Car used to abduct mob lynching victims in Haryana found to be govt vehicle
As outcry over the brutal mob lynching of two Muslim men, Junaid and Nasir, continues to unfold in Haryana state, investigators have found that the car used to abduct the victims was a government vehicle. The vehicle, a white Scorpio, has been used in other abductions and violent attacks in the past.
Junaid and Nasir were brutally attacked by Hindu militants and burned alive over false suspicions of cow theft. Police have reported that the government car was used to transport the victims from Rajasthan state to Haryana, where they were further attacked by Hindu militants. Traces of blood have been found on the car’s seat.
Authorities also discovered that Hindu militant leader Monu Manesar, who was listed as the prime accused in the case until Hindu supremacists threatened police into dropping his name, has uploaded two videos to his YouTube channel featuring the same car. Both videos feature the abduction, assault, and torture of Muslim men by cow vigilantes.
Manesar’s disturbing track record of violence and anti-Muslim intimidation has also been uncovered through these videos. In one video, a man is abducted by gunpoint and forced into the Scorpio. In another video, an elderly man is assaulted until he falls unconscious, and he is later dragged across the ground partially naked.
Manesar and his associates continue to receive an outpouring of support from Hindu supremacists throughout India, allowing him to continue to walk free.
Hindu supremacists laud militant lynchers, call for more anti-Muslim violence
Hindu supremacists in two cities in Haryana state have publicly lauded the brutal torture and murder of Junaid and Nasir and called for further anti-Muslim violence.
A leader of the violent Hindu militant group Bajrang Dal Aastha Maa said, “If a Muslim man as much as looks at a Hindu daughter or sister, a skewer will be driven into his eyes.”
“I want Manohar Lal Khattar, the chief minister of Haryana, to take a cue from Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, and send bulldozers to the homes of cow traffickers. Bulldoze through their residences,” said Acharya Azad, another Hindu supremacist leader.
“It is because of Monu and his people that Manesar is able to save cows for the last eight years. Had it not been for them, the village would have turned into a mini Pakistan,” said another unidentified speaker.
The disturbing calls for violence were applauded by crowds in both cities, accompanied by chants of, “We are Hindus and [India] is ours.”
BBC responds to Indian government’s accusations of pushing an agenda
The BBC has responded to the Indian government’s accusations that the news outlet’s recently released documentary, “India: the Modi Question,” is an attempt to paint India in a negative light.
“Nothing is more important than our ability to report without fear or favour,” BBC director-general Tim Davie wrote in an email to BBC India’s staff. “Our duty to our audiences around the world is to pursue the facts through independent and impartial journalism, and to produce and distribute the very best creative content. We won’t be put off from that task.”
“I’d like to be clear: the BBC does not have an agenda – we are driven by purpose. And our first public purpose is to provide impartial news and information to help people understand and engage with the world around them,” he added.
Indian tax officials raided the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai just weeks after the government used “emergency powers” to block the documentary from airing in the country, as part of a wider crackdown on all criticisms against Modi and the ruling Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
