Jailed Gangster in India Seen as a Violent Folk Hero

India's most infamous prisoner is a jailed gangster who has built an unexpected second life as a cultural icon, writes Atul Dev in a sweeping piece for the Guardian. From behind bars, 33-year-old Lawrence Bishnoi has been linked to a string of high-profile crimes, including killings abroad that have kept his name in headlines. As a result, he has become an unlikely folk hero to some, celebrated as a vigilante figure tied to Hindu nationalism, which is also central to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ideology. His gang has an estimated 700 members and extends to North America, notes the piece, which is as much about India as about Bishnoi.

• "In India today, where an atmosphere of official impunity is combined with the ever-present threat of violence, Bishnoi is an icon as recognizable as Bollywood superstars," writes Dev. He's managed to "become a role model for millions of angry young men," despite being in prison. "To them, following the law increasingly appears to be for losers, bores, and fools. As the government has failed to create jobs for the great masses of unemployed youth, Bishnoi has come to exemplify a nihilistic ideology born of desperation: grab what you can, by any means necessary."

Dev details Bishnoi's rise from privileged village kid to campus tough, then to the accused mastermind of high-profile murders, including Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moosewala and Mumbai politician Baba Siddique. Read the full story, in which critics say his rise reflects a troubling blur between crime, politics, and nationalism.