From Democracy to Mobocracy

It is disturbing to note that mob lynching in India is moving towards becoming the new “normal.” It has failed to invoke unconditional condemnation from a large section of society. On the contrary, such mob violence seems to enjoy their endorsement. The judiciary justifiably enough is fixing the primary responsibility on state governments and the respective law and order state machinery to stop such violence.

Such lynchings involve discriminatory standards in the sense that they provoke instant punishment outside the established law, particularly in cases of rape when the victim is from a dominant social and religious background. We have seen this most recently in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh where the rape of an eight-year-old girl led to demonstrations and demands for instant justice by the majority Hindu community. Their anger was further fuelled by the suspicion that the perpetrators of the crime were Muslims.