A former Indian lawmaker charged with crimes ranging from kidnapping to murder was gunned down with his brother on live television over the weekend, raising concerns over links between extrajudicial action and Hindu nationalism.
(Bloomberg) — A former Indian lawmaker charged with crimes ranging from kidnapping to murder was gunned down with his brother on live television over the weekend, raising concerns over links between extrajudicial action and Hindu nationalism.
Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were under heavy police escort from prison as they made their way to a hospital in the northern Uttar Pradesh state on Saturday when three men posing as reporters opened fire, killing the duo.
The media reported that one of the assailants was chanting a slogan hailing the Hindu god Rama, which has also become a rallying cry for Hindu nationalists against Muslims.
Here’s everything we know about the killings so far:
Who is Atiq Ahmad?
Ahmad, 60, was a convicted mafia figure-turned-politician who is Muslim. He was first elected to India’s lower house of national parliament in 2004 for a local party, in the same seat once held by India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. But his career was dogged by criminal accusations — more than 100 in total. Ahmad was jailed in 2019, and was then given a life sentence after being convicted of kidnapping a lawyer who testified against him for the 2005 murder of a local politician, Raju Pal. The lawyer Umesh Pal was killed earlier this year and Ahmad was questioned for his involvement.
How did he die?
Television footage on the night of April 15 shows Ahmad and his brother being interviewed by journalists as they walk with police escorts to a hospital for a check up in a city in Uttar Pradesh. A gunman appears and then holds a gun to Ahmad’s left temple, shooting him point-blank. His brother is also shot as most of the police melt away. Multiple gun shots are then fired at both men after they collapse.
Who was behind the shooting?
The three suspected assailants were eventually arrested and they have confessed to the shootings, which they said they carried out to gain fame, police said. However the authorities have not ruled out a possible hit job, according to a report by The Times of India. Ahmad has long spoken about threats to his life and made a failed bid to India’s highest court for his protection in custody. Ahmad’s son Asad, who was wanted for the murder of Umesh Pal, was also killed last week in what local police described as a shootout, though some politicians have accused authorities of orchestrating the killing.
What happens next?
Government officials have imposed a ban on the assembly of more than four people across the state, and also cut internet access on mobile phones in the city where the brothers were killed, the Associated Press reported. Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath appointed a judicial commission made up of three members including former judges to probe the murders, with a report expected within two months.
What are the political consequences?
The killings have shone a light on the frequency of extrajudicial actions in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India that’s been ruled since 2017 by Adityanath, who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. The saffron robe-wearing monk-turned-politician has positioned himself as a protector of Hindu interests and has promoted vigilante action against his critics, Muslims and interfaith relationships among others. Opposition criticism against Adityanath is now rising, with Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of India’s West Bengal state, writing on Twitter that she was “shocked by the brazen anarchy and total collapse of law & order in Uttar Pradesh.”
The audacity of the murders in a state that’s home to attractions like the Taj Mahal, and a population larger than that of Brazil’s, is likely as well to raise new questions about law and order in the world’s largest democracy. However, Modi and his party continue to remain extremely popular with voters ahead of national elections due next year.
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