On the tragic face of it, the violence that flared in Nuh, Haryana, on July 31, and the murder on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Superfast Express the same day, are unrelated. In Nuh, communal clashes broke out during a religious procession, the Brij Mandal Jalabhishek Yatra, organised by the VHP annually. It has left at least five dead, amid incidents of stone-throwing, burning of vehicles and torching of a place of worship by mobs on a rampage, with tensions spreading to surrounding districts, right upto the doorstep of the national capital. In the backdrop of the flare-up in Nuh, is the abduction and murder of two men in February by cow vigilantes in Bhiwani — the main murder accused, who belongs to the Bajrang Dal and is still at large, reportedly played a role in stoking tensions ahead of the Yatra. On board the Mumbai-bound train, a young RPF constable opened fire and killed a senior colleague and three other passengers. A purported video of Chetan Singh, 33, captures his talk of “Pakistan” and “… agar Hindustan mein rehna hai (if you want to live in Hindustan)”. The violence between communities and unchecked cow vigilantism in Haryana, and the murders on the train between Vapi and Vaitarna railway stations, about two hours from Mumbai, point to the same sordid cycle of hate and impunity.
The onus is on politicians and the state. Not all of the Supreme Court’s laments or anguished strictures against hate speech can make a difference if there are political incentives for sharpening prejudice and polarisation on the ground. While all parties must share the responsibility for treading carefully on faultlines ahead of what promises, or threatens, to be a bitterly contested election in 2024, the burden is especially on the BJP. As the party that rules at the Centre and in Haryana, it must send out the message, unequivocally, that there will be no tolerance, much less reward, for the open purveying of hate. Over his nearly two terms in power so far, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has built a formidable cache of political capital that the Opposition evidently feels unable to take on singly — it has united to forge a front, INDIA, to fight the BJP. PM Modi must throw his political weight behind the much-needed signal, to his own party and government, and to the people, that in the “New India” he envisages, those seeking to stoke fears and deepen insecurities, and upend the rule of law, will have a price to pay.
That’s why the Monday warning must not go unheeded. Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who very effectively links the railway story to the New India story, needs to speak up. He needs to make it clear that, of course, while one constable does not a force make, in the Railway Protection Force even one rotten apple is one too many. Vaishnaw is a skilled communicator, he could begin by reaching out to the next of kin of all the four killed in cold blood by a member of a force that reports to him.
