NL Interviews: Vibhuti Narain Rai on why the Hashimpura massacre is a failure of Indian state

On May 22, 1987, a gruesome episode unfolded in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut City. From Hashimpura mohalla, 42 Muslim men were picked up randomly by members of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) at gunpoint and bundled into a truck. Later, their bullet-ridden bodies were recovered from two water canals near Ghaziabad.

Even after 29 years, not a single person has been convicted for this gruesome massacre. Vibhuti Narain Rai, then the superintendent of police in Ghaziabad, has fought relentlessly to bring the perpetrators to book.

In his latest book Hashimpura 22 May: The Forgotten Story of India’s Biggest Custodial Killing, Rai gives his account of the massacre and its fallout. Talking to Newslaundry, Rai explains that Hashimpura “is a collective failure of all the stakeholders of the Indian state” and “families of those shot in cold blood feel justice will never be meted out”.