Video of the incident went viral on social networking site Twitter showing Jain being slapped repeatedly by a person donning a red shirt. The incident took place in Manasa in the Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh.
Muhammad Raafi | TwoCircles.net
NEW DELHI — Police in Madhya Pradesh have found the dead body of an elderly person who was beaten by a mobster over the suspicion of being a Muslim. The slain has been identified as Bhanwarlal Jain.
A video of the incident went viral on social networking site Twitter showing Jain being slapped repeatedly by a person donning a red shirt. The incident took place in Manasa in the Neemuch district of Madhya Pradesh.
According to reports, Jain, 65, is mentally unstable and hails from Sarsi in Ratlam district of Madhya Pradesh.
In the viral video, the person who is seen slapping Jain, can be heard asking him, “What is your name…Mohammed? Are you from Jabra? Show me your Aadhar card, now,” he asks while continuing to rain blows on his head.
Trigger warning: A differently-abled elderly person Bhanwarlal Jain was brutally beaten in MP's Neemuch over suspicion of being a Muslim. The person (Dinesh Kushwaha) can be seen asking 'Are you Mohammed, Show me your Identity Card', while thrashing him. He Was Later Found Dead. pic.twitter.com/o0xvlFoUXK
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 21, 2022
A day before the video went viral, Manasa police recovered the dead body of Jain and released his pictures on social media which led to his identification.
On Friday, after the body of the slain was handed over to the family for last rites, the video of the incident went viral, following which the family members of Jain assembled outside the Manasa police station and demanded the accused be arrested.
Rakesh Jain, brother of Bhanwarlal, who along with other family members had assembled outside the Neemuch police station said that his brother had gotten lost and the whole village was looking for him. Those accompanying Rakesh said that he was a very polite man.
Meanwhile, reports said that the accused is associated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and his wife is said to be the former corporator of the BJP. He has been identified as Dinesh Kushwaha, a resident of the Kachi locality of Manasa.
The accused has been identified as Dinesh Kushwaha, associated with the BJP, his wife has served as a corporator of the city. pic.twitter.com/IFnv9QCjr6
— Mohammed Zubair (@zoo_bear) May 21, 2022
KL Dhangi, station house officer of Neemuch Police station said that Rakesh Jainreceived a video in which his elder brother was being beaten. “Kushwaha has been booked and absconding,” Dangi said.
The incident has evoked an outcry on social networking sites.
Commenting on the video, noted writer and executive editor of the Force Magazine, Ghazala Wahab tweeted: “This hatred is corrosive. It is eating up the nation itself.”
Prominent photographer Atul Kasbekar said, “We (India) are definitely on the slippery and extremely dangerous slope to anarchic law/order conditions”. “The mob now has no control and publicly not enough is seen to being done rein in such scum. This is a death knell for civilisation, not just democracy,” he tweeted.
Been saying for a bit that we r definitely on the slippery n extremely dangerous slope to anarchic law/order conditions in India
The mob now has no control n publicly not enough is seen to being done rein in such scum
This is a death knell for civilisation, not just democracy https://t.co/rb1xi5dzMH
— atul kasbekar (@atulkasbekar) May 21, 2022
Zia Haq, an associate editor with Hindustan Times tweeted, “Hindu man kills Hindu man suspecting him to be a Muslim. We are descending into a bottomless pit. #StopHate (SIC).”
Retweeting the video, noted Bollywood actor Swara Bhasker tweeted: “Good morning to everyone with the “Oh but there is no alternative “ “Oh! Aisa kuch nahi hota. Yeh Twitter par hi dikhtaa hai.” “Tum logon ko sirf Hindu musalmaan karna hai” “It’s not that bad!”.. and other such BS logic! THIS is what you have enabled! We have! This is on us!! (SIC).”
Good morning to everyone with the
“Oh but there is no alternative “
“Oh! Aisa kuch nahi hota. Yeh Twitter par hi dikhtaa hai.”
“Tum logon ko sirf Hindu musalmaan karna hai”
“It’s not that bad!”.. and other such BS logic! THIS is what you have enabled!
We have! This is on us!! https://t.co/5hUrU4i141— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) May 21, 2022
Noted professor of Peace and Conflict Research, Ashok Swain reacted to the lynching by saying, “India doing the Rwanda act.”
He tweeted, “Hindu right-wing has brutally beaten and killed a Hindu in MP, India thinking that he is a Muslim as he failed to show his identity card. India doing the Rwanda act!”
Meanwhile, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who spoke during an event in London, said that India is not in a good place. “BJP has spread kerosene all over the country. You need one spark & we’ll be in big trouble. I think that’s also the responsibility of the opposition, the Congress – that brings people, communities, states, & religions together,” Gandhi said, according to news gathering agency ANI.
Muhammad Raafi is a journalist based in New Delhi. He tweets at @MohammadRaafi