IN a shocking instance of a hate crime, a Railway Protection Force constable shot dead his senior and three passengers on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express near Palghar station in Maharashtra. – File photo
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IN a shocking instance of a hate crime, a Railway Protection Force constable shot dead his senior and three passengers on board the Jaipur-Mumbai Central Express near Palghar station in Maharashtra. In a video clip, the remorseless accused is seen standing beside a blood-soaked body and heard saying: ‘Pakistan se operate hue hain… inke aaqa hain wahan… Agar vote dena hai, agar Hindustan me rehna hai, toh mein kehta hoon, Modi aur Yogi, ye do hain, aur aapke Thackeray’ (They operate from Pakistan… their leaders are there… If you want to vote, if you want to live in India, then I say, Modi and Yogi, these are the two, and your Thackeray).

The cruel irony is not lost on anyone: the passengers were gunned down by a member of a force entrusted with the protection of their lives and property. The hate-filled rant and the cold-blooded murders leave no room for doubt that the communal virus has deeply permeated our society. The chilling fact that the accused mentioned the names of the Prime Minister and the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister while giving a blood-curdling warning to India’s Muslims lays bare the unwillingness of the political leadership to deal firmly with hate speech. The train horror comes just three months after the Supreme Court, while terming hate speech as a serious offence that could affect the country’s secular fabric, had directed states and UTs to suo motu register FIRs in such cases and proceed against offenders without waiting for someone to lodge a complaint.

Communal tensions have turned countless neighbourhoods across India into a tinderbox that gets ignited by a mere spark — a remark inciting violence or a provocative show of strength in a minority-dominated locality. The clashes that erupted in Haryana’s Nuh over a religious procession are now scorching other districts of the state too. The onus is on the police to arrest and prosecute rioters and also those indulging in hate speech — else the government’s inaction would be read as its complicity.