In recent years, several Hindu festivals have faced increasing attacks by Islamist groups, and the festival of Navratri has not been an exception. This year, during the holy celebrations of Navratri, Bharat witnessed a spate of stone-pelting and vandalism incidents across the country, with Organiser compiling as many as 17 such cases.
However, what stands out is the tragic and brutal killing of 22-year-old Ram Gopal Mishra, who was murdered by an Islamist mob during one such attack in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. This horrific incident has sent shockwaves across the country, especially after the gruesome details of the postmortem report surfaced, revealing the extent of the barbaric treatment inflicted on Mishra. This report seeks to provide a detailed account of the events of October 13, the killing of Ram Gopal Mishra, and the larger narrative that has emerged from this tragic incident.
The events of October 13
On October 13, like many Hindus across Bharat, Ram Gopal Mishra joined the Durga Visarjan procession in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. The atmosphere was vibrant, with devotees dancing and singing bhajans as they accompanied the murti of Maa Durga for visarjan. The procession was a celebration of faith, a ritual performed with great devotion and enthusiasm. However, as the procession reached the Mehsi area, tensions began to rise. Mehsi, as many locals pointed out, is a predominantly Muslim area, and the procession was set to pass by a mosque. As the devotees approached the mosque, a group of Muslims emerged, demanding that the music be turned off.
When the devotees refused to comply, a heated argument ensued, escalating into stone-pelting from the Muslim community. Some of the stones hit the murti of Maa Durga, desecrating it and provoking outrage among the Hindu participants. In response, the Hindus retaliated, resulting in clashes between the two groups. Among the chaos, Ram Gopal Mishra found himself in the heart of the conflict.
The saffron flag and the attack
As the situation escalated, Mishra, in an attempt to assert his community’s pride, climbed onto the roof of a house belonging to Abdul Hamid, a local Muslim resident. Video footage from the scene shows Mishra attempting to remove a green flag that had been hoisted on the house. Encouraged by the crowd below, Mishra replaced the green flag with a saffron one. Chants of “Jai Maa Durga” and “Jai Hanuman” echoed through the air as Mishra waved the saffron flag in a show of strength and devotion.
However, this act of defiance proved fatal for Ram Gopal. After waving the flag, Mishra was dragged into a nearby house by a group of men from the Muslim community. What followed was an act of unspeakable brutality. According to postmortem reports and eyewitness accounts, Mishra was beaten mercilessly by his attackers. His nails were ripped out with pliers, and he was severely tortured before being fatally shot. Despite the desperate efforts of his family to get him medical help, Mishra succumbed to his injuries at Rajkiya Medical College.
The aftermath: A nation in shock
The news of Ram Gopal Mishra’s death spread rapidly, sparking outrage and protests across the country. On October 14, the streets of Bahraich were filled with demonstrators demanding justice for Mishra. His body was laid out in protest, as the Hindu community mourned his loss and called for action against those responsible. The postmortem report confirmed the horrific details of his torture, leaving no doubt about the brutality he had suffered at the hands of the Islamist mob.
Kamal Shankar Chaturvedi, the newly appointed Station House Officer (SHO) of Hardi, confirmed the arrests of 26 individuals involved in the stone-pelting during the visarjan procession. Among the arrested were several residents of Maharajganj, including Mohammad Avesh, Tajmul, Mohammad Nisar, Dilshad, and Rehan. However, for Mishra’s family, the arrests did little to alleviate their grief or restore their faith in the justice system.
The family’s anguish
On October 14, Ram Gopal Mishra’s family spoke to the media, expressing their deep anguish and frustration with the authorities. Mishra’s widow, Roli Mishra, was devastated by the loss of her husband, whom she had married only two months earlier. She recounted the heartbreaking moments leading up to his death, explaining how he had left home to participate in the visarjan despite her pleas for him to stay. “There was a bhandara in the village, and we were cooking there. Then he came and said, ‘I am going for the immersion.’ I had hidden the bike key. I was telling him not to go. But he insisted, took the key, and left,” Roli recalled.
Roli’s anguish deepened when she arrived at the hospital, only to be confronted with the horrific injuries her husband had sustained. “My husband was beaten mercilessly. There were knife marks on his throat. All the nails of his feet had been pulled out with pliers. There were bullet marks on his hands and stomach. He was killed like an animal. Now, all I want is justice,” she tearfully told the media.
Ram Gopal’s mother, overwhelmed by grief, struggled to comprehend the loss of her son. “They riddled my son’s entire body with holes. They hit him on the nose, on the neck, on the head. They have ruined our entire family,” she cried. The family also accused the local authorities of negligence, claiming that the Tehsildar had refused to provide a vehicle to transport Mishra to the hospital, forcing them to take him on a motorcycle instead. “If the Tehsildar had shown sensitivity and quickly transported Ram Gopal to the hospital in his vehicle, perhaps his life could have been saved,” the family said.
Media and political narratives
In the wake of Mishra’s death, a disturbing pattern emerged. Instead of focusing on the heinous crime committed against him, certain sections of the media and intellectual circles began to justify or downplay the incident. Prominent among them was Mohammad Zubair, a so-called fact-checker, who shared a video of Mishra’s final moments on X (formerly Twitter). Zubair’s narrative suggested that Mishra had provoked the violence by replacing a green flag with a saffron one, conveniently ignoring the fact that the procession had been attacked first.
Zubair’s tweet read, “A video of Gopal Mishra in the Bahraich violence has surfaced. He is seen forcefully removing a Green flag and replacing it with a saffron flag. The mob can be seen shouting slogans and encouraging him to remove the flag. Gopal was shot dead later.” This narrative, pushed by Zubair and other left-leaning journalists, sought to paint Mishra as the aggressor, deflecting attention from the violence perpetrated by the Islamist mob.
BJP MLA Shalabh Mani Tripathi took to social media to counter these narratives, calling out the biased reporting of certain journalists. He shared a list of reporters who had omitted key details of the incident, accusing them of protecting the perpetrators. “Just read the names of the journalists sending news from Bahraich, you will understand how unbiased and true the news is,” Tripathi wrote. He criticised the media for failing to acknowledge the Islamist attack on a peaceful Hindu procession, instead focusing on Mishra’s actions as a justification for his murder.
Disturbing pattern of violence and justification
The tragic killing of Ram Gopal Mishra is not an isolated incident. It is part of a disturbing pattern of violence against Hindus, particularly during religious festivals. Islamist mobs have increasingly targeted Hindu processions, and the media’s reluctance to report these incidents accurately only adds to the problem. The case of Ram Gopal Mishra stands as a painful reminder of the deep-rooted hatred and bigotry that exists against Hindus in certain sections of society. It also highlights the failure of the media to uphold its duty to report the truth without bias.
As the country mourns the loss of yet another young life, the question remains: How long will this cycle of violence and propaganda continue? How many more lives will be lost before the truth is acknowledged, and justice is served? Ram Gopal Mishra’s death is a tragic symbol of the ongoing struggle for justice in a society that often seems more interested in protecting narratives than protecting lives.
