Samar Halarnkar - Empowered, emboldened and weaponised, India’s roving mobs flourish under state patronage

By Dilip -
It is that time of the year when millions of saffron-clad kanwariyas, devotees of Shiva the destroyer, fill pots of water from the holy Ganga and carry it on foot to shrines across the plains of northern India. From stray pilgrims walking alongside roads in the 1980s, the kanwar yatra – the journey of the kanwars, named after a pole they carry with pots on its ends – has grown into a heaving, pulsing mass of humanity that slows or shuts down India’s highways.

With a year to go for general elections that are likely to be a much closer affair than the Bharatiya Janata Party’s facile victory in 2014, the ruling party is making sure it does not impede or offend this walking, swaggering vote bank. The swagger of this massive pilgrimage, as events of this month have shown, has increased because the police and other administrative arms of the state have made their approach clear. While many are peaceful, a substantial number of kanwariyas are not. This week, they wrecked a car, attacked trucks, beat a cyclist with canes and sledgehammers and vandalised a police vehicle, forcing officers to flee... see more:
https://scroll.in/article/890034/empowered-emboldened-and-weaponised-indias-roving-mobs-flourish-under-state-patronage

Killers Out On Bail, Ramgarh Lynching Victim's Family To Move SC

see also
51st Victim: IB Officer Investigating Vyapam Scam Killed In A Road Accident
More posts on Vyapam
Sabotage of Indian criminal justice continues: Aseemanand’s ‘disclosure’ missing from court
Democratic Liberties Only Belong To The Bold And Vigilant, Says Justice Chelameswar In Moving Farewell Speech
Posts on Judge Loya's mysterious death
The law of killing - a brief history of Indian fascism
Ajmer blast case: Two including a former RSS worker get life imprisonment
BHARAT BHUSHAN - Narendra Modi's Republic of fear ...
Public Appeal - Resist degradation of Indian criminal justice system
The emperor's masks: 'apolitical' RSS calls the shots in Modi sarkar
NIKITA SAXENA - Death Of Judge Loya: Testimonies Of Ravi Bhawan Employees Raise Questions About Statements Of Four Judges // Post-Mortem Examination Manipulated Under Directions Of Doctor Related To Maharashtra Cabinet Minister
Major General S.G.Vombatkere: Is There a Threat To The Constitution?

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