harsher laws against the menace. Speaking out openly and placing facts before the people, the letter by 62 personalities clearly states that these people kept mum, were silent when tribals and the marginalised have become victims of Naxal terror, they have kept silent when separatists have issued dictates to burn schools in Kashmir, they have kept silent when the demand for dismembering India, for making pieces of her ‘Tukde Tukde’ were made, they kept silent when slogans chanted by terrorists and terror groups were echoed in some leading university campuses in the country.
People asking is it a Mob lynching if only Muslim is involved?
As these people are trying to create unwanted controversy, the question that disturbs and continuously triggers is why have they been silent for all this while? Why is mob lynching becoming a major issue when it targets a Muslim and not a Hindu? Why has the slogan ‘Jai Shree Ram’ purposely conceptualised as a provocative war-cry to create animosity among the masses?
The mob lynching incident in Jharkhand on Tabrez Ansari was an unfortunate incident. People had gotten into a fight with Ansari on 18th June who was accused of trying to steal a bike. The police was informed about the same and the latest forensic reports by doctors suggest that Ansari’s death was because of cardiac arrest and not due to mob arrest.
Similarly there has been a incident where a Muslim mob deliberately beat a Hindu man Navin Yadav who was ultimately killed. But there was no out-cry over this incidence, why because the person who was killed was a Hindu?
Why does this ‘deep concern’ that these 49 people have shown only target the incident where Muslims are targeted? Is it called ‘mob lynching’ when only Muslims are involved? Freedom of expression gives us the liberty to speak what we think, but not to spread rumour or manipulate people with false narratives.