The online Indian news portal, The Wire, carries this report of a shooting inside a moving train (the Jaipur-to-Mumbai express) in the early morning of July 31, about 60 miles short of its destination.
“A Railway Protection Force jawan on July 31 morning shot dead four people who were on a train near the Palghar railway station in Maharashtra. Among those killed was an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) and three passengers – all Muslim men with beards – across nine carriages.”
https://thewire.in/security/railway-protection-force-constable-shoots-dead-asi-three-others-in-train
The story quotes an official statement from the Railway Protection Force (an immense, India-wide, well-armed branch of the government) as circulated by the news agency ANI: “Four casualties, including the ASI, have been reported in the firing incident inside the Jaipur Express train #12956. The accused has been arrested. DCP North GRP has been informed.”
DCP North GRP appears to be the abbreviated title of an unnamed but clearly very senior RPF officer. The story in The Wire goes on to say: “The accused RPF constable has been identified as Chetan Singh. According to the PTI and Hindustan Times, Singh first shot dead a senior officer, Tikaram Meena, in coach B-5.” This dead officer, Mr. Tikaram Meena, was clearly an RPF officer senior to the apparent killer, Chetan Singh. Adds The Wire:
“[Chetan Singh] then shot and killed a passenger, Abdul Kaderbhai Bhanpurwala, a passenger in the same coach. Singh then walked through four coaches without using his weapon until he came across a passenger in the pantry car, identified as Sadar Mohammed Hussain, and killed him. Singh then walked through two other coaches before shooting his third [passenger], Asghar Abbas Shaikh, in coach S-6.”
Next The Wire quotes the Hindustan Times: “All three passengers were bearded. As Asghar’s body toppled onto the narrow corridor, Singh rested the hilt of his assault weapon on the side seat and began a short hate-filled rant against Muslims that he asked the bystanders to record for the media’s consumption.”
The dead men’s beards had invited the bullets. The Wire adds: “A purported video of Chetan Singh speaking to passengers while standing over Asghar’s bloodied body went viral on social media. [In the video] the RPF constable says:
Pakistan se operate hue hain, tumhari media, yahi media coverage dikha rahi hai hai, pata chal raha hai unko, sab pata chal raha hai, inke aaqa hai wahan… Agar vote dena hai, agar Hindustan me rehna hai, toh mai kehta hoon, Modi aur Yogi, ye do hain, aur aapke Thackeray.
(‘They operate from Pakistan, this is what the media of the country is showing, they have found out, they know everything, their leaders are there… If you want to vote, if you want to live in India, then I say, Modi and Yogi, these are the two, and your Thackeray.’)
The last sentence in the video is evidently addressed to India’s Muslims. The Wire’s story continues: “The Indian Express quoted a source as saying that Kumar started firing after getting into an argument with Tika Ram. ‘Kumar and his senior ASI Tika Ram were deployed in the train for security… [T]he firing incident took place after an argument between Kumar and Ram,’ the source said.” The Wire’s report ends with this short paragraph:
“P.C. Sinha, Inspector General-cum-Principal Chief Security Commissioner, Western Railway, said, ‘Constable Chetan Singh is a short-tempered person and suffering from mental health issues. He first shot his superior and then shot those who came in front of him.’”
Obvious question: If someone was known as a short-tempered person suffering from mental health issues, why was he kept as a constable and given a gun?
So far I have not come across any reaction to this killing spree from any senior railway or government spokesperson other than what, as above, Mr. P. C. Sinha is reported as having said. No governmental or ruling party voice has even admitted that the only passengers killed out of the hundreds in the several coaches that Singh roamed through were the three Muslims, each of whom was identifiable as a Muslim.
In a tweet, Jairam Ramesh, chief spokesperson of the opposition Congress party, has said: “The cold-blooded murders carried out by a RPF constable is the result of an hyper-charged and highly polarised news media and social media atmosphere. The genie of hate is now out of the bottle and it will take a lot of collective effort to put it back in.”
Mr. Ramesh is right. To the much-needed collective effort sought by him, more voices from India’s Hindus, who make up eighty percent of the Indian population, need to contribute.
India has come to expect silence from those in authority in New Delhi. However, when horrible and shocking events take place, silence from non-governmental, everyday Hindus who, being human and being good Hindus, should cherish the wellbeing of their Muslim fellow citizens, is sad beyond words.