In the video of Khan’s killing, which has already become viral on social media, the saffron goon is seen declaring he killed Afrazul to save a woman from "love jihad" and warning that anyone challenging the majority community would "meet the same fate". He was shouting: "There is a BJP government in Rajasthan”.

The prime minister maintained a passive silence on the killing of Afrazul. In the past too, he did not utter a single word on the assassination of Mohammed Akhlaq, Hafiz Junaid and Ummar Khan. Ever since the Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014, love jihad, beef eating and cow protection have become the most controversial topics across India. Though Rajasthan has emerged as a rogue state, where the criminals and vigilantes rule the roost, the situation in southern states is no better. Since 2010, 78 cow-related hate crimes have been reported across India, 97 per cent of these after 2014.

Afrazul was killed for allegedly having a relation with a Hindu woman. What is of significance is the marauder at no stage claimed that he had sexual relationship with the woman. The intention of the Hindutva goon became clear from the words he uttered while killing Afrazul. If the prime minister was really serious not to allow such incidents to repeat, he should have asked the state governments to instruct their respective police forces to act decisively. Even the Home minister was non-committal in assuring the country and particularly the Muslims that they are safe in their country.

Modi should ask the Hindutva brigade not to doubt the honesty of Muslims or call them Pakistanis. But he never did it. He never counseled them. No doubt, Afrazul represented the marginalized section of the Indian society. But maintaining that a marginalised labour was killed was a shrewd tactics to deflect the charge against Modi and his government. Otherwise too, the proletariats are always vulnerable. But in the case of Afrazul it was not the marginalization or any class element that provoked the murder. Instead it was purely an act of communal violence. Unfortunately, the media presented Afrazul as the villain. According to the media, he was not a victim of communal violence.

Afrazul Khan, a middle-aged migrant labourer from Malda in West Bengal, was subjected to unspeakable violence and then set on fire by the killer, who threatened that all those who carry out "love jihad" will be punished. No one sought to validate the veracity of the fact.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that the pathological hatred against Muslims that has been ingrained in Indian media, especially the electronic media, by the RSS and BJP leaders do not allow them to see the horror Muslims are subjected to by nationalist and Hindutva vigilantes. What is really a matter of shame is that the media has been deliberately painting the Muslims as perpetrators of crime and as Hindu hater pro-Pakistanis. In recent months, some Hindus too have been arrested for supporting Muslim terrorists.

Though there has been a common perception of media being centrist in outlook and character, its real face of being feudal and communal surfaced only after the BJP came to power. We had noticed in the seventies how the media played down the attack and oppression of the landed gentry and their militia on the dalits and harijans. Instead of presenting the real reasons behind the gruesome killings, the most candid example was the Belchi massacre, which was presented as a war between criminals. The media often give criminal turn to such incidents. Their narratives always served the class interest of the feudal lords.

In recent times, every action of the BJP and Modi government was described as a major boost to nationalism. It is really shame that any criticism of the BJP’s or RSS slogan of ultra-nationalism was described by the media as anti-national and pro-Pakistani. The worst has been the stance of some of the TV channels. They serve the interest of the BJP-RSS and perform the task of being the vanguard of their model of Hinduism and Hindutva.

It is intriguing how the marauders managed to record the entire operation and upload the video on the internet. This they did without any fear of the possibility of the clip being used as evidence against him. This simply underlines their contempt for the police.

It is a matter of utter shame that Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has been trying to dilute the nature of crime, saying the killing was not a case of love jihad. While in the video the murderer openly claims it, Naqvi was trying to protect the image of the party. Addressing a general body meeting of the Maulana Azad Education Foundation, he claimed that “some sick people” were trying to disturb the communal harmony prevailing in society.

Modi, who is not tired of claiming former US president Barrack Obama as his friend, has not cared to follow his advice. Just ahead of stepping down, Obama spoke against religious intolerance in India, saying India's future success would depend on it not splintering along religious lines. Obama said he had emphasised the need for religious tolerance and the right to practice one’s own faith during closed door talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his last trip to India in 2015. (IPA Service)