The Narendra Modi Government has finally woken up to the need to curb increasing mob violence and lynching. To this end, it has set up two high-level committees, one headed by Home Minister Rajnath Singh himself. It shows that the Modi government now means business.  However, it is a sad commentary to make that the government needed a prodding from the Supreme Court.  Now the moot question is will it effectively rein in the self-proclaimed Hindu vigilantes and cow protectors ahead of the 2019 general elections? Lynching is a barbaric phenomenon across the globe. During the last four years, India has turned into mobocracy with self-proclaimed vigilantes lynching minorities and Dalits in the name of protecting cows. With less than a year to go for the general elections in 2019, the ruling party has finally realized that the widespread lynchings across the cow-belt may likely to affect its poll prospects.

Lynching is not new to India. It has existed for centuries except that it is now taking new forms. There are three types of lynching prevalent in India. The first type of lynching is part of witch-hunting. The second type pertains to the historical issue of caste violence against the Dalits. And the third, the present day lynchings by the so-called gau-rakshaks. Is the current legal framework inadequate to deal with the crime? Do vigilantes get political patronage to incite violence and kill? Is it the conspiracy of silence from the powers that emboldens the perpetrators? For most of the time the government has remained silent which has emboldened the vigilantes.

On July 17, a Supreme Court bench, headed by chief justice of India Dipak Misra, termed incidents of mob lynching in India as ‘horrendous acts of mobocracy’ and directed Parliament to draft a new legislation to effectively deal with incidents of mob lynching across the country.  It bodes well for the country and the ruling party if the committees do their work at a faster pace so that Prime Minister Modi can present a credible face when he asks for votes in next year’s elections.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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