On a beautiful clear summer evening in July, our boat left the embankment of River Thames in Windsor, for a round trip. We had gathered for a tribute to our time together as a team, before we set out our respective ways. There was a brilliant Indian doctor, known for speaking her mind. Between the two of us, it did not take long for to discuss the growing intolerance across the world, the Indian subcontinent in particular. She said she clearly could not relate to the present-day India, despite having left her home land just 4 years back.

The right-wing populist leader in India has brought his own flavor of intolerance. An example is a rise in mob-lynching incidents, especially of Muslims, since coming to power of Modi Government. When the 28-year-old Akbar Khan was tortured to death by one such mob in Alwar District of Rajasthan each member of the mob must have been very clear in his head that he is performing a righteous act. A justification of righteousness that enables a human to perform acts that are unthinkable otherwise. As voiced by RSS leader Indresh Kumar, “if killing of cows stops, lynching will automatically stop”. In just between May and July this year 25 incidents of lynching by several vigilante groups for various other reasons have been reported. It is hard to argue when someone believes he has the mandate of heaven.