What Happens After a Lynching? Karwan-e-Mohabbat Steps In

Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
Cameraperson: Athar Rather & Akanksha Kumar

“I don’t want revenge, I just want justice” – these are the words of Mariam Khatoon whose husband Alimuddin Ansari was lynched in June 2017. Alimuddin, a resident of Manuwa village in Ramgarh (Jharkhand) and a coal-trader by profession, was lynched by a mob on allegations of carrying beef.

As part of the Karwan-e-Mohabbat initiative, when a team of journalists, activists and lawyers, met Mariam Khatoon last year, they were moved by her resilience.

She (Mariam Khatoon) just needs to hear that they have not been completely abandoned by the state. That somebody may have done something wrong, which has hurt her so deeply but there are others who will step in to do the right thing.

Natasha Badhwar (Author & Member, Karwan team)

A Special Kind of Suffering

Human rights activist and former IAS officer Harsh Mander launched the Karwan-e-Mohabbat initiative last year. Mander was joined in this endeavour by senior journalist John Dayal and author Natasha Badhwar.

The idea is to offer legal and medical help to the survivors of hate violence. Between September and October 2017, the Karwan team visited people across eight states.

Their interactions with the families of victims have now made it to a book titled, ‘Reconciliation: Karwan e Mohabaat’s journey of solidarity through a wounded India’.

When you lose your loved one to hate violence, it has a very different quality of suffering. It’s harder to come to terms with that.

Harsh Mander, Human Rights Activist

Police Hand-in-Glove

Recalling their interaction with Jaffruddin Hassan, whose son Salim was lynched in 2013, Mander said it was difficult for survivors to come to terms with the sheer brutality of crime.

His (Jaffruddin Hassan) son had been lynched and the police tried to cover it up by calling it a natural accident. Following the agitation, police decided to exhume the body for postmortem.

Harsh Mander, Human Rights Activist

Though Jaffruddin had agreed to exhumation, but was troubled by the fact that his son’s grave was dug up again.

After the post mortem, he hadn’t got a copy of the report. He (Jaffruddin Hassan) was in great suffering.

Harsh Mander, Human Rights Activist

“If they give us the post mortem report, my son will go to Jannat,” Jaffruddin Hassan told the Karwan team.

In Assam’s Goalpara, the Karwan team met with the family of Yakub who was killed in police firing last year. For journalist and activist John Dayal, meeting with Yakub’s widow Rahima was ‘traumatic’.

A Muslim girl (Rahima) was married to his younger brother who was lynched. With great affection, she produced the photograph of her first husband, she’s mourning her second.

John Dayal, Senior Journalist     

For Dayal, who has been documenting cases related to hate crime for last four decades, “It was difficult to cope with Rahima’s pain.”

Hate Videos

Not just victims’ families, the Karwan team also met with the kith and kin of perpetrators. One such meeting with Shambhu Lal Regar’s family in Rajasthan’s Rajsamand district revealed why he had killed Afrazul, a migrant labourer from Malda.

We went to Shambhu Lal Regar’s home where other brothers lived together. They described that he (Shambhu Lal) had a small marble business and after demonetization, it collapsed completely. Shambhu Lal spent most of his time looking at these hate videos.

Harsh Mander, Human Rights Activist     

It’s a Spectacle

The lynching of African Americans in the US used to be public spectacle, spurred by religious fervor and watched by white families over picnics. In today’s India, lynchings are videographed public performances. The attackers themselves catch most lynch attacks on mobile phone cameras.

Excerpt from ‘Reconciliation’

One such public spectacle was the lynching of Pehlu Khan who was targeted by a mob while he was transporting cows for dairy purposes.

Activists like Mander have questioned the role of police for not being able to distinguish between milch cow and cattle meant for slaughter.

In Pehlu Khan’s case, Alwar police had filed a case against victim and his aides based on allegations of cow smuggling.

What is prohibited is transportation of cattle for slaughter. Both Pehlu Khan and Rakbar Khan had gone to buy milch cattle. They had to spend Rs 25,000-30,000 per cow. One gets Rs 5,000-6,000 when you get a cow for slaughter. In both cases, it was evident that they were not taking cows for slaughter. Yet, they were lynched.

Harsh Mander, Human Rights Activist

The Karwan-e-Mohabbat came under protests and stone-pelting by fringe groups in Alwar when Mander announced that he wanted to pay a floral tribute on the spot where Pehlu Khan was lynched.

But just a day apart, in Ajmer, people welcomed the team with a shower of flowers. “Both instances represent two aspects of India,” says Mander, as he emphasises an idea of India that is inclusive, irrespective of caste, creed and religion.