The day Supreme Court judgment calling mob lynching unacceptable and holding the local administration and the state and Central governments responsible for preventing it, in a faraway hick town Pakur in Jharkhand, Swami Agnivesh was assaulted by a group of blood hounds. The Arya Samaj proponent and an internationally well-known personality, Swami Agnivesh is an 80 year old saint whose life is devoted to the uplift of the downtrodden and he mostly works among the tribal population of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, etc. He is also a person who broke bread with prime ministers and presidents. But for the goons, he was a threat as he is a staunch opponent of the lynchings being carried out by fanatics. It bodes ill for the country that  attack on Swami Agnivesh took place on the same day as the Supreme Court’s reprimand.

The attackers alleged that Agnivesh was there as part of a conspiracy to brainwash the gullible Paharias, to convert them into Christianity, to spread unrest, etc, forgetting the fact that Arya Samaj is a Hindu outfit which opposes many Hindu rituals. While explaining their stand on the attack, they blamed the swami for not informing the administration and police about his visit and minute-to-minute programme. Even if this were true, how does it become a cause for attack? The abject failure of the police in no only preventing the attack and after that no apprehending the criminals who can easily be identified through the CCTV recordings is glaring.

The manner in which some leaders of the ruling dispensation are justifying the assault is consistent with their stance in all cases of mob lynching done in the name of beef eating or illegal cow trading. They deny their involvement but defend the “offended” people. They put the entire blame on the victims themselves, who by their alleged sacrilegious acts goaded the otherwise peace loving assailants in to committing the crime. Agnivesh is a national figure. If he can be assaulted in this manner with impunity, all political and social workers are vulnerable.

 

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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