MOB VIOLENCE IS DIRECT BLOW TO A CIVILIZED SOCIETY

“No civilized society cab thrive upon victims, whose humanity has been permanently mutilated” –

                          Rabindranath Tagore

The beautiful quote by the legendary poet precisely depicts the current social scenario of our country. The barbarian act of mob lynching has made our country vulnerable to the question, “Are we really civilized?”. But before that let us know what makes a civilized society. A lot of factors are responsible for this status. Large population, shared communication, system of administering territories, division of people into social and economic class. Thus, we can say we also fall into the category of a polished society. But today, are so called egalitarian society is under jeopardy.

Contributing to the existing social crimes like Dowry, child marriage; a new evil has cropped up in the country called “Mob Lynching”. It is an overwhelming or outburst of pessimistic emotions by an enraged mob over a crime, to which they directly or indirectly find relevant to their past bitter experiences. Ironically, most of the mob attacks are based on mere suspicions or sedition, resulting in loss of lives. The social crime gets support of the sadists that lives amongst us. Or may be we citizens have taken Art.14(right to equality) to a greater extent, where we started considering ourselves equivalent to our judiciary. Recent surge in mob lynch cases shows that the people of our country has started taking the responsibility of purifying society, but unfortunately in a cynical manner.

According to Ida B. Wells- “Lynching is a color line murder”. Lynching is indeed a murder but in a decorative way. No one person can be accused yet the purpose gets served. Mob attacks has different aspect to it. Some are social, some are political and now it is taking a turn towards communal attack. India has witnessed all sorts of mob attacks. Starting from lynching a woman for suspecting of being a witch or ‘dayin’ or to lynch over a seditious comment against a political party. All these are a direct blow to a democracy or our pride. Recently, a lot of mob violence has been made on various religions using “lynching” as shield. 3 such incidents that shook the entire country, namely, Harapur Lynching Incident, West Bengal Lynch case, Alwar lynch case. More or less in all the 3 cases, a group of people claiming themselves as Cow Vigilantes launched attack on Muslims accusing them of cow slaughter or cattle smuggling. This is a transgression of fraternity. Besides, taking up the justice in our own hands reflects our faith in our judiciary system & points towards the inefficiency of the said mechanism.

India, which is the home to one of the oldest civilizations, an abode of great scholar, patriots, philosophers who put their relentless effort in making our nation great again and a civilized one. Today, we faced severe backlash for our outrageous activities. Repeated attacks on people have attracted the wrath of global economic powers. For instance, USA has downgraded India in their USCIRF report. OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) with whom India shares long and strong bond, has termed India to be unsafe and unfit for Muslims. Allegations like these are indeed derogatory and humiliating for a secular country like ours.

Hereby, the question rises, are we truly civilized? It’s a shame where eminent personalities like Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar fought for the rights of women, upliftment of their honor and dignity; is the same society where a woman is being tormented by a mob for being a witch. Again, it is the same land where during the Great Revolt of 1857, Hindu-Muslims fought side by side to free their motherland and today each community is trying to establish their dominance with the mob lynch.

All these are inflicting damage to our pride, our heritage & forces us to give a second thought to our society for calling civilized.

To a relief, our govt. is not just a silent onlooker. This hate crime has bagged the attraction of different human rights activist as well. To stop this heinous crime many state govt. have joined hands to fight this. In 2017, Protection form Lynching Act was introduced. This law emphasized on constitutional right of vulnerable people or sections, special court for speedy trial & other provisions. It also defines the role and duty of police & district magistrate, power to exercise authority against mob, punishment for lynching. But this is alone not enough to prevent the parasite from infecting the society. Various states have come up with more stringent laws. Nagaland suggested appointing nodal officers in each district, imprisonment of police fro failing to perform duty to tackle such mishaps. West Bengal went a step further in announcing death penalty, life imprisonment & fine up to ₹5 lakhs

The laws must be implemented in an efficient manner else they will be just like mere rules. Certain aspect should also be prior importance at the same time like

• The laws must be applicable to other hate crimes like honor killing, faulty treatment
• Penalty for doctors and health centers who refuse to give priority to such incidents & delay treatments.

Such efforts would go in vain if we don’t abide by it. Campaign, awareness weeks, promotional activities must be organized to educate the general public about the losses of mib lynching, its impact & the laws related to it. With the collaborative support of people, society, govt we will surely be able to tackle Mob Lynching & preserve our civilized society

By ANUBHAV DAS, Kolkata