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As the Uttar Pradesh government moves the court for dropping charges against the accused involved in the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq on September 28, 2015 in a Greater Noida village, it’s instructive to underline that chief minister Adityanath’s decision is in perfect consonance with the Sangh parivar’s approach to the killing.

Among the earliest instances when a Muslim was lynched on the suspicion of carrying beef, the case had agitated the nation and led to the ‘award wapsi’ movement – writers, poets and activists returned prestigious government-run awards in protest.

But the parivar had immediately come out to defend the offenders. To begin with, then Union minister of culture Mahesh Sharma, in whose Lok Sabha constituency the village fell, argued that “our soul starts shaking at the sight of beef”. He sought to blame the non-existent cow smugglers whose acts had angered Hindus. As if lending a character certificate to the Hindus who had barged into Akhlaq’s home, the minister went on to tell this reporter in Varanasi: “There was also a 17-year-old daughter in that........

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