Right-wing activists on Friday had a verbal clash with members of civil society initiative Karwan-e-Mohabbat in Rajasthan’s Behror when the latter went to pay tribute to mob-lynching victim Pehlu Khan. Police personnel were deployed in the area to keep the situation under control, the Hindustan Times reported.
“We will not let you pay tribute to Pehlu Khan,” the Hindustan Times quoted members of the right-wing group as saying. “Is he Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose or the men fighting at the borders that people would pay tribute to?”
Earlier on Friday, the Karwan-e-Mohabbat had said on Twitter that a stone was hurled at its bus. It added that the right-wing activists surrounded the members, and shouted slogans like “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”.
The police later allowed activist and author Harsh Mander, who was part of the Karwan-e-Mohabbat initiative, to visit the site of Khan’s murder only after he protested. “We are here to pay tribute to Khan and all those people who have been victims of hate crimes,” said Mander.
In a statement about the initiative, Mander wrote that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Hindu Jagran Manch and the Bajrang Dal had announced that they would not allow the Karwan to enter Behror and pay tribute at the lynch site.
On April 1, Khan was returning home with his son Irshad and three others after buying cows from a trader in Jaipur when a mob stopped their vehicles in Alwar district and thrashed them. He was reported to have been a dairy farmer. The mob accused the group of transporting the cattle for slaughter. Khan succumbed to his injuries on April 3.
On Thursday, Rajasthan Police had announced their decision to close the case against the six men named by Khan in his dying declaration. The police said there was lack of evidence against these six accused.
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