New Delhi- Renowned poet and former Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas found himself at the center of social media discussions on Wednesday, after a tweet he posted on September 3. His tweet, which quoted an official social media post from a TV channel, quickly grabbed attention. This is notable because, over the past few years, Dalits, Adivasis, and particularly Muslims have been targeted by mobs across several Indian states. Dalits and Adivasis were targeted because of their caste, while Muslims were singled out due to their religion. Yet, Kumar Vishwas remained silent on such matters.

However, when news of the killing of a 12th-grade student, Aryan Mishra, in Faridabad, Haryana, by cow vigilantes broke, Vishwas immediately spoke out. In his post, he even remarked, "Now the water is rising above the head." Aryan Mishra was shot dead on the highway on the night of August 23, mistakenly identified as a cow smuggler. The police have arrested five suspects, all alleged cow vigilantes, who are accused of killing the student.

Social Media Outrage Over Kumar Vishwas' Stance

Kumar Vishwas' sharp stance on this issue led to a wave of criticism from social media users, journalists, and social activists. One user commented, "You became active when caste came into the picture, but before that, you didn’t speak up."

It's clear that several brutal killings of Muslims have occurred in the name of cow protection. A Dalit student was killed for drinking water from a pot, and another Dalit youth was shot for keeping a mustache. Yet, Kumar Vishwas never spoke out against these incidents. He only became vocal when, for the first time, alleged cow vigilantes killed a child from an upper-caste community.

Last year, who can forget the horrific murder of Nasir and Junaid by alleged cow vigilante Monu Manesar in Rajasthan? Just last week, an elderly man was assaulted on a train in Maharashtra. Fellow passengers accused him of carrying beef, slapped him, and hurled abuses at him. Last year, during Ganesh Chaturthi in Delhi, a mob lynched a mentally disabled Muslim boy for taking a banana from a puja pandal. Yet, even on these issues, Kumar Vishwas remained silent.

Responding to Kumar Vishwas' social media post, former journalist Mubarak from "The Lallantop" wrote, "Celebrities needed the victim's name to be 'Aryan Mishra' to speak out against self-proclaimed cow vigilantes. Otherwise, the 'new normal' was in place. Did they think this unguided missile would only fall on one camp? Hate-filled blindness will drown everyone. It would be better if everyone collectively wakes up."

Journalist Alishan Jafri commented on Kumar Vishwas' statement, saying, "After a thousand killings of Muslims, when the blood of a Brahmin finally spilled, the poet's conscience awoke. As he emerged from his slumber, the blood-stained water in his nostrils turned into furious words that tangled in his messy hair. And then, the poet told the nation that now the water is rising above the head."

Another social media user responded to Kumar Vishwas, saying, "When it was 'Mishra's' turn, someone from his own caste and religion, the poet became emotional; but since 2014, Muslims have been lynched, and he remained asleep! Now he's saying 'the water is rising above the head!' In other words, as long as the crisis was limited to Muslims, the water was considered 'level'...!!"