Rae Bareli lynching: Mob rule terrifying hallmark of our times, say Kharge, Rahul

In a joint statement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi said that the brutal murder of Valmiki is a “grave offense against the Constitution of this country”

The Congress party on Tuesday condemned the lynching of a man from the Dalit community Hariom Valmiki in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli.

Five villagers were arrested last Saturday for lynching a 38-year-old Valmiki on suspicion of being a drone thief. (HT file photo)

In a joint statement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi said that the brutal murder of Valmiki is a “grave offense against the Constitution of this country, a crime against the Dalit community, and a stain on this country and society.”

The two leaders also said that, “Since 2014 (when the BJP came to power), trends like mob lynching, bulldozer injustice, and mob rule have become a terrifying hallmark of our times.”

Five villagers were arrested last Saturday for lynching a 38-year-old Valmiki on suspicion of being a drone thief in Rae Bareli district’s Unchahar area, police said. The local police station in-charge was also removed for failing to prevent the incident despite prior alerts over rumours of drone thieves across rural Uttar Pradesh.

According to police, Hariom was walking to his in-laws’ home in Dandepur Jamunapur when a mob surrounded him and accused him of being a member of a gang marking houses with drones for theft.

Referring to the Constitution, the joint statement said, “Our country has a Constitution that recognizes every human being as equal. There is a law that guarantees every citizen’s safety, rights, and equal freedom of expression. What happened in Rae Bareli is a grave offense against the Constitution of this country, a crime against the Dalit community, and a stain on this country and society.”

The two top leaders of the Congress pointed to the rise in crimes against the Scheduled Castes (SC) and minorities adding that such crimes have sky-rocketed in recent times.

“Crimes against Dalits, minorities, and the poor have skyrocketed. This violence is most prevalent against those who are marginalized, marginalized, and lack adequate representation, whether it’s crimes against women in Hathras and Unnao, Hariom’s murder in Rae Bareli, or the institutionalized murder of Rohit Vemula some time ago, the inhumane incident of a leader urinating on a tribal youth in Madhya Pradesh, and the mild beating of Dalits in Odisha and Madhya Pradesh,” Kharge and Gandhi’s statement said.

“Whether it’s the murder of Pehlu Khan in Haryana or Akhlaq in Uttar Pradesh, each incident reflects the growing insensitivity of our society, administration, and ruling powers. Since 2014, trends like mob lynching, bulldozer injustice, and mobocracy have become a terrifying hallmark of our times,” the statement said.

Kharge and Gandhi also called upon people to “unite against this injustice”.

“This fight must continue until the rights and dignity of life of every Indian are fully protected,” they said, adding that “Violence cannot be a hallmark of any civilized society, therefore, what happened to Hariom poses a serious question mark on our collective morality.”

“The India of Bhimrao Ambedkar’s dreams and the India of Mahatma Gandhi’s Vaishnav Jan is an India of social justice, equality, and compassion, in which there is no place for such crimes. Humanity is the only way. The Congress Party is committed to the empowerment of the deprived and vulnerable sections of society. We call upon citizens to unite against this injustice. This fight must continue until the rights and dignity of life of every Indian are fully protected,” the statement added.