Justice for Indrajit : Are Gau Rakshaks extorting money for Muharram?

While liberal chatterati in BJP ruled states continue to enhance their elite status through fashionable threats from Gau Rakshaks, both real and imaginary, the plight of ordinary Hindus goes neglected. Of course, in keeping with the established norms of liberal discourse (see here, for example…thanks Rajdeep!) we will accept the premise that the life of politically active Hindus should be worth measurably less in the eyes of society. Therefore, we will not speak about RSS worker Magali Ravi hacked to death in Mysuru last week while on his way back from a meeting to oppose the celebration of Tipu Jayanthi (please DON’T see here). We will also agree not to speak about RSS / BJP leader Rudresh who was hacked to death in Bengaluru last month as per “Operation Murghi Cut” by “activists” of certain secular organizations (again, please DON’T see here). Speculations abound that the plan to kill Rudresh was originally titled “Operation Beef cut” by the concerned “activists”, but they had to revise the name to “Operation Murghi cut” because they were scared of being bothered by intolerant Gau Rakshaks.

So, today we will talk about an unfortunate victim by the name of Indrajit Dutta from Birbhum in West Bengal. This is a story of an innocent man who refused to contribute for Moharram observances and was brutally murdered and conveniently forgotten by a partisan media and intellectual ecosystem. Attacked savagely two weeks ago, Indrajit Dutta breathed his last on Oct 31, 2016.

Let me translate the key portions of that passage for you from Bangla to English:

“Oct 31: A 16 day battle ends. Indrajit Dutta aka Bapan finally lost the battle for his life. He breathed his last on Monday morning in a private hospital in Bardhaman … The genesis of this event lies in resentment between two groups over the collection of funds for observing Moharram. It has come to knowledge that persons from Kharasinpur village, Police Station Mayureshwar stopped a truck loaded with rice belonging to one Gautam Dutta and demanded a hefty amount for Moharram. On refusing to pay money, the driver and cleaner of the truck were beaten up. On Oct 15, the driver and cleaner of the truck noticed the same goons hanging out near Bahina crossing in Mallarpur and slapped them. Following this, people from Kharasinpur village gathered on the Mallarpur-Mayureshwar road. At the same time, Indrajit Dutta, a cycle repair man by profession was traveling on that road on a motorbike along with his two friends Sukumar Sarkar and Abhijit Mondal. The Moharram committee people stopped them and beat them up brutally. Sukumar and Abhijit managed to escape with their lives but the Moharram Committee people would not stop beating up Indrajit. In a critical condition, Indrajit was first taken to the primary health center at Mallarpur Block, then to Rampurhat Zila Hospital and again to Bardhaman Medical College Hospital. Later he was transferred to a private hospital in Bardhaman and placed on ventilator from that very day. He went into a coma and ultimately the doctors could not save his life”. 

No justice for a poor cycle repair man because he happened to belong to the wrong religion at the wrong place at the wrong time and was murdered by the wrong group of people. Instead, look what the liberals uncovered.

See? He was murdered for refusing to contribute to Moharram. Oh…pardon me…I’m so sorry, it’s “allegedly refusing”. How can we ever forget the most important word in liberal lingo when the victims belong to the communal religion? And in the SAME article, the Bengal Police concludes that “there is no communal angle to the assault“.  Somewhere in the head of a secular liberal, that totally makes sense. Much more sense than saying, for instance, that if the MP police wanted to stage a fake encounter, they could have easily done it without sacrificing a head constable and without gathering hundreds of people around with mobile phone cameras. Just saying. I am crazy, I know…

I get it. This Indrajit Dutta story isn’t exciting enough to spark the interest of our media and intellectuals. It also suffers from a tyranny of distance. Consider that Mallarpur doesn’t even have an airstrip, unlike the busy and well-connected aviation hub at Dadri International Airport.

But Indrajit Dutta deserves justice. Which is why I have an idea, folks! Let’s start a rumor, indeed a rumor to spice up this boring Indrajit Dutta case into the most mouth-watering media story ever. If that is what it takes, let’s do that. So, I suggest the entire online right wing co-operate with me in reshaping this story to fit the ground realities of modern India, as seen through editorial eyes, of course.

How about a rumor like this?

Mr. Indrajit Dutta was a common man working in Kolkata’s media industry. This Dussehra, he refused to participate in the destruction of our environment through fireworks and crackers and burning large Ravana figures. Instead, Indrajit decided to spend his money on watching a Bollywood movie in an air conditioned multiplex. He was on his way, when his autowallah suddenly noticed his leather shoes, turned around and drove him to the hangout of the local Moharram committee which incidentally was run by Gau Rakshaks. They  demanded to know if his shoes were made of cow leather. Frightened, Indrajit pleaded ignorance and begged for mercy. The Gau Rakshaks  demanded that Indrajit pay a hefty sum to support their Moharram observances. Indrajit tried to explain that he was carrying money for the noble cause  of watching a Bollywood movie with multiple Pakistani actors, but the Gau Rakshaks would not listen to him. He was beaten up mercilessly and ultimately lost his life.  

What do you think, friends? You think we have a chance getting some attention if the story is changed this way? Please feel free to embellish the rumor further by connecting it, for instance, to the heinous church attacks. You could also experiment boldly with the storyline: perhaps Indrajit actually committed suicide. These days “institutional murder” gets attention like never before. If Kejriwal doesn’t find another institutional murder soon, they will make him go back to grunt work in the Delhi CM’s office. Such are the Burre Din that have descended upon this unquiet land that even Chief Ministers are unemployed, unable to buy even a pen and forced to string together a series of special appearances to make a living.