On Thursday, a man was beaten to death by an enraged mob for chopping wood. Does it not make sense? Read again. In the dead of night on Thursday, a Muslim man was targetted by a local mob on accusations of committing an illegal activity in the state of Rajasthan. Now, some quarters might call it an episode of mob justice without any interplay of creed or religion. But considering an endless spree of spontaneous expression of anger by charged crows, are things actually as “fine” as proclaimed by the ruling party? Largely because their wrath is directed towards members of minority communities, the state does not appear in a mood to do anything whatsoever against mobocracies. In Mary, when a court awarded a sentence to four men for lynching a Muslim dairy farmer, many in the legal community were of the view that exemplary punishments alone could help push the proverbial genie in. It had begun from Love Jihad and obsession with sacredness of cows but now, communal tensions are the norm and literally everything from one’s profession to dietary preferences to posts on social media are on the radar. Armed with sticks and stones and chanting religious slogans, supporters of ultranationalist Hindu organisations feel free to charge into whichever neighbourhood, bulldoze whichever shop or house and kill whosoever they wish. Thriving on their votes, especially with the election season around the corner, the BJP conveniently looks the other way or even provides support under the table. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi is busy selling the Incredible Indian dream to the international community, he skips the violence of the cow vigilantes or the fact that Muslims in India live under constant fear. Since India is now considered among the five largest economies in the world, the gross mishandling of its internal matters is of no concern to the leaders of the free world. After all, atrocities should only be condemned when committed in the developing world. *