Trigger Warning: Violent visuals. Viewer discretion is advised. In the afternoon of October 4, the residents of Undhela in Gujarat’s Kheda district witnessed a public flogging of 10 Muslim men who were allegedly among the 43 who reportedly disrupted a Garba event in the same village the previous night. Each of the men was held against a pillar and caned by policemen in plain clothes (one of them seemed to be carrying a firearm). They were then taken away in a police van stationed nearby. According to a resident of the village, who spoke to ThePrint, a message was sent out to every house in the area prior to the flogging, asking locals to gather at the spot. The incident was filmed and the videos were shared widely on social media. In those, the spectators can be heard clapping and cheering. Slogans of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ were raised. The men being flogged can be heard pleading for mercy. (Archive) Police thrashed the accused in stone pelted incidence during #Navratri event, #Kheda #Gujarat #TV9News pic.twitter.com/mO89QFQlG3 — Tv9 Gujarati (@tv9gujarati) October 4, 2022 The treatment meted out to the men by police, which can be termed extrajudicial punishment, was widely condemned. The Gujarat police’s use of striking devices such as lathis to beat Muslim men who were tied to a pole by the police themselves is a serious human rights violation and shows their utter disrespect towards rule of law. 1/4https://t.co/06WSGKuiYK — Amnesty India (@AIIndia) October 5, 2022 After the videos caused massive outrage, an inquiry was ordered. The police officials involved in the said incident were identified three days later, on October 7. The person who is seen flogging the men was identified as police inspector A V Parmar. Another person, seen removing the phones and wallets from the pockets of the men being beaten up, was identified as sub-inspector D B Kumavat. The police are yet to name the other policeman seen in the viral videos. According to a report in The Hindu, police were going to take action against the ones who filmed the incident. Amid widespread condemnation of the incident, some people (noticeably aligned with the Right Wing) celebrated the public flogging and even called the accused ‘j!hadis’. ‘Jihadi’ is a word Hindutva fanatics often use to target Muslims. A @MrSinha_ tweeted the video with the caption, “This is how Gujarat Police treated j!hadis who attacked Garba playing Hindu devotees in Kheda last night”. (Archive) This is how Gujarat Police treated j!hadis who attacked Garba playing Hindu devotees in Kheda last night.🙌🏻 pic.twitter.com/061UiKp9pp — Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) October 4, 2022 Senior editor of Network 18 Aman Chopra went to the extent of dubbing the public flogging by the police as ‘Dandiya’ during his prime-time TV news show Desh Nahi Jhukne Denge on News18 on October 4. Not only did he not condemn the public flogging, he exalted it saying “Garbe mein pathharbaazi kar rahe the, police ne Dandiya khel diya unke saath.” Dandiya is a socio-religious folk dance that is celebratory in nature. So when Chopra described the public flogging of the accused as ‘Dandiya’, he was clearly lauding the police for their move. Below, Alt News has analysed his skewed reportage of the incident in detail. Following is the transcript of the first one and a half minutes of Aman Chopra’s monologue on the October 4 episode of Desh Nahi Jhukne Denge on News18. “Chaliye aapko Gujarat police ka sabse pehle Dandiya dikhate hain. Sabse pehle Gujarat police ka Dandiya aapko dikhate hain- full screen par tasveerein dikha dijiye. Ye dekhiye aap. Tasveerein dekhiye phir mein tasveer ki kahaani sunaunga. Audio de dijiye, bhai ambiance de dijiye– Gujarat police ka Dandiya. Ye Gujarat ke Kheda mein- police ka Dandiya. Police ne kaise Dandiya khela ye dekhiye aap. Yeh kaun log hain, poori kahaani sunaunga, pehle in tasveeron ko dekhiye aap araam se. Waise toh likh diya gaya tasveeron mein- khambe se baandh kar patthharbaazon ki pitai. Ye dekhiye ab- ek… do…teen, giniye aap. Garbe mein patthharbaazi kar rahe the, police Dandiya khel diya inke saath. Yeh bhi bata doon, logon ke beech mein. Aaropiyon ko gaaon laya gaya, tasveerein dekhiye aap, sirf tasveer dekhiye dhyaan se. Logon ke beech mein, gaaon mein laya gaya in sab ko. Yeh tasveerein hai Gujarat police ki aur jinhe khambe se baandh kar peeta jaa raha hai na, yeh dekhiye aap, jinhe dande mare jaa rahe hai, jo ab maafi mang rahe hai- inhone Kheda pehle mein mazhabi dadagiri ke zariye Garba karyakram bandh karane ki koshish ki aur phir uske baad Garba karyakram mein Garba khel rahe lagon par patthharbaazi ki inhone.