The sacred art and holy science of Lynching
By Dr. Aslam Abdullah
It is difficult to trace the origins of the word lynch. But like all other great ideas, it originated during the American Revolution when the phrase Lynch Law was first used to describe a punishment without trial. Charles Lynch and William Lynch, the two residents of Virginia in 1780s are credited with the phrase. However, people have been killing fellow humans without trial without the presence of this word for centuries. The word did not keep a record of all the people killed through this method, but what is known is that during 1882 and 1968 nearly 3,500 blacks and 1,300 whites were lynched in the United States. In Europe, the lynching was first recorded in 1919. The lynching has also been recorded in Mexico, Guatemala, Dominion Republic, Haiti, South Africa, Nigeria, Palestinian Territories, Israel, Afghanistan, Myanmar, and India.
The lynching of Dalits has been going on for centuries in India, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Kashmiri pundits, Christians and Muslims are some of the religious communities that have recently been added to the list of people lynched.
In recent years, after the emergence of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), a political wing of the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS), the lynching incidents against Dalits and Muslims have increased. It has now become a source of identity for the BJP supporters and leaders to prove their commitment to their version of Brahminism (an ideology that believers in the divinely ordained supremacy of upper castes of Indian known as Brahmin) by showing reverence to cow, known as mother cow and lynching people after making accusation against them.
Thus, if anyone is found guilty of eating beef or hurting a cow, the lynching mob can become active and perform the religious ritual swiftly. Since February 2017, 68 people have been lynched, four of them Dalits and the rest Muslims.
Here are certain rules for this sacred ritual to be performed:
1. Those privileged to lynch must be affiliated with RSS or its affiliated or supportive groups. The affiliation to BJP is a plus.
2. Members of the Muslim, Christian, Sikh and other religious minorities may not be involved in the lynching as the act would turn it into profane.
3. The lynching group should keep a list of meat eaters in their localities as the potential beef eaters can be identified from them. However, the list must identify their religion as there are several BJP and RSS supporters who also often mutton and chicken etc.
4. Once the Beefeater is identified, a day and a place should be chosen to lynch him or her.
5. If the Beefeater is seen with a herd of cows or is suspected of driving cows in a truck or van, the identification would be easier.
6. The Police should be requested that its presence is not needed on the day and in the area where the sacred art of lynching would be performed.
7. Those selected for lynching should be asked to wear the mask if possible.
8. If the lynching group does not use the masks, the leader should be informed so that he may alert the authorities in advance that even if identified, these people should not be charged for lynching.
9. It is not necessary for the accused beef eater to be carrying beef or using it, an allegation is enough to perform the sacred ritual.
10. The accused should be surrounded and beaten with whatever one can find to hurt to ensure he either dies on the spot or in hospital in case someone carries him there.
11. While lynching the group should constantly chant, Jai Shri Ram and Jai Bajrang Bali.
12. Immediately after the lynching, the leader should inform the BJP and RSS leadership in a manner that it could nto be traced in any way. The leadership would ensure that charges are not filed.
13. In case the charges are filed, the group should make all efforts to keep quiet and hide the main perpetrators.
14. In case the person is arrested, the leadership should ensure that the charges filed against the perpetrators are for the minimum sentence.
15. The police and the other authorities supportive of RSS and BJP should be asked to find forensic evidence that the person who was lynched was, in fact, a beef eater.
16. The topmost leadership of the RSS and BJP must always distance itself away from the lynching calling it incidents committed by unruly mobs or even Muslims who did this to blame RSS and BJP.
17. IN temples controlled by the RSS and BJP leaders, offerings should be made to thank gods for removing one more beef eater from the face of the earth.
18. Videos of the person being lynched should be circulated to satisfy the religious sentiments of the people who for security reasons could not participate in such a ritual.
19. Statements should be issued that lynching has nothing to do with religion.
20. Gods should be thanked for ensuring that RSS and BJP are in power.
Posted By: Dr. Aslam Abdullah
Dr. Aslam Abdullah is a naturalized US citizen with residence in California. He is originally from India where he worked as an editor in Daily Dawat, an Urdu language newspaper, and March of the Nation as well as Research officer for International Youth Center. He also taught sociology in Jamia Millia for a short period. He worked as an editor for the Islamic World Review, a monthly publication from London, England. In the US, Dr. Aslam worked as vice president of American Islamic College as well as editor in chief of the monthly Minaret magazine and the weekly Muslim Observer. He was the vice chairman of the Muslim Public Affairs Council as well as the Muslim American Council. He served in the capacity of director for Islamic Society of Nevada as well as the Masjid Ibrahim in Las Vegas. He also taught Islamic Studies at the OLLI center of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He has authored several books and published hundreds of papers in different magazines and newspapers all over the world.