Stamp out this lynch mob culture -The Asian Age

The death of a young mother at the hands of a lynch mob on suspicion that she was a child lifter should cause grave shame to all of us in this country. She had gone to inquire about her child's admission in a school when a mob of murderous men simply swooped on her, for no rhyme or reason, and beat her dead. It was one more sign of the bad state of law and order prevailing in the country with people taking the law in their own hands and for reasons that are absolutely without basis.

It is not merely the murder of the young mother that arouses our concern. Indeed, wherever a lynch mob appears and begins to assault an innocent citizen or a suspected or real criminal, it is a sign of a slide in the authority of the State. People are regularly exhorted not to take the law in their own hands. The reality, though, is that some people do take the law in their own hands and make mincemeat of it through their criminality. The question is not whether a person a lynch mob has targeted for murder is innocent or guilty.

It is one of a failure on the part of the police and other security agencies to come to the aid of the person so targeted and at the same time go into action against the mob. Let it not be forgotten that a lynch mob, through its demonstration of primeval fury, renders itself open to criminal charges. Indeed, whenever a crowd degenerates into a mob, it becomes an ugly band of criminals against whom the law must be strictly applied.

The Home Minister has promised action on the incident which has recently taken place. It should also be his responsibility to ensure that regular police patrols are there in the cities and towns of the country, their task being not only to keep law and order but also go after lynch mobs which are intent on demonstrating their animalistic behaviour. A society threatened by mobs is one which has not yet graduated to being actually modern. If we keep that lesson in mind, we will perhaps understand what needs to be done.