Open Season for Lynching

Lynchings in the name of cow protection have become a common phenomenon across India, particularly since 2014, with the incumbent government providing its tacit support to such incidents. These lynchings are not stray incidents of mob violence motivated by a “love of cows,” but are calculated statements aimed at instilling fear and asserting caste or religious supremacy. Lynching acts as a tool to uphold the caste hierarchy, and as a warning towards minorities trying to improve their station in life, an act which is viewed as a “caste offence.” It can thus be viewed as a pushback from the majority against minorities, which have been progressively seeking their rights and upward mobility.

In the United States (US), it was similarly observed that the lynching of African Americans was aimed at sending a powerful message: that of the reconstitution of the sovereignty of the white community, and its political and moral order purportedly challenged by African Americans.