Mr Bhagwat, your belief that talk of lynchings is just an attempt to defame India is wrong | The Indian Express

Mr Bhagwat, your belief that talk of lynchings is just an attempt to defame India is wrong | The Indian Express

Written by Tavleen Singh |Updated: October 13, 2019 9:56:00 am

Tavleen Singh, a leading Columnist associated with The Indian Express. Find all Columns from Tavleen Singh here.

Mr Bhagwat, your belief that talk of lynchings is just an attempt to defame India is wrong

Lynching has a specific context. It does not mean a riot, it does not mean any old act of public violence, it means a public hanging or stoning to death by a mob. It means punishing someone in such a manner that others will see it as a warning and a lesson.

Mohan Bhagwat said the word lynching did not exist in any Indian language and that it was being used to malign India’s fair image. (Express photo: Monica Chaturvedi/File)

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, when the RSS chief addressed his troops on the auspicious occasion of Vijayadashmi, people like me paid no attention. This is no longer possible. The RSS is now seen as a vital player in the decisions made by the Government of India. So I have learned to pay attention to what the RSS chief says. When Mohan Bhagwat held a huge press conference in Vigyan Bhawan last year, I made it a point to be there and listened carefully as he articulated his worldview. It cheered me up enormously when he announced that the thoughts of Guru Golwalkar were no longer considered sacrosanct and that the RSS did not believe any more in a Hitlerian final solution to our ‘Muslim problem’.