Lost Fraternity: A Mob Lynching in Broad Daylight
Lost Fraternity: A Mob Lynching in Broad Daylight: A Betrayal of the Promise of the Constitution
“The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting.” – Milan Kundera
This fact-finding report is an attempt to document one of the many mob lynchings in the country – crimes that the state and the media are systematically erasing from public memory. We produce this report as part of our commitment to keep the struggle for justice alive, and to reiterate that violations of the inherent human rights of individuals will not go unaddressed.
This Fact Finding was only possible thanks to the trust and faith placed by the family of the deceased in the fact finding team, in human rights organisations and in their own imagination of justice. We sincerely thank them for letting the fact finding team into their lives at such a dark hour of personal grief and collective loss. Our sincere thanks also to the many interlocutors/translators who made it easy for the team and the family to interact across barriers of language.
The incident covered in the report is not just a stray example; it speaks to how polarisation in the region has led to the complete dehumanisation of certain communities – and how, this has in turn resulted in the deterioration of the rule of law in Dakshina Kannada. We were able to clearly address this concern thanks to extensive discussions with Vinay Sreenivasa, Arvind Narrain, Vidya Dinker, Shujayatullae, Muneer Katipalla and Naveen Soorinje. Discussions with Adv Maitreyi, Adv Sivamanithan, Nadeem Khan, Adv Hufaiza and Prakriti shaped the team’s understanding of the gaps in the investigation by the police. We are deeply grateful to them for their guidance.
Syeda Saba and Arvind Narrain gave their critical inputs on the design of the cover page and the report, we could not have done this without their support.
We also thank all the journalists and local activists whose sharp inputs on the situation in the region has ensured that the report remains sharp and grounded. We would also like to thank Riya, Manjunath and Venkatesh, who supported the team by transcribing the testimonies. Without the gracious support of Siddharth Narrain, Swathi Shivanand, Ram V, Poorna Ravishankar, Vinay Sreenivasa, Maitreyi Krishnan and Arvind Narrain to edit this report, the authors would not have been able to write this report.
The authors of this report would like to thank all these individuals for their time and valuable contribution to the report. It is because of each of these individuals that the fact finding team finds hope for justice for the family of Mohammed Ashraf.
To all the people reading this report: all these individuals and organisations are living proof that a mob lynching is not normal. A hate crime has no place in a civilised democratic society. We must not let the apathy of the many take away our conviction against what is wrong.
Executive Summary Lost Fraternity – A Mob Lynching in Broad Daylight
Kannada Executive Summary Lost Fraternity – A Mob Lynching in Broad Daylight
Malayalam Executive Summary Lost Fraternity – A Mob Lynching in Broad Daylight