On December 30, 2024, Qureshi and his friend Mohammad Adnan were attacked brutally by an aggressive Hindutva mob shouting the slogans of “Jai Shree Ram” alleging that Qureshi and Adnan had slaughtered a cow. As the horror started, Adnan escaped, Qureshi was left alone as he faced the brunt of hatred in totality. The brutal tortures were inflicted on him. Later, as the police version goes, he was admitted to the Moradabad district hospital, and succumbed to his injuries.

According to a report in a national daily, the Majhola Station House Officer Mohit Chaudhary simply states, “We took suo motu cognizance and registered an FIR against Qureshi and Mohammad Adnan (29) for cow slaughter”. Till then it was not even confirmed whether it was cow or simply any cattle and the mob had tortured Qureshi so cruelly that he could later live only for few hours in the hospital. In yet another report, a second FIR has been registered by Mohammad Shahjad (the brother of the deceased) against unidentified individuals under Section 103(1) (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Police made an arrest of accomplice of the deceased who was allegedly with him at the time of the assault for cow slaughter. SHO Mohit Chaudhary said that Adnan fled the spot after locals found him and Qureshi slaughtering an ox, (and not cow) in the early hours of December 30, 2024. However, it must be noted that so far, the Police has not been able to make any arrests in the murder case. The Additional Superintendent of Police (City) Kumar Ran Vijay Singh said investigations are ongoing, but “We have not been able to arrest anybody in connection with the killing of Qureshi so far.”

It is just tip of an iceberg. Law-and-order situation has gone even worse. With the help of majoritarianism, efforts are being made to establish an autocratic regime. It will be a weapon in the hands of the rulers, who manage to exist only on the basis of dividing the country into innumerable pieces. Our Composite culture does not permit any divisive stand, our Constitution stands on the basics of equality, liberty, and fraternity. Voting rights have been assigned to all citizens irrespective of their community, caste or gender.

According to a research, the primary cause for violence against Muslim civilians between, June 2019 to March 2024, has been by cow vigilante actions by Hindus. In another report, between the year 2010 and mid-2017, a total of 63 cow vigilante attacks have occurred in India, and that too after the forces of Right had the ropes to control the country in 2014. In these attacks, 28 individuals were killed, of which 24 were Muslims, and 124 were injured. Furthermore, the Human Rights Watch has observed that there has been a surge in cow vigilante violence in India since the year 2015 and the same is attributed to the recent rise in Hindutva forces. Cow related violence has spiked up drastically from 5 percent of the total incident of lynching or public disorder in the year 2011, to 20 percent in the year 2017. Cow vigilantism can be perceived as an expression of latent communal prejudice. It is also a consequent of divisive strategy leading to communal polarization. It helps create an atmosphere of fear and threat also for the minority community.

It must be realized that we have arrived at a stage where humans are annihilated to avenge slaughter of a cow. It is also turning into horror just to know that incidents of lynching and public disorder have spiked up drastically from five percent in 2011, to 20 percent in 2017. The Supreme Court has also expressed its concern on rising number of cow vigilantism and observed that “Lynching and creeping mob violence are threats that may turn into typhoon-like horror as evidenced in the wake of the rising wave of incidents of recurring patterns by frenzied mobs across the country instigated by intolerance and misinformed by circulation of fake news and false stories.

There has been an unfortunate litany of spiralling mob violence and agonised horror presenting a grim and gruesome picture that compels us to reflect whether the populace of a great Republic like ours has lost the values of tolerance to sustain a diverse culture.” While the Judiciary has time and again highlighted the dangers of mob violence and how the same affects the secular fabric of India, there has been little to no action taken by the law enforcement bodies to ensure public order and peace.

The action of Moradabad police of filing an FIR against the deceased reflects the deep-rooted bias and extreme Hindu nationalist ideology that has become deeply ingrained even in the law-enforcement machinery of India. It is pertinent to note and understand that anarchy, chaos and disorder ensue when any group of people under the garb of self-assumed and self-appointed protectors of law take the law into their own hands, which would then lead to the emergence of a violent society. (IPA Service)