The Facts
On Saturday, Atiq Ahmed, a former member of India's Parliament turned criminal, was shot dead with his brother outside a hospital in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh while being taken for a medical test. The incident was captured on live television.
Ahmed, sentenced to life in prison in a 2007 kidnapping case on March 28, was handcuffed and in police custody when the shooting occurred.
The Spin
Narrative A
The brazen anarchy and total collapse of law and order in Uttar Pradesh are shocking. When a convict can be killed openly in front of the police and media, questions must be asked surrounding the safety of the general public. The current judicial system has no place in a modern democracy. The government must be questioned, and its style of functioning investigated as playing with or violating the rule of law.
Narrative B
This was a cold-blooded religiously-motivated murder, so why would the assailants raise religious slogans after killing Ahmed? While such incidents should not be looked at through a sectarian lens — as criminals do not have religion or caste — many people celebrated the murder by saying that Ahmed had paid for his crimes with death. It shows the anti-Muslim sentiments in the state governed by Hindu-nationalist BJP. Eliminating gangsters based on religion and caste doesn't make two wrongs a right.