Book: Mob Lynching in India: A Record – 2014-2024
Zafarul-Islam Khan (ed.)
Publisher: Pharos Media, New Delhi (www.pharosmedia.com; email: books@pharosmedia.com; mobile: 9911142151)
Pages: 744 (large format)
Year: 2026. Price: Rs. 900
By Zillur Rahman Haider
An exhaustive report has just been published for the first time on the mob lynching violence spanning a decade. Titled “Mob Lynching in India: A Record–2014-2024”, this 744-page large format report studies and documents 1,743 incidents of lynching during the period covered and for the first time provides a detailed examination of mob violence, a distinct form of home-grown terrorism that has become a ‘new normal’ across large parts of India in the 21st century.
Covering the period of the first two terms of the Narendra Modi-led BJP government from May 2014 to May 2024, the book traces the evolution of collective hate crimes. A group of researchers worked over years to collate data for this book which is compiled and edited by Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan, a veteran journalist and human rights defender who earlier served as chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission.
The study argues that while mob violence has historical precedents in India, such as the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, the Gujarat riots of 2002 and murder of so-called ‘witches’, the post-2014 mob violence differs significantly in nature. Rather than erupting as episodic communal riots that used to subside after days, mob lynching has transformed into a persistent, everyday phenomenon so much so that it now seldom gets reported on front or even inside pages. While a large segment of these incidents are hate crimes targeting Muslims, Christians and Dalits, it became fashionable, especially in rural areas, to take the extrajudicial route to kill suspects in cases like child and cattle lifting and witchcraft claims, road rage, enmity, conversion and inter-caste marriages, etc. Lacklustre and sometimes supportive role of police also encouraged people to take the law into their hands.
According to the study, the current wave of lynchings initially gained momentum around cow vigilantism, centred on allegations of beef consumption, cow slaughter, and livestock trading. However, this study documents how cow vigilantes became a quasi police force in a number of BJP-ruled states, how they murdered Muslims with impunity, levied charges on trucks ferrying cattle, and looted cattle worth trillions of rupees with official connivance in a number of states in north India. Mobs also became a law unto themselves in settling disputes involving personal quarrels over land, money and inter-caste marriages, rumours of child-lifting, cattle theft, financial disagreements, and even incidents such as drinking water from temple taps.
The study highlights a distinct modus operandi in contemporary hate crimes: individuals wearing visible markers of Muslim identity, such as beards or skullcaps, are frequently targeted in public spaces, buses, trains and on roads. Victims are often forced to chant religious slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and are subjected to fatal physical assaults if they refuse. The book notes that this environment has drastically altered public mobility, creating a reality where traveling while Muslim carries heightened risks, especially for the poor.
A key dimension detailed in the work is the role of technology and the impunity enjoyed by people misusing it. Perpetrators frequently record their violent acts and openly share the videos on WhatsApp and social media platforms. The study attributes this brazenness to systemic protection, noting that accused individuals often secure bail within days or weeks and are occasionally welcomed back into communities as heroes. The book cites instances where senior political figures, including a Union Minister, publicly feted individuals accused of mob violence, garlanded them and paid for their legal fees.
Socio-Political Drivers and Economic Dynamics
The study positions mob lynching as a strategic alternative to the traditional communal riots. Unlike full-scale riots, where perpetrators risked sustaining injuries and damage to their properties, mob lynching of poor and unarmed individuals allows violent crowds to target victims with minimal risk to themselves. The studycharacterises these acts as an effort to instil fear, enforce submission, and marginalise minority communities,drawing a direct historical parallel to the crusade of anti-lynching advocate Ida B. Wells-Barnett against violence targeting Afro-Americans in the late 19th-century United States for similar reasons.
The study explores the political economy behind vigilante networks. It shows that organised violent groups provide informal employment for unemployed youth from the lower strata of society. Under the guise of cow protection, livestock and property worth trillions of rupees have been robbed by these armed groups across north India. These illegal groups also impose hefty ‘fees’ on trucks carrying livestock.
Furthermore, the study asserts that these organised mobs serve broader political objectives, being mobilised before and during elections to intimidate political adversaries and consolidate vote banks. The study notes that Sangh-affiliated violence has consequently spread into states where it was historically rare, including West Bengal, Goa, and the North East.
The study criticises public apathy and media misreporting, noting that TV channels and online platforms, amplified by IT cells of Hindutva,effectively act as media lynch mobs. While Muslims, in addition to Christians and Dalits, are primary targets of vigilante violence, the study observes a disparity in community responses: while Dalit groups retain some capacity to organise public protests, and Christians bring out periodic reports, Muslim populations face systemic intimidation, including the threat of punitive administrative actions such as house, mosque, madrasa and dargah demolitions without due judicial process.
A Disturbing Reflection of Societal Sentiments
To illustrate the political climate allowing this violence, the study cites a revealing exchange between renowned journalist Tavleen Singh and a senior RSS official. When asked why mobs attacking unarmed individuals are celebrated as a sign of valour, the official responded, “At least the Hindus have learned how to fight back.”
The study clarifies that the findings presented in this work represent a conservative sample rather than an exhaustive census of all violence during 2014-2024. The documentation relies primarily on reports published in major Delhi-based newspapers, some news portals and social media records.
Due to resource constraints preventing comprehensive scanning of local police station logs and regional press, the study emphasises that actual incidents are likely to exceed the reported figures by a substantial margin. The study intentionally excludes state-sponsored encounter killings and deaths in police custody, which it classifies as a separate category of extrajudicial violence to be addressed in a subsequent study.
Calls for Legislative and Structural Reform
The study presents a critical evaluation of India’s existing legal mechanisms, arguing that standard criminal procedures have failed to deter mob violence due to a lack of political will and pervasive police complicity. It notes that even under non-BJP state governments, preventive detention laws like the National Security Act (NSA) and UAPA continue to be invoked against alleged cow slaughterers, in addition to vigilantes attacking them at will.
To address the crisis, the study cites senior journalist G. Sampath who advocates a targeted approach to hate crimes. The book calls for the revival and enactment of the Anti-Communal Violence Bill of 2011, which was previously shelved by the UPA government, and for stringent anti-lynching laws in place of the lacklustre judicial efforts to control this crime.
Key Recommendations
The study says that effective legal intervention requires structural actions across all levels of governance and civil society. The report encourages victims and their families to report these crimes immediately to law enforcement, media, and rights organisations, and to resist all pressure or inducements to alter testimony or withdraw legal cases.
To State Administrations, the report advocates swift investigations and prosecutions, to address police inaction and provide immediate financial compensation alongwith free legal aid to the survivors and families of victims, revoke cattle trade and transport restrictions, and amend state protection laws to stop outsourcing enforcement to private groups.
The study exhorts Civil Society groups to document hate violence for global and domestic audiences, foster social acceptance for anti-hate laws, and deliver legal awareness and training to vulnerable groups.
It asks the Government of India to enact a dedicated, stringent anti-lynching law as advised by the Supreme Court, pass strict legislation targeting online hate and Islamophobia, publish disaggregated hate-crime data through the Crime Research Bureau, and mandate stricter bail conditions for offenders. The study further asks the international community to diligently monitor hate crimes in India, encourage adherence to international human rights norms, support legal framework reforms, and assist in prosecuting human rights violators who relocate abroad.
The study concludes that the proliferation of mob vigilantism poses a direct threat to India’s constitutional framework and international standing. It serves as a formal warning against institutional complacency, emphasising that a nation cannot win global respect or maintain domestic stability while allowing extrajudicial violence to operate with impunity within its borders.
The study has been meticulously prepared by a group of researchers over many years and compiled and edited by the veteran journalist Zafarul-Islam Khan.