Lynching of 2 Sadhus and their driver in Palghar, Maharashtra

The most horrific and barbaric mob lynching of 3 innocent persons happened on April 16, 2020 in Gadakchinchale village at  Palghar district which was carved out of Thane near Mumbai having a large tribal population. There had been rumors that organ harvesting gangs, child lifters and thieves were operating in the area, especially at night, for which the locals had formed vigilante groups.

The area is a Maoist hotbed and having Church Influence. The evangelical Christian missionary mafia is active in Palghar district and natives of the region talk about a notorious land mafia which is run by some tribals under auspices of a Communist movement called “Laal Bawta”.

Christian Missionaries have set up Churches in the Dahanu-Palghar tribal region north of Mumbai and a large number of Church-funded leftist NGOs are operating in the region.

On that fateful night of April 16, two Sadhus associated with the Juna Akhara, 70-year-old Kalpavrishka Giri Maharaj, and 35-year-old Sushil Giri Maharaj along with their driver 30-year-old Nilesh Telgadewere were on their way from Mumbai to Gujarat to give Samadhi to another Sadhu. The two sadhus belonged to the Gosavi nomadic tribe. One of the deceased, Kalpavriksha Giri, 70, was a mahant (head priest) of the Hanuman temple in Trimbakeshwar in Nashik while the other, Sushilgiri Maharaj, 30, used to work in Kalibari temple in Mumbai.

It was revealed that they had obtained the requisite passes and further that the driver had forewarned the police about the impending danger ahead by the mob. The police, though took them into their custody, had left them to be butchered by the mob of around 100 at Gadakchinchale village at Palghar district.

The police claimed that their team which had rushed to the spot to rescue the 70-year-old man also came under the attack of the violent mob.

But later videos emerged which completely debunked the claim of police, as it was seen that the sadhus were in the custody of the police, but the police personnel handed them over to the mob. The mob then had beaten them to death in front of the policemen. But for the videos which emerged later and having gone viral, this worst lynching would not have come to light and the Police version might have prevailed.

I urge our readers to view the video which will clearly show how callous those 6/8 police personnel were – one police man was seen actually pushing the one sadhu with bleeding head injuries to the mob for lynching!

Video of The lynching of 2 Sadhus in Palghar -  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMMGKvflqLg

The image of the bleeding elderly sadhu trying to clutch at the policeman’s arm with hope of being protected by him but being brushed off to the frenzied mob will remain seared in many minds.

Several videos of this mob lynching have gone viral, and the most disturbing part is how the police watches over the entire barbarity as the helpless Sadhus constantly pleaded for help. In one of the videos, faint voices can be heard from within the mob saying, “goli maaro (shoot them)”, a little later when the 70-year old Sadhu is escorted towards the mob, you can again hear someone say, “ishko maaro (kill him)”.

Other videos of the incident have gone viral too, and in one of the videos you can see several policemen- the number of policemen certainly sufficient to keep a mob at bay, but they simply step aside, almost complying with the mob which then pounces upon the Sadhus, beating them to death.

Remember, Juna Akhara is the oldest Akhara of Sadhus in India and it had ordained a Dalit Sadhu as “Mahamandaleshwar” two years ago. Anti-Brahmanical sentiment is a major political issue in Maharashtra and several parties have survived on Brahmin bashing, but an Akhara ordaining a Dalit priest as the “Mahamandaleshwar” is a huge threat to the anti-Brahmanical political sentiment.

The Juna Akhara states that the killer mob surrounded the vehicle of the Sadhus, killed them along with their driver and also looted cash worth Rs. 50,000/- and also the gold ornaments used for decorating idols.

This incident is worth to compare with the 2015 Dadri mob lynching and how dadri lynching was blown out of proportion and made an international issue to tarnish the image of India – as if India, after Modi came to power, has become anti-Muslim.

 

No body can justify mob lynching and lynching has no religion, but, the so-called liberals, sickularists and prestitutes are always see these lynching through their minority appeasement prisms to suit their agendas and narratives. The attack and killing of 52 year old Muslim man Mohammed Akhlaq on the suspicion of slaughtering a cow on 28th September 2015 in Bisara Village, near Dadri, UP, in his house was most condemnable and the perpetrators were to be dealt with severely.

But, the Congress, Leftists, Liberals, Secularists and all opposition parties had took up the issue locally and globally and politicized it to the brim. And the then Akhilesh UP State Government had given an ex-gratia amount of unbelievably huge sum of £. 20 lacs – actually original amount of £.10 lacs already  announced was enhanced to £.20 lacs!  The Central Government also have given a flat in defense quarters for his elder son Mohammad Sartaj, a technician in the Indian Air Force at New Delhi as a special gesture.

Many Liberal Literates had lined up at the house of Mohammed Akhlaq to pay their respects, to show their solidarity in condemning the lynching and in the process, many of them had surrendered their awards, medals, certificates etc. to the Central Government as a protest against the failure of the Government in protecting the minority community Muslim and to specially condemn Modi for his failure in protecting the minorities. But, Alas, Later events had proved that the meat stored in Akhlaq’s refrigerator was actually a cow meat as certified by a forensic lab in Mathura!  Hence it can reasonably be concluded that cow calf of Ikhlaq – a neighbor of Akhlaq – was allegedly stolen and slaughtered and the family members consumed its meat on Eid-ul-Adha – keeping the remaining in his fridge. 

Cows are sacred in Hinduism and in most Indian states including Uttar Pradesh, killing cows is unlawful (though the killing of buffaloes is allowed). 

Now the affected family of Akhalq had withdrawn from pursuing the case stating that they had been adequately compensated by the Government and that nothing useful is going to be achieved except keeping the fire of enmity between two communities alive.

 

The Hindu phobic left-liberal response to this Palghar lynching of Hindu sadhus has been quite different from their stand taken at the time of Dadri Lynching. They are doing their best to  downplay the Palghar Lynching as just ordinary violence and have quickly ruled out any ‘communal’ angle, unlike the cases of cow smugglers being killed where they were sure of ‘communal motive’ right from day one.

Apart from this Palghar Lynching, Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati ji’s brutal murder in 2008 in Kandhamal, Odisha is also the most horrible example of the  murder by the mass.

It is a fact that there is no communal angle to the Palghar incident. Indeed there is none and attempts to inject it should be treated with contempt. But the lack of outrage among some political parties, opinion makers and concerned citizens only underlines their duplicity. Had the victims been from the minority community, there would have been a huge hue and cry. But quite expectedly, that has not been the case with the Palghar incident. Even one life lost to such madness is deplorable, no matter that person’s faith, belief, creed or race.

E-Touch condemns the barbaric lynching of 3 innocent souls by the frenzied mob and pray for their Moksha.

E-Touch lays 3 wreaths for these 3 souls – 2 Sadhus Kalpavrishka Giri Maharaj, Sushil Giri Maharaj and their driver Nilesh Telgadewere.