Swami Agnivesh, a politician, Arya Samaj scholar and activist, recently became a victim of mob-violence during a press conference in Pakur area of Jharkhand. Agnivesh said that he has been told that BJP workers were part of the mob who beat him up. The elderly man was pounced upon when he was on his way to take part in 195th Damin Mahotsav at Littpara. He revealed to NDTV that he was dragged and kicked by the mob who kept yelling "Jai Shri Ram."

In the recent past, mob-violence has become common in India. And people have also started justifying the act. Both right-wing and left-wing have been guilty of mob-justice. Also, people have taken to mob justice in cases of local crimes. For instance, in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar in 2017, a group of cow vigilantes of the right-wing were attacked by a mob of about 50 people. Similarly, on July 1, 2018, in Maharashtra’s Dhule district, a gang of five people, who were allegedly child-lifters were lynched by a mob. The people believed them to be guilty based on a message being circulated through social media. In very similar cases mobs attacked people in Assam, Gujarat, Chattisgarh and Tripura in the month of June-July in 2008. All these cases were on allegations of child-lifting.

Another important case of mob-lynching is the Dadri case of 2015 in which a Muslim man was lynched by a mob for allegedly stealing and slaughtering a calf in Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. It has been three years since then and there have been repeated incidents of mob violence in the country.

Following Swami Agnivesh's case, some people are justifying what happened with him with the argument that his thoughts were against the Hindu sentiments and he therefore deserved the treatment.

Responding to the involvement of BJP workers in the case, BJP's Jayant Sinha has condemned the attack. He is the only BJP member to have spoken out against the incident.

Also, considering the recent incidents, the Supreme Court on Tuesday also said that "mobocracy" cannot become a norm and the government must put in place a law to punish those who are  guilty of lynching.

This case of mob justice and the attack on Swami Agnivesh has an underlined message for us all. Rather than strongly condemning the violence, we are actually justifying it because his thoughts and values do not match with a group's sentiments.

Mob-lynching is not right for various reasons. Firstly, we are a democracy and taking the law into our hands is going against our legal system. Mob-lynching is an offense since it violates the laws. Secondly, on the basis of moral judgement, a social media message or media trail, we cannot determine if someone is guilty of a crime or not. Even if proved guilty, it is the duty of the court of law to punish the offender. Thirdly, incidents like these lead to a forceful polarisation of thoughts which is not healthy for a democracy under any circumstance. Moreover, a single incident of mob-lynching can set off a chain of such attacks.  People assumed it is the correct way to deliver punishment and quick justice. Also, we must not forget that many a times such a system of crime and punishment can also lead to innocents victims being killed, since in most cases, there is no proof of the crime and mobs act on a whim.

Mob violence is driven by mass sentiment, without any thought or rationale and therefore dangerous for a civilised society. After all an 80-year old man beaten by a mob, based solely on allegations in no scenario can be a sign of a healthy society. Don't you agree?

 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2018 08:00 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).