DC Edit | Hate Against Minorities Behind Kerala Lynching

Baghel had been in Kerala for almost a week as he had come there in search of work. The 31-year-old woman, who has a husband and two children, chose to go to Kerala because her brother had been working there for some time. He had just arrived here and had no knowledge of the local language, Malayalam, so he lost his way and wandered into the Attapallam village near the border.

A group of people, some with criminal backgrounds, set up a kangaroo court and tried him by asking him if he was Bangladeshi. They tortured him for hours and brutally left him there. The surrounding people informed the police and took him to the hospital, where he died. The doctor who performed the autopsy said that there was no part of his body that was uninjured.

The state government appears to have treated this horrific incident with the seriousness it deserves. The crime branch of the state police is investigating the case and has arrested five people. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan unequivocally condemned the incident and said the government will do everything possible to ensure strictest punishment is given to the culprits. The state cabinet will soon decide on the compensation to be given to the guest worker’s family.

Most of those arrested were allegedly linked to the RSS and were accused of carrying out attacks on CPI(M) workers in the region in the past. Right-wing forces in the country are finding protectors and benefactors in the government at the centre, and are now rearing their ugly heads in a state that has had an impeccable record of social harmony throughout its history. Kerala has resisted the advances of such forces all these years. Even the leaders of the BJP in Kerala were mindful of this background while presenting their politics to the public. But it seems that the spread of hatred has gone beyond them.

If diversity is the founding principle of India, then Kerala has every right to represent it at its best. Thanks to the welcoming policy it has followed for hundreds of years, every religion on earth has members in varying proportions. Kerala has followed this principle scrupulously in modern days too: With an estimated population of 3.5 million, the state is home to nearly 25 lakh migrant workers from across the country. Some of them are from the second generation and were born, educated and employed in the state.

It is a paradox that at least some of the people of the state, who consist of those who have traveled to many continents and countries, question the status of a migrant worker. The question of whether Baghel is Bangladeshi is not an accidental question; This has its roots in the hate campaign against followers of Islam in the state. The fact that religion came to the state about 14 centuries ago and that its members lived here in perfect harmony with others does not prevent hate mongers from targeting them.

It is time for Kerala to wake up from complacency about its history and culture and wake up to the fact that the values ​​the state holds dear are now under attack from right-wing forces. Civilizational progress is not on autopilot anywhere in the world; It must be defended, protected, endured and nourished with great effort. For now, the state must pay adequate compensation to the Baghel family and ensure proper investigation of the case.