Mob-lynching is not a new phenomenon in our country but during the last four or five years it has assumed alarming proportion. Otherwise this type of violence has been happening for centuries. There are so many factors responsible for such violence raging in our society – social, political, economic and of course communal or religious. In fact, today people are more concerned about this due to its communal or religious complexion. People belonging to minority communities especially Muslims have been main victims.
Some forces are bent upon undermining communal harmony in the country by spreading poison of hatred in the minds of people of the majority community for political gains. The tragedy is that they are successful in their mission. It is time to give serious thought on this matter by all right-thinking people of the country in order to restore communal harmony of the society and protect plural structure of our Constitution and unity and integrity of the nation. Then we will be able to create an atmosphere of peace, progress and prosperity in the country.
It is imperative to mention some famous incidents of mob-lynching as under:
(i) On 30 May 2015, a 60-year old man Abdul Ghaffar, who ran a meat shop, was beaten to death by a mob with sticks and iron-rods at the village Birloka, district Nagore, Rajasthan.
(ii) Mohammad Ikhlaq was lynched by a mob at Dadri, U.P. on 28 Sept. 2015 on the suspicion of cow slaughter.
(iii) On 14 October 2015, a mob beat a 22-year old Noman to death and injured four others after suspecting them of smuggling cows at village Sarahan in Shimla (Himanchal Pradesh).
(iv) On 14 January 2016 a Muslim couple was beaten up inside a train by members of Gau Raksha Samiti in Khikriya railway station in Harda, Madhya Pradesh on suspicion of carrying a bag containing beef.
(v) On 18 March 2016, two Muslim cattle traders were attacked allegedly by cattle protection vigilantes at Balumath forests in Latehar district, Jharkhand. The attackers killed 32 years old Mazloom Ansari and 12 years old Imtiaz Khan who were found hanging from a tree.
(vi) On 11 July 2016 a group of six men attacked four Dalit men after finding them skinning a dead cow. The four were chained to a car, stripped and beaten with iron rods in Gujarat.
(vii) On 17 July 2016, four Dalits, including a disabled person, were beaten up reportedly by Bajrang Dal activists in Chikkamangalur district of Karnataka on suspicion of eating beef.
(viii) On 5 April 2017, Pahlu khan was lynched at Alwar, Rajasthan by the mob on the pretext of cow slaughter.
(ix) On 30 August 2018 a 70-year sold Kailash Nath Shukla was taking his cattle to another village for treatment. On his way a mob stopped him and assaulted him badly and threw him in a gutter at Lakshmanpur village in district Balrampur (U.P.)
(x) On 3 December 2018 a protest against illegal cow slaughter erupted into riots resulting in the death of two: a police officer Suboth Kumar Singh and a protesting youth, also a non-Muslim in Bulandshahar, U.P.
(xi) On 11 April 2019, a 50-year old Christian was killed and three others were brutally assaulted and beaten when mob attacked them at Gumla in Jharkhand.
(xii) On 17 June 2019 Tabrez Ansari was lynched by the mob at Dhatkidih village in Jharkhand on the suspicion of theft. On 22 June he succumbed to injuries.
(xiii) On 26 June 2019 a 20-year old Muslim youth accused of motorcycle theft was lynched by the mob at district Maldah in West Bengal.
Present dispensation does not seem bothered about these incidents although it may have disastrous implications. If some think that only minority communities, especially Muslims are affected by mob-lynching and members of the majority community are safe and unaffected, it is their misconception. Going by the aforesaid incidents, we see that non-Muslims especially Hindus (including Dalits) and Christians have also not been spared by the mob. In fact, the elements who indulge in violent activities hardly constitute 1% of total population of India. I consider them all criminals. Two points need to be remembered. One, fire and bullet don’t discriminate on the ground of caste, creed or religion. Two, law of the land applies to all criminals irrespective of caste or religion. Is it in the interest of the nation to push unemployed youths (both Hindus and Muslims) to the world of crime for political gains? Every right thinking and rational citizen will share my viewpoint and opine that such criminal elements must be severely dealt with.
My article will remain incomplete if I don’t suggest certain measures to contain this menace. These measures are as under:
- In case of casualties in mob-lynching, D.M. and SSP/SP of the district must be suspended.
- In above mentioned situation services of C.O. and Thana In-charge must be terminated.
- People living around the area must be penalised for not reporting the matter to the nearest police station.
- People involved in mob-lynching must be severely dealt with. Special law to deal with the mob-lynching must be enacted and fast track court for this purpose set up.
There are certain questions which need to be answered by the present government – state as well as central. What actions were taken so far to prevent mob-lynching? How many people have been arrested in this connection and how many are being prosecuted in the matter? What is the status of such litigations? What relief was given to the victims? If these concerns are not seriously addressed, we cannot augur well for our country. Hopefully, every patriotic Indian will share these concerns.
[Prof. Atiq Ahmad Faruqi is Retd. Principal, Mumtaz P.G. College, Lucknow]