These and other recent outbreaks of violence by Hindu nationalists have provoked a vigorous cultural and political backlash across India. Dozens of leading authors returned Indias highest literary award in protest. Hundreds of scientists, academics, actors and filmmakers have signed petitions or spoken out. On Tuesday, Sonia Gandhi, the president of the Congress Party and Mr. Modis longtime political opponent, led a march in Delhi to condemn the atmosphere of fear, intolerance and intimidation in the country.
Mr. Modis party has struggled to formulate a response, at one point urging party leaders to temper their remarks, at another point ridiculing the spreading protests as a manufactured controversy. On Sunday, Mr. Modis finance minister, Arun Jaitley, went even further, asserting in a Facebook post that Mr. Modi was the worst victim of ideological intolerance enforced by Congress, left thinkers and activists.
Their strategy is twofold, Mr. Jaitley wrote. Firstly, obstruct Parliament and do not permit reforms which will bring credit to Modi government. Secondly, create, by structured and organized propaganda, an environment that there is a social strife in India.
The events leading to Mr. Alis death are still being pieced together by investigators. But according to Mr. Kanta, the police official, a Hindu man known by a single name, Brajendra, heard dogs barking outside his home early Monday morning.
Brajendra decided to go out and check, Mr. Kanta said. He found Mr. Ali huddled in one corner of his barn, shivering. Brajendra assumed he had come to steal his calf and raised an alarm. A crowd gathered and they started beating Mr. Ali. In the pushing and pulling, and being beaten up, Mr. Ali died.
