Even in my wildest and wildest of dreams, I could never have imagined that a Dalit man named Lakhbir Singh aged 35 years who was a food server with no political affiliation of any kind or any past criminal record would first be beaten black and blue and then his one hand chopped off and then his other hand chopped off and then his legs also were not spared and were chopped off one after the other and then about 37 times was attacked with swords and also beaten black and blue yet no one even though thousands of people mostly farmers and Nihang Sikhs were present there ever tried to save him from being ruthlessly tortured in true Talibani style perhaps leaving them also behind!

Practically speaking, they don't fear our Supreme Court! They don't fear our police! They don't fear anyone in power in Centre! They don't fear proudly owning up the ghastly crime incident. They don't fear going to jail!

More to the point: They proudly wear T-shirts with photo of dreaded terror leader Bhindrawale who always favoured a separate Sikh nation to be named Khalistan! They are damn clear that Court is no one to punish anyone who in their opinion tries to insult their holy book named Guru Granth Sahib and best option is to brutally beat first and then chop off their hands and legs and attack them with swords and then leave them tied to a pole till he dies! Which religion will ever on earth justify under any circumstances such horrifying crime? Is it Sikhism? Definitely not! No religion can ever justify such hate crime! Only terrorists and their supporters can justify such horrifying and ghastly acts!

Which country will try and tolerate such terror acts? Only rogue countries like Afghanistan ruled by Taliban among others! What if India also tolerates such terror acts and allows such terror sympathizers to openly burst crackers and keep protesting under the garb of opposition to farm laws? We have then no option but to call India also a rogue country on the same bracket as Pakistan and Taliban ruled Afghanistan among others!

It is most shocking to read the headline in India Today web portal with headline titled Singhu border killing LIVE: Man, killed at protest site, was staying with Nihangs, says farmers' union dated October 15, 2021. It is further mentioned in the website that:
A 35-year-old man was found brutally murdered at Delhi's Singhu border on Friday. His hands and legs were chopped off and he was found hanging from a police barricade at the farmers' protest site. A Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) leader pinned the blame on Nihang Sikhs. He alleged that the man was lynched to death by Nihang Sikhs.

He said, Nihangs are behind the incident. They have accepted it. However, police said they received no information about who was responsible for the incident. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has called for an emergency meeting over the alleged lynching of the man. The Dalit man who was killed is named Lakhbir Singh who belonged to Dalit community and who had no criminal history and had no political affiliation!

It goes without saying now that Dalits have got no right to life in India. This alone explains why a Dalit's hands and legs were chopped off and was found hanging. Now will everyone keep quiet and watch like a helpless, hapless and hopeless spectator? The judiciary must feel ashamed! The CJI also must at least now feel terribly ashamed! Every Supreme Court Judge and every Judge in Delhi and every good human being should not just feel terribly ashamed but also aghast and appalled as to what has happened right in the heart of our national capital Delhi itself what cannot happen even in Afghanistan!

To say the least: Why is it that roads in India and that too right in Delhi itself are allowed to be blocked? Why is it that even after Supreme Court repeated clarification that no one can block roads were the roads allowed to be blocked? When protesters from Shaheen Bagh were removed after Supreme Court held that roads cannot be blocked then why were the protesters under the garb of farmers allowed to block roads in Delhi border areas and set up huge tents and what not? No one can be above the law and no one means no one and this includes even the farmers or soldiers or police and everyone else!

I have no hesitation of any kind in saying that:
Dalits are the real crown of India and if they are not safe then India cannot be safe under any circumstances! Who wrote Ramayana? It was a Dalit whom we all know by name of Rishi Valmiki and who is worshipped even by God themselves! What more should I say in praise of Dalits?

I have just no words and it is beyond my capacity to express in words what role they have played in shaping India! Chandragupta Maurya whose rule extended right till Afghanistan and son Ashoka could have gone even beyond if he had not given up expansion policy as a result of heart transformation after the huge loss of lives of people and soldiers in his expedition and victory on Kalinga and India could have well conquered beyond Afghanistan as well! So Dalits have to be treated with utmost respect always and those who dare to insult them must be accorded the most strictest punishment as there has to be zero tolerance of violence of any kind against them!

As we see, it is a matter of greatest regret that attacks on Dalits are increasing very rapidly in the country which none of us can deny now. Even in Rajasthan we had seen in different news channels how Dalits were being brutally beaten. But now all limits have been crossed and the hands and legs are brutally chopped off and then his dead body is hanged right at the protest site of farmers still should Supreme Court and CJI feel proud that the protest is still continuing? Should we all start clapping at this?

No matter how strongly the farmers may now condemn the incident, the moot question is: How did this incident happen when so many farmers were there? Why did they allow this to happen? Why no one called the police immediately? Will Khalistani terror leaders set the agenda for them? Will Centre also watch everything like a coward and like a helpless, hapless and hopeless spectator?

It has to be gently acknowledged that Swaraj India convener Yogendra Yadav has condemned the killing but just condemnation will not do as this is not an ordinary killing. It is a horrendous terror act that will make even Taliban feel ashamed and if Centre led by PM Narendra Damodardas Modi still fails to act and restore law and order in Delhi then he must resign. How did earlier also were terror supporters allowed to desecrate Red Fort and that too on Republic Day itself and PM Narendra Modi kept watching everything like a hapless, hopeless and helpless spectator? Why were NSG commandos not deployed? Why the rioters were allowed to do what they liked?

All this compels me to ask: Is he really the PM of India or is somebody else controlling our nation and calling the shots? How can anti-India elements be allowed to have the free run right in Delhi itself? Why is Home Minister Amit Shah who has a good image keeping so quiet and allowing road blockers to have the last laugh?

It must be asked: Does a life of a Dalit not matter at all in India? Is a holy text more important or a life of a living person more important? Yogendra Yadav said that, A dispute triggered in the night between the Nihaangs and the deceased. The deceased was accused of sacrilege (beadbi) of religious text.

It must also be asked: Will PM Narendra Damodardas Modi still allow this as an excuse to allow the farmers to still continue unabated with their protests and allow anti-India elements to have the last laugh in the whole process? If he does then this is certainly not the same Narendra Damodardas Modi whom I knew till the surgical strikes! Why is he so helpless when Red Fort is attacked?

Why should even Supreme Court and CJI not take cognizance of it in much the same manner as it did in Lakhimpur Kheri where no hands were chopped off and neither were no legs chopped off even though few people lost their life due to rash driving who are being brought to book as the UP CM Yogi Adityanath had promptly swung into action? Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi also must now demand judicial inquiry on this also headed by serving Supreme Court Justice which must conduct and submit its report at the earliest and then action be taken promptly!

It must also be still asked: Why is life of Dalit so valueless in India? Why no one is shocked when Dalits are so mercilessly beaten up as we saw recently in Rajasthan that even Talibanis may start crying? Why even in Congress ruled States are attacks on Dalits increasing like we see in Rajasthan one after the other which is most vociferous on the attack in Lakhimpur Kheri?

To top it all: Now the hands and legs are being chopped off of a 35-year-old Dalit who used to serve food there to farmers and thousand reasons will now be dished out for the horrendous terror act and as if this is not enough then various political parties will start dishing out various excuses as to why the Nihangs went mad in anger! But this is being treated very casually still! Why should the protesters not be allowed to vacate all the protest sites immediately?

This begs the moot question: What is happening in India? Are we democratic or have we all also accepted Talibani values in our life or rather even overshadowed them and started treating everything of this kind as a routine affair? Poor traders are suffering heavy losses due to various roads being blocked and even Supreme Court has directed the clearing of all roads yet Centre most shamelessly, most senselessly and above all, most stupidly does nothing at all and allows those wearing the T-shirts of late terror leader Bhindrawale to have the last laugh! Even in Lakhimpur Kheri also we heard in various news channels that protesters were wearing T-shirts of late terror leader Bhindrawale!

We need to scratch our head very tightly and ask ourselves: Why have we in India become worse than even Talibanis themselves and allow the chopping of hands and legs of a Dalit man who used to serve everyone there as a server and still this is the reward that he has got? Nothing on earth can justify the horrendous killing of a Dalit man like Lakhbir Singh who has left behind his wife and 3 kids! He had no criminal history nor any political affiliation!

It will not be an over exaggeration to say: Shame on us! Shame on our police! Shame on our Government who allowed all this to happen right in Delhi itself!

Last but not the least: How can Supreme Court still keep quiet on all this and keep watching everything like a helpless, hopeless and hapless spectator and happy by leaving everything on Centre alone which is doing just nothing on all this? I am sure that Supreme Court will also definitely now swing into action just like it swung in action after the Lakhimpur Kheri ghastly incident!

There has to be total zero tolerance for all kinds of lawlessness and if various political parties too start backing such lawlessness and our PM Narendra Damodardas Modi too keep watching everything quietly then even God certainly cannot help our country and nor can it prevent from plunging India into complete lawlessness where terror leaders, hard core fundamentalists and foreign elements plotting the downfall of India will certainly have the last and most sweetest laugh!

In a fresh development, we see that an application has been filed before the Apex Court seeking urgent hearing of their writ petition which seeks for removal of farm law protestors. The petition has been filed by Swati Goel and Sanjeev Newar through advocate Shashank Shekhar Jha and it seeks for issuance of guidelines by the Centre to the States and Union Territories to stop all kinds of protests in their States and not permit them until pandemic gets over. It must be mentioned here that it has been averred in the application that the right to freedom of speech and expression cannot supersede right to life and if protest is allowed to go on like this, nation at large will be at loss.

Truth be told, the application brings out that:
Not only pandemic, but the anti human activities happening in the name of protests including the rape of a woman and killing and mutilating a Dalit man cannot be allowed to continue. How can the Apex Court gloss over all this? How can terrorists and such criminals be allowed to carry out more such terror attacks on other persons on one pretext or the other? The petitioners have also averred that at a time when there is a ban on celebrating festivals, visiting temples, going to school and colleges, allowing such protests will serve no good.

Needless to say, the application also stated that:
Protestors are not only putting their life at risk but of millions of people of India and such a prolonged agitation cannot be allowed especially during ongoing pandemic since prolonged protests on public places is not only a clear violation of Supreme Court rulings but is violating Right of Life of others who are directly or indirectly affected by the said protests.

It must also be mentioned that the Apex Court is also hearing another wit petition filed by a Noida-resident seeking clearance of the blockade at Delhi-NCR highway due to farmers protesters (Monica Agarwaal V. Union Of India & Anr). While hearing that plea, a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul had orally remarked that road blockades cannot go in perpetuity and redressal of issues should be sought through judicial forum or Parliamentary debates, instead of public protests. The Bench has issued notice to the leaders of farmers organizations in that plea and listed the case for hearing on October 20.

Personally speaking, such blocking of roads according to me tantamount to exerting undue pressure which under no circumstances can ever be justified under any circumstances! It is high time and India now must ban blocking of road just like we see in many developed countries like UK, US, China and Germany among others!

What is India waiting for? Politics in name of farmers and blocking of roads as a means of protest and attacking our national symbol like Red Fort and that too on Republic Day as happened this year just like terrorists try to do quietly is most despicable, deplorable and derogatory practice which has to be not just denounced but also banned entirely! How can India allow terrorists to maim hands and legs and then attack with swords and then ensure that he dies of the pain without being taken to hospitals? It merits no reiteration that if we still allow all such anti human acts then we are nothing but a rogue nation of the worst kind and have just no right to lecture any other religion on human rights!

Sanjeev Sirohi, Advocate,
s/o Col BPS Sirohi, A 82, Defence Enclave,
Sardhana Road, Kankerkhera, Meerut – 250001, Uttar Pradesh