DEMOCRACY OR LYNCHOCRACY?

Priyanka Kavish
Aug 31, 2018 · 3 min read
An artist’s representation of Mob Lynching — Source TOI

The year is 2018. Yet, our actions are far removed from the times we are in. Looking at the way the world is turning, it feels like we’re going back to when we functioned with our animalistic nature, when there were no laws of the land.

Lynching came to the fore and to my conscious attention when the beef ban rally fervently begun in 2015. In the era of the right-winged BJP Government, when 97 percent of lynching attacks took place, the issue of cow slaughter had taken unprecedented importance. Blood thirsty mobs went after people to protect the sanctity of cows. Self-appointed ‘cow vigilantes’ beat to death everyone they thought possessed beef. The dead, mostly from the minority castes, 80% being Muslim, raised a question whether the stoic silence by the officials showed that they were agreeable with the outcry of fear that loomed in the air.

With attacks in Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, it just tells us how the ‘no deterrent’ justice system has allowed people to take the law in their own hands. Mohammed Akhlaq was the first face of such inciting violence in 2015, and the attacks still continue until recently by ‘gau rakshaks’ claiming one life and leaving 3 others seriously injured on the suspicion of being cattle lifters.

Mob lynching hasn’t only befallen the beef sellers; it has also been done in the name of honor killing, racism and to suspects of murder and child lifting. I don’t and I hope nobody else thinks that these incidents are a result of spontaneous anger more than they are incidents of enablement — where the mob knows that whatever they do, no harm will come unto them.

How abysmal is the statement by Hansraj Ahir when he says that the government doesn’t maintain specific data with regards to lynching incidents in the country?

According to an English media content analysis by http://www.indiaspend.com/cover-story/86-dead-in-cow-related-violence-since-2010-are-muslim-97-attacks-after-2014-2014 for 8 years, Muslims were the center of violence related to beef issues at 52% and were 84% of the 25 Indians killed in 60 incidents.

Where then, is the law to stop these heinous acts? Though there are provisions like Section 302 (murder), Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) among many others, why then is there no action taken against the perpetrators of crime?

In 58 attacks from 2014–2017, only in 5% there were reports of arrests against the attackers, while in 18% of the attacks, a case was registered against the victims and survivors. (Source — Indiaspend)

An anti-lynching law MASUKA (Manav Suraksha Kanoon) proposed by the National Campaign against Mob Lynching (https://blog.ipleaders.in/masuka-draft-bill/ ) aims to fill in the gaps in the jurisprudence by pressing for a more integrated law on mob lynching in India, but isn’t the lack of implementation more of a problem rather than lack of a consolidated law?

It’s only right to ponder where we, as a nation are going wrong. Only with education and sensitization coupled with accountability, can we grapple the menace of mob lynching annihilating our country. It’s only right to ponder, what do we want to be — a democracy or a lynchocracy?

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade