Journalist and author Dayashankar Mishra has recently published Akhlaq: Bharat Mein Mob Lynching Ki Vistrit Zameeni Padtaal, a Hindi book based on extensive fieldwork on mob lynching. The book argues that mob lynching is not simply a spontaneous expression of public anger, but is often organised and carried out systematically. The subject raises important questions about democracy, the Constitution, minority rights, and the role of both ruling and opposition parties. It also examines the role of the mainstream media, which is widely seen as a watchdog of democracy. In an interview conducted by Abhay Kumar, the author discusses the wider political and social dimensions of mob lynching and the process of writing the book. The following is an excerpt from the interview.
What inspired you to take up mob lynching as the central theme of your book? Would you also like to mention the names of some of your colleagues, supporters, and sympathisers who encouraged or assisted you in this project?
Dayashankar Mishra: My book is not merely the story of Mohammad Akhlaq, who was a victim of mob lynching in Dadri, Uttar Pradesh. Rather, the book discusses several cases of mob lynching to show a pattern. But yes, the case of Akhlaq represents all those who have been victims or are being persecuted and killed across India. I would contend that, in the known history of India, there has been no such trend of lynching of citizens. The book also examines in detail the mob lynching of Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh, who was performing his duty in uniform, as well as the lynching of 19-year-old Aryan Mishra.
The real danger is not mob lynching, but the silence that follows. Our society, literary and journalistic circles, and the government have largely remained silent. We had never before seen the Indian media encourage mobs or provoke violence in the way we have witnessed in incidents of mob lynching. Even during the Gujarat riots in 2002, it is true that the local media propagated communal frenzy, but the national media in Delhi, on the other hand, followed a different approach. But since 2014, the Gujarat model of the media has gradually been implemented across the country. Hindutva forces have made statements in the media to justify such violence. The BJP and organisations affiliated with the RSS have supported the violence carried out by the Bajrang Dal and other such groups.
These are some of the major reasons behind the publication of this book. However, writing this book was not an easy task. The proposal for this book was rejected by various publications. But I am grateful to the Thakur Family Foundation, whose support made it possible to complete the book. I would especially like to mention the contribution of my friend Dinesh Thakur, author of the acclaimed book The Truth Pill: The Myth of Drug Regulation in India, to the completion of this work. He continued to give me his time and was always willing to listen to even my smallest concerns. The book could not have been completed without the support of senior journalist Raju Parulekar, Maharashtra-based historian Sarfaraz Ahmad, Amiya Pandav from Odisha, and Professor Manish Doshi from Gujarat. Several other friends also contributed to the making of this book, but given the present circumstances, they do not wish their names to be acknowledged.
How much time did you spend completing this book? How difficult, or easy, was this project for you, particularly given the sensitive nature of the subject and the fieldwork involved?
Dayashankar Mishra: Writing this book was an extremely painful journey. As I worked on it, I witnessed the helpless tears of people who had suffered violence, injustice and oppression – not only Muslims, but also Christians and Dalits – at the hands of a powerful and oppressive system. For several months, I simply could not figure out in what words I should record this suffering. My words almost failed me. All that floated in my mind were tears. It took nearly three years to complete the book. Mob lynching is an extremely sensitive subject. The victims are caught in a vicious cycle of administrative action, bulldozers and repression. For the families of those who have lost their lives, expressing their pain is an immensely difficult task. It is like reopening the wounds of grief, suffering, torture and oppression. For this, there has to be a bridge of trust between the author and the victims and their families.
The continuous spread of hatred and disinformation against Muslims by the media has made the work of every journalist difficult. The book is entirely based on ground-level research, and I have conducted extensive fieldwork. We spent considerable time travelling to different parts of the country, including Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The suffering and tears documented in the book do not belong only to those with whom we spoke; they represent the pain of the millions of people whom we could not reach. Moreover, this is a study of the violence that has emerged from the decline of civic consciousness and reason in India, and from the growing threat of communalism. It is much like the way we witness, understand and experience the devastation caused by earthquakes and floods. This book seeks to examine communal violence in its wider social and political context.
You have been a journalist for a long time, well before the rise of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government. While reading your book, one gets the impression that the media became increasingly indifferent to the issues and concerns of Muslims after the rise of Modi, apart from also becoming an important medium for spreading communal discourse. However, the mainstream media was also criticised for its bias against Dalits, Adivasis, lower castes, and minorities, including Muslims, even before 2014.
Dayashankar Mishra: The mainstream media has become an extension of the IT cell of the BJP. There has never been an ideal era of journalism in India. Even so, before 2014, the media had never remained so submissive before the government for such a long period. Earlier, the media was criticised for inadequate coverage, for ignoring the concerns of Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims, and for its prejudices. But when had we ever seen the media playing such an active role in spreading hatred and disinformation?
Today, the media has abandoned the basic principles of journalism. It is no longer merely singing the praises of those in power; it has also positioned itself against the people while acting in opposition to the spirit of the Constitution. The biggest difference between the role of the media before and after 2014 can be seen in its departure from constitutional values, its strong support for the idea of a Hindu Rashtra, and its role as a propagandist partner of the government.
Your book contains a detailed discussion of mob lynching and attacks on marginalised sections, particularly in BJP-ruled states. Do you think the book would have served a greater purpose if it had also covered incidents in Congress-ruled states and states governed by other secular parties?
Dayashankar Mishra: I would request you to reconsider the way you have framed the question. At the same time, we also need to examine how the previous governments responded after incidents of mob lynching. The lynching of Graham Staines in January 1999 took place under a non-BJP government. At the time, Odisha was governed by the Congress, with Janaki Ballabh Patnaik as chief minister. The lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in September 2015 also took place under a non-BJP government. Uttar Pradesh was then governed by the Samajwadi Party, with Akhilesh Yadav as chief minister. Similarly, the lynching of Mohsin Shaikh in June 2014 took place under a non-BJP government. Maharashtra was then governed by a Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coalition led by Prithviraj Chavan.
In all three cases, the respective governments took action against those accused. In the Graham Staines case, Dara Singh and Mahendra Hembram were convicted. Dara Singh was sentenced to death by the trial court, while Hembram was sentenced to life imprisonment. The Orissa High Court later commuted Singh’s death sentence to life imprisonment and upheld Hembram’s conviction. Similarly, following Akhlaq’s lynching in Dadri, the Akhilesh Yadav government registered an FIR and took steps through the legal process against those accused.
However, after the BJP government came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the approach of the police and administration changed. The accused subsequently obtained bail, and the rule of law was increasingly replaced by what came to be described as ‘bulldozer rule’. The same point applies to the mob lynching of Mohsin Shaikh in Maharashtra. While Maharashtra was governed by a Congress-NCP coalition in 2014, the BJP later came to power. Ujjwal Nikam, a well-known lawyer, appearing as the special public prosecutor in the Mohsin Shaikh mob-lynching case, suddenly decided to withdraw from the case in 2017. Nikam did not publicly give any immediate clear reason for his decision. Subsequently, in January 2023, a Pune sessions court acquitted Dhananjay Desai, founder of the Hindu Rashtra Sena, along with the other accused in the Mohsin Shaikh murder case. The court said that the prosecution had failed to prove the case beyond reasonable doubt. We subsequently saw Ujjwal Nikam enter electoral politics as a BJP candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Mumbai North Central. He was later nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
In the cases of Graham Staines, Mohammad Akhlaq and Mohsin Shaikh, one can clearly see, the role of a particular ideology, political forces and their networks in providing patronage to the perpetrators. However, secular political parties have never defended those responsible for these killings.
The difference is that where there were non-BJP governments, the police and administration acted under the rule of law to prosecute those accused. But with a change in government, a process of portraying those accused of mob lynching as ‘heroes’ began. Today, most states in India have BJP governments, but instead of ensuring that those responsible for mob lynching are punished, the victims themselves are being held responsible. The BJP governments appear to be standing with the accused rather than with the victims.
This book can help us understand the forces behind communalism in India and how mob lynching can be used to gain and retain political power. During the Modi Government, we saw Union Minister Jayant Sinha garlanding and welcoming people convicted in a mob-lynching case. In Gujarat, we also saw Sangh-affiliated organisations welcoming those convicted in the Bilkis Bano case.
Since 2014, a situation has emerged in which those in power have increasingly supported people accused of violence and injustice against Muslims. For example, in November 2025, we saw the Uttar Pradesh government move to withdraw the case against those accused of lynching Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri. The plea was rejected by the lower court, but, in my view, the move exposed the thinking of the Yogi Government. It revealed an approach that puts the idea of a Hindu Rashtra ahead of the rule of law and adherence to the Constitution.
As a result, ordinary Muslim citizens face discrimination everywhere – from the streets to workplaces, jobs and employment. Muslim academics, government officials and doctors, as well as even young children, are being targeted. All of this is part of the process of mob lynching. What is happening to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam is also part of this process of mob lynching. Mob lynching is not limited to physical attacks or killings; it also includes attacks on the rights of Muslims, Christians and Dalits, bulldozer action and discrimination.
We agree with your argument that mob violence is not merely a series of isolated incidents but a systemic phenomenon, and that such violence often receives support or protection from those in power. However, opposition parties also have a responsibility to stand with the people, particularly those who are victims of such violence and discrimination.
Dayashankar Mishra: Dealing with mob violence is not the responsibility of political parties; it is the responsibility of the government. Mob lynching is the government’s greatest failure. It is a direct violation of the Constitution. The irony is that ministers, legislators and senior leaders in the government are competing with one another in making hate speeches. Hate speech is the biggest fuel for mob lynching. We can see a competition among BJP leaders over who can go the furthest in this race of hatred. There is a direct correlation between the growing share of hateful leaders in positions of power and the rise of hate speech. As a result, hatred is spreading fast throughout society. As far as standing with the victims is concerned, the opposition as well as society as a whole needs to play a more active role. I consider the indifference towards mob lynching among civil society organisations and different communities in India to be one of the biggest concerns. Nothing can be more dangerous than the silence of fellow citizens when a citizen becomes a victim of mob lynching. This silence gives an unspoken strength to authoritarianism.
Your book offers a detailed discussion of several cases of mob lynching and the experiences of its victims. However, you have not discussed in detail how Muslims can be empowered so that they cannot be suppressed or marginalised. Do you agree that justice for Muslims cannot be ensured merely by addressing individual cases of violence, but requires us to look at Muslim empowerment in a broader historical, social, economic, and political context?
Dayashankar Mishra: This book documents how Muslims’ rights to life, dignity and equality have been violated, from bulldozer attacks to the denial of their Constitutional rights. The book also documents the authoritarian actions of those in power. The conversation with historian Sarfaraz Ahmad on the empowerment of Muslims deserves careful attention. It discusses the rights of Muslims, the obstacles they face in moving forward, and the important steps needed for their development.
How can India be freed from mob lynching?
Dayashankar Mishra: The path to freeing India from mob lynching lies in a collective struggle involving society, citizens, political forces and constitutional institutions. As citizens, we should hope that India can move beyond this period of hatred and violence and uphold the values of equality, harmony, love, dignity and humanity for which our forefathers fought during the long struggle for freedom.
