Mob lynchings in India and Pakistan

Twenty-three-year-old Salman Vohra had been married just three months. His relatives had planned a celebratory dinner on June 22 for him and his wife, Mashira, 20, who was newly pregnant. But first, Salman, a fervent fan in cricket-obsessed India, joined a group of his friends at a local tournament in the village of Chikhodra in Gujarat state.

Several of the players were Muslim, as was Salman. In this heavily Hindu province, he did nothing to hide his religion: He wore a skullcap, a long white tunic and flowing pants. During the tournament, the Muslim players performed well, which angered some Hindus in the audience, which eventually grew to about 5,000.

As the final match began, a dispute broke out in the parking lot. Salman’s uncle Yasin Vohra told me a mob started chanting “Jai Shri Ram” — “Victory to Lord Ram” — a phrase that has become a rallying cry for Hindu nationalists. His uncle showed me a grainy video that went viral on the internet. You can see the crowd closing in and hear someone screaming for help and others shouting, “Hit him, hit him hard!”

A grainy video of the attack on Salman Vohra

Photograph of Salman Vohra shared by his family

Salman died from the beating and a knife wound to his kidney. At least 10 men have been arrested in connection with his slaying.

Two days earlier and 800 miles away in Pakistan, Mohammad Ismail, 40, from eastern Pakistan, was visiting Madyan, a popular tourist destination in the Swat Valley known for its tranquil beauty and scenic mountains. News stories reported that someone claimed to have seen burned pages of the Quran in Ismail’s hotel room, rumors that were then amplified by announcements from mosques around the city. Never mind that Ismail was Muslim.

The police detained him for questioning on suspicion of blasphemy. He denied the charges. Islamist radicals forced their way into the police station, setting it and several police cars on fire, and the police fled. In a video on Whatsapp, a mob is seen beating and kicking him before setting him on fire. As he begs for mercy, the mob continues to kick him.

People streamed the assault on Facebook Live and other social media platforms. Ismail died inside the Madyan police station. Thirty people have been arrested in the case, including children as young as 13.

I viewed both of these videos. They were