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Whither Law & Order:INCREASING MOB VIOLENCE, by Insaf, 27 September 2007 Print E-mail

Round The States

New Delhi, 27 September 2007

Whither Law & Order

INCREASING MOB VIOLENCE

By Insaf

More and more States are getting engulfed in mob violence. Other than infamous Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, cases of intolerance or “street justice” have been reported from Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Delhi and Manipur in the past fortnight. A brief glance at what is happening in the country should make both the authorities and the people sit up and ask: whither law and order in the 60th glorious (?) year of India’s independence?

In Bihar’s Vaishali district, ten unarmed “thieves” were lynched by a mob of hundreds in Rajpakar village, barely three km from the local police station on September 13. The bodies bore signs of shocking brutality: four had their throats slit and one his hand chopped off. The faces of all were badly battered. Initial inquiry reveals that they were no thieves. On September 21, two suspected thieves were bludgeoned to death in Patna’s Nutan colony by a mob of about 200. Three days earlier, Rakesh Kumar, belonging to the backward Lohar caste, in Patahi village, Sitamarhi district was beaten all night and allegedly strangulated by the sarpanch and his Rajput friends. The boy had reportedly stolen idols from the sarpanch’s temple! The local police station came to know of the incident only in the morning.

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UP, Jharkhand, Manipur

In Uttar Pradesh, the VC of Aligarh Muslim University, Prof Abdul Aziz, had to face the wrath of a mob of students, following the murder of a fellow student in the University premises on September 23. The VC’s house was ransacked and his personal belongings burnt. Not enough, the mob ransacked the Proctor’s office and set on fire the Staff Club, Allahabad Bank’s ATM and vehicles on the premises. In Jharkhand, the same day three unarmed thieves, who allegedly stole water pumps, were beaten to death in Ramgarh district by members of the village defence committees. Here, too, the police reached the scene of crime only next morning.

 

On Sunday last, in Manipur, angry locals of Thoubal district, Imphal locked up 16 Assam Rifles personnel and burnt two vehicles at Sangaiyumpham, in retaliation of a raid at a local panchayat candidate’s house to nab insurgents. In Chhattisgarh the same day, a policeman and a group of construction workers, mistaken as Naxalites, were beaten up mercilessly with lathis and stones by about 50 villagers of Torfa in Bulgrampur police district. In Maharashtra, a 55-year-old dhaba owner was lynched by tribal villagers of Balvidi in Virar, in the wee hours as he allegedly tried to molest a woman.

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New Delhi Too Erupts

In India’s capital, a mob of 600-700 people belonging to the minority community torched two police outposts, cars and gypsies in Batla House area of Zakir Nagar, South Delhi on Saturday evening. Four policemen were admitted to hospital with serious injuries. It all started when copies of the Quran reportedly fell on the ground after a beat constable tried to stop a local from setting up his pushcart of books on the road. The mob claimed the Quran had been desecrated and went into a rage. It pelted stones at the Batla Police Chowki and then set it and two gypsies ablaze. Later the mob went to Shaheen Bagh police post under Sarita Vihar and also set it on fire. About 15,000 policemen had to be rushed to the area to restore order. 

Bihar’s Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar, has ordered that collective fines be slapped on people where incidents of lynching take place. He has also directed that the police machinery be overhauled and cases tried speedily. Nevertheless, the incidents haven’t stopped. Basically, these reflect not only a breakdown of law and order but increasing lack of confidence among the people in the ability of both the Central and the State Governments to tackle lawlessness and bring the culprits to book. Law and order, as an old saying goes, ultimately depends upon the people’s perception of the ruler and his “iqbal” Remember, none dared touch even the uniform of a policeman under the British rule knowing full well that it would bring the entire might of the Raj crashing on his head!

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Shinde For Maharashtra

Maharashtra is expected to provide the Congress an answer to Mayawati’s growing clout among the Dalits and her mounting focus on the Centre. Union Power Minister and the State’s former Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, appears to have emerged as his party’s Dalit icon. For starters, the Congress High Command may replace Vilasrao Deshmukh with Shinde as Chief Minister. Shinde had replaced Deshmukh in 2003 and had, in fact, led the Congress to victory in the 2004 Assembly poll despite the anti-incumbency factor, thanks to the Dalit vote bank. The Dalit’s were, however, greatly upset when Vilasrao was reappointed Chief Minister and Shinde packed off to Andhra Pradesh as Governor.

Two years later. Shinde, a Sonia loyalist was brought back to the Centre as Union Power Minister. Many viewed him as the Congress potential candidate for India’s Presidentship. Recall, he was the Party candidate for Vice-Presidentship in 2002, when he lost to BJP’s Bhairon Singh Shekhawat.  In fact, Shinde was very much in Sonia Gandhi’s shortlist as the Congress candidate for the July Presidential election. But this was not to be once Mayawati triumphed in UP, and refused to countenance a Dalit as her rival in the top echelons of India’s governance. The question now is not how soon will Shinde occupy “Varsha,” the CM’s official residence in Mumbai, but will he be able to counter effectively Mayawati’s Dalit juggernaut? 

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DMK Chief Guilty Of Violence

Tamil Nadu continues to attract the spotlight on the Ram Setu issue. Grave note has been taken at the Centre of the attack by the DMK cadres on the BJP and VHP offices in the State --- and the havoc caused. The State’s Chief Minister appears to be mainly responsible for the violence, notwithstanding his claim of being innocent. The Centre had alerted him against violent strikes by the DMK. But he did little to ensure that the protest demonstration against the Sangh Parivar remained peaceful. His deliberate decision to ignore New Delhi’s advice is tantamount to a break-down of the Constitution. The Centre could exercise its right and dismiss the DMK Government, as demanded by the BJP. But it is in no position to do so, dependent as it is on the DMK for its own survival of the UPA Government at the Centre.

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“Indian Idol” Integrates

Meghalaya and its leaders have reason to be grateful to the producers of the popular TV programme “Indian Idol”.  Time was not very long ago when Khasi sub-nationalism led to riots against the dkhars or outsiders. Even Amit’s father, Deepak Paul was forced to sell his house in Mawprem, a Khasi dominated area of Shillong, and move to a place near Police Bazar in the heart of the State Capital. All that has changed, thanks to “our Shillong boy” Amit Paul, a Bengali, one of the two finalists in the programme. Songs were written for him and even yagnas held for his success as part of mass hysteria triggered by the programme.

Unfortunately, Prashant Tamang from Darjeeling beat Amit in the popularity, which had seven crore enthusiasts voting. Expectedly this came as a great shock and disappointment. Nevertheless the people of the State have taken a gracious and positive view of the outcome. Amit has brought about what seemed impossible in the “Scotland of the East.”  He has gloriously “bridged” the divide among the locals and the outsiders and emerged as Meghalaya’s singing idol. Significantly, the State government, headed by DD Lapang, has named him Meghalaya’s Brand Ambassador.  India could surely do with more such programmes. ---INFA

 (Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)

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