Mobocracy?

It was the year 2018. Two young men had gone for a trip to Kangthilango, Karbi Anglong. On their way back they were stopped by some villagers and were thrashed brutally- apparently there were speculations that they were child-lifters. Nilotpal Das and Abhijeet Nath, were killed mercilessly only because of a rumour and not one soul cared enough to justify it first. A battle for justice followed all over and an example was set. Apparently.

Two years later, a vegetable vendor hit a vehicle with his bicycle. It was totally an accident but Sanatan Deka had to pay for the minor dent with his life. Two of the five accused were arrested. But the question is- till when? It won't be long before another innocent soul loses his/her life.

Protests will follow. There'll be candlelit vigil. It will take years to deliver total justice and by then, everyone will forget everything. Everyone apart from the family the victim left behind, crippled for life.

Such swarm of people think it is very normal to take law in their hands, grabbing individuals suspected of committing a crime and then beating the brain out of them.

Shades of religion are involved sometimes. The Jharkhand mob lynching for example. Tabrez Ansari, suspected of thievery, was beaten for 18 hours straight and the attackers forced him to chant Jai Shri Ram. People tend to give a religious justification to their actions. Here's a small example which shows what God actually believes in.

While Jesus was teaching in the temple, the Scribes and Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught in the act of committing adultery. They said to Jesus, ‘In the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?’ Jesus said: 'Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.' When they heard this, the accusers went away one by one, beginning with the eldest. Jesus then turned to the woman and asked, ‘Where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, sir.’ And Jesus said, ‘Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again’.

Jesus wished to unmask the hypocrisy of those who set themselves up as judges of a sister who has sinned, without recognizing that they too are sinners. 

This is no less than an epidemic and is a scar on the Judiciary, when all the fundamental rights of a citizen are sabotaged. Only when things go south, the law takes note of what happened, takes measures to address and readdress the situation but what does it do to ensure that no one has to die such a death again. In many cases, the police appears to be mere toothless tigers. They come only when everything is over and in some cases, they are actually involved too. 

Modern way of living means nothing without modern thoughts. We have seen this cruel face of humanity since a long time. It was to draw water from a common lake that B.R. Ambedkar had to wage a powerful agitation against the system. What followed everyone knows. Single women have frequently been lynched since ages in the name of witch-hunting. 

India has come a long way, yet remained in the same place. 

We cannot afford to be a land of the dominant. We cannot afford anarchy. If this continues, we won't need outsiders to destroy us. We will be our own outsiders, ignorant to the well-written constitution.

The need of the hour is to understand, we are all humans, firstly and lastly. 

Everyone has a past. Accidents happen. But nobody has the right to take law in their hands. If you really want to show your unity or your power, show it in the right place in the right way. You won't be able to escape God and Karma anyway.