Thecla Pereira
Pick up any newspaper or switch on any news channel, you will find these reports splashed almost everywhere. Concerned citizens are horrified at the regular incidents of barbaric lynching. In spite of being caught red-handed, with many even recording the murders on video, the lack of swift retribution encourages more such acts with impunity. One has begun to believe that possibly private scores are being settled in this horrific manner. Whatever the alleged crime, it can never justify brutally taking the law into one’s own hands. The motherhood statements made by leaders such as, “we deeply condemn such actions” sound hollow with each passing incident.
In truth, the assurance that “the law will take its course”, further rubs salt into the wounds, as we all know how long the course of law takes in our country. If only government had acted earlier, if only they would have condemned these incidents instead of staying silent as it promotes their divisive agenda and gets them votes, lynching would not have been new normal in India.
Such crimes should be really fast-tracked into judicial action because only genuine and proven punishment action will deter any further crimes of this sort. No fear of retribution will only result in more such cowardly mob lynchings. Nikhel Dey, a rights activist based in New Delhi, said videos depicting lynching also showed insensitivity from bystanders. One such video from Uttar Pradesh state showed a man being killed over rumours of cow smuggling.
“In the video, the victim is asking for water and no-one in the mob is providing him water till he dies. What as a society have we become?” he said. All human beings have the right to live as human beings. For living as human beings certain rights are essential for them. But, we never learn. Nothing changes, lynchings keep happening, victims keep bleeding and spectators keep watching or driving away. Because, O darling! This is the real India. Yet, what does it take to save a victim from being lyinched , in many cases, just a phone call. Decades ago, when mobile phones were not around, it would have been understandable if people considered themselves helpless spectators of torture and killing. But now, with a penetration level of more than 80 per cent, is it such a big deal to stop for a minute inform the cops? But no, we would rather outrage on social media against a nation’s apathy instead of taking timely action. If only government had acted earlier, if only they would have condemned these incidents instead of staying silent as it promotes their divisive agenda and gets them votes, lynching would not have been new normal in India.
The need of the hour is to stop this blame game and time for concerned citizens to push for a law to stop such incidents. The Modi government also has to take responsibility and break its silence. Those who lynch people for eating beef or transporting cows for slaughter must be dealt with the strictest punishment and the government must contain its rabble-rousing ministers and party members from making provocative speeches.
It’s indeed pathetic that with such a bloodied history, there is no particular law to deal with lynching and finds no mention in the Indian Penal Code. And we desperately need one. Non-violence leads to the highest ethics, which is the goal of all evolution. Until we stop harming all other living beings, we are still savages. -Thomas Edison
