Thread by @gauravsabnis

First they came for the Akhlaqs
And I did not speak out
Because I don't eat meat

Then they came for the JNUSU
And I did not speak out
Cos I'm an engineer not a humanities grad

Then they came for ₹500/1000
And I did not speak out
Because I have latest smartphone apps

Etc

https://twitter.com/VishalDadlani/status/1653706748279287808

The Niemoller like poem about the rise of sanghism in Modi years will end up being longer than the Mahabharata.

Starts with Akhlaq. Who knows where it will end.

Indians don't speak enough about what a seminal moment the Akhlaq case was in Indian history.

He was lynched by random people on suspicion of eating beef.

Murder is the biggest crime.

Police forensics focused on whether the meat was beef, not his murder.

A seismic shift, no?

You can draw a straight line from Akhlaq to Monu Manesar.

The "investigation" of the Akhlaq case being so obsessed with whether the meat in the fridge was beef or not, sent the message that the nature of the bear meat was materially relevant to the murder. A mitigating factor.

A small but significant number of humans will always have the urge to do something cruel & selfish, and the only thing that stops them is the consequences, usually from the state.

The Akhlaq case signaled that there would be no consequences for murder, just for beef possession.

The Modi regime has been sending signals since the Akhlaq case that as long as you're ideologically with the sangh and your targets are Muslim or other non Hindus, you will face no consequences from the state.

Leveled up with #BilkisBano rapist murderer release.

Data Singh next

My prediction is that in the run-up to next year's election, they will also release Dara Singh, the murderer of Graham Staines and his two young sons.

Chavhanke & many sants have been agitating for it.

After Bilkis villains, what higher level is there but Dara Singh?

History has taught us that once a country goes down the path of rewarding ethno fascism in electoral politics, it spirals into a situation where every week has to be more extreme than the last one. It's the ideological equivalent of opiate addiction.