By – Kanishka Sihare ( DNLU, Jabalpur)
From,
“We, the people of India”
To,
“We, the mob of India”
Mobocracy lynched the Democracy
Mob Lynching means killing of someone by a mob for acentred offence without following any principles of law. It is a form of mob violence that creates a lot of harm. Lynch means “to kill someone for an offence without a legal trial.” It is a kind of vigilante violence that refers to the hate for the minorities which is in the form of extrajudicial punishment.
The origin of the word lynch is considered to have originated during the American Revolution known as “Lynch Law”. This word has been derived from the name of two Americans known as Charles Lynch and William Lynch, who were from Virginia in the mid 18th century. Back then, lynching considered as vigilante justice meted out of lack of people. During the American Revolution, there were several instances of black slaves being lynched by whites. In some cases, whites were also lynched for questioning slavery of black people. Mob Lynching was always considered as a great enemy of the society and so tried to be controlled by the society from time to time. It has been the focal point of discussion in countries like Afghanistan, Europe, South Africa, Israel, etc. In these countries, mob lynching can be considered centred on white black and nationality issues. But the issue in India has a different phase. In India, it is an informal type of social control such as charivari, skimming on, riding the rail, feathering, and often conducted with the display of a public spectacle for maximum intimidation. In recent years, there have been many cases especially in states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, etc.
NEED: VIGILANT IN NATURE
One of the needs that arose for discussing the topic came in the fact that the incidents of mob lynching started at a large scale in form of the mass killing of cattle killers by the crowd popularly known as ‘gau-rakshak’. However, in other states like Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh it has also been emerged as killing a woman in the name of witch-hunting. Mob Lynching is a kind of social anarchy, which if allowed then it will create a social disorder as every person will start considering himself as a judge and will take the law in his hands. In a monarchy, the king decides the justice and in a democracy, the judges of the courts decide the suitable punishment of the crime as per the law specified. But in mobocracy, the mob takes the law inits hand and try to provide justice by disturbing the social order.
REASONS: IGNITING THE FIRE
In India, there are many reasons for mob lynching. Some of the major reasons are stated below:
- People losing their faith in law and order machinery.
- Due to religious conflicts, mainly between Hindu and Muslims.
- Due to the community differences between the higher and lower class of society (Dalits).
- Due to the emotive behavior of people on sensitive issues like cow slaughter.
- Delay in registration of cases against big crowd allow some people to take advantage.
- Due to some political pressures on the police to slow down the investigation.
- Wrong information that gets shared through social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook, etc.
EVENTS: HENIOUS IN NATURE
Below are some major incidents that have been taken in the past related to mob lynching in the country
INCIDENT TIME AND PLACE ISSUE FACT
|
INCIDENT |
TIME AND PLACE | ISSUE | FACT |
| Dadri Lynching | 2015, Bisara, UP | Father and the son were lynched by a group of Hindus as they were accused of theft of cow and consumption of its meat. |
It is considered as the first case of mob lynching which was religiously based in the name of cow. |
| Alwar District Lynching | 2017, Alwar, Rajasthan | Lynched by Hindu mob as some people of the Muslim community of accused
of cattle smuggling and slaughter. |
Irrespective of having a valid license, the police department of Alwar had filed a case
against Khan for smuggling. |
| Delhi Lynching | 2017, Delhi | A rickshaw driver was lynched by some intoxicated college students because he stopped them from urinating in public place. | The rickshaw driver was killed in the incident of
mob lynching. |
| Dimapur Lynching | 2015, Dimapur, Nagaland | A person, who was in jail where he was arrested for accusation rape was lynched by an angry mob | The victim was a Hindu girl and the accused was a Muslim man.This could also be
included in Religious and communal reasoning of lynching. |
| Kherlanji Massacre | 2006, Kherlanji | Due to land disputes, where around 50 villagers
entered forcefully into the house and lynched the a family comprising4 daughters. |
One of the first cases of Lynching filed in India. |
| Chatra Lynching case | 2016, Chatra, Jharkhand | A mob named as ‘GauRakshak’ brutally
Lynched2 people belonging to the Muslim community. |
Two people named Ansari and Imteyaz Khan were brutally lynched. |
| Tabrez Ansari lynching case | 2019, Jharkhand | A man was assaulted and beaten on the suspicion of theft by the mob. | Tabrez Ansari , who was beaten up for hours before being handed over to the police was later died. |
PROVISIONS : TO CONSTITUTE THE CRIME
In India, the lawmakers should not stand indolent and have ignorance towards the matter of lynching. Lynching is a serious crime that can lead to the grievous injury of a person. In some cases, it even leads to the death of the person. However, there are no specific provisions under the law in India for mob lynching as a whole but there are different provisions that together held the mob guilty for the crime of mob lynching.
There are some main provisions under IPC which help to establish punishment for the crime:
· Section 302 of IPC: defines punishment for murder.
· Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code: Attempt to Murder.
· Section 304 of Indian Penal Code: Culpable Homicide not amounting to murder.
· Section 325 and 323 of IPC Punishment for voluntarily causing grievous hurt
Section 34, 141, 149 of IPC talk about common intention, unlawful assembly respectively, which are applicable. Apart from IPC, in the Constitution of India, Articles like 21, 15, 17, 48 also go against lynching.
JUDICIAL ASPECTS: RELATED TO MOB LYNCHING
In the case of Nandini Sundar and others v. State of Chhattisgarh, The Supreme Court that “observed that it is the duty of the State to strive, incessantly and consistently, to promote fraternity amongst all citizens such that dignity of every citizen is protected, nourished and promoted i.e. it is the duty of the state to prevent crime and maintain harmony in the country”.
In the case of Mohd. Haroon and others v. Union of India and another, it was held that held that the victims of mob violence cannot be discriminated against on the basis of community or religion. If any official responsible for maintaining law and order is found negligent then the one should be brought under the ambit of law.
The apex court in the case of Tehseen S. Poonawalla v. Union of India and others issued remedial, punitive and deterrent guidelines for dealing with the cases of mob lynching and recommended the parliament to enact a law to deal with this issue.
MASUKA Manav Suraksha Kanoon: The National Campaign Against mob lynching launched a draft bill named MASUKA. This law has been drafted by the Prakash Ambedkar, grandson of BR Ambedkar, and activist TehseenPoonawalla drafted the law for having specific provisions for lynching. It will define the word ‘mob’ and ‘lynching’. The lynching will be made a non-bailable offence. Life imprisonment might be given to convicts under mob lynching. Also, the victims will receive compensation. However, the bill has not been passed.
CONCLUSION: ATTENTION IS NECESSARY
In recent years, the number of cases regarding the issue has increased at a very unusual rate. It should be stopped because it promotes violence, war, hatred etc. It is not healthy at all for a country and its culture. Taking law in our own hands is not noble. The judicial system still exists to punish the guilty. There should be measures that should be taken for curbing the harm done due to mob lynching. After the recent case of mob lynching in the state of Jharkhand, different states are taking steps to pass regulations against mob lynching. Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have recently passed the bill for the specific law dealing with the issue. The issue can be controlled easily in the country. The only requirements for the initiation of prevention are proper planning and awareness to control. A need for proper legislation is required to prevent the typhoon of mob lynching.
