A recent incident involving beating and stripping of Tanzanian students in Bangalore India brought mob behavior in India back in the news. Such mob behavior is common in India and this incident appeared on the headlines only because of suspicion of racism. Speaking with local Bangaloreans revealed that it’s not primarily about racism, and a further look into this behavior brought some interesting thoughts about the situation on ground in India and how the citizens are responding to it.
The common man is angry
The common man in India is gagged, tied, beaten, robbed and thrown on the wayside. He is angry, but there is no catharsis for his anger except for his constant fuming and murmuring at his politicians, bureaucrats and law enforcement. He sees injustice all around him and corruption at every level in society. His courts have failed him and the police serve only the ones who are in power. Thugs acting with impunity thanks to the power delegated to them by the ones who hold the power waste no time in encroaching the common man’s space with banners, posters and loud speakers at their will, having stripped him of his rights to question them. Several hours of his life time is spent in choking traffic, in dangerous pothole ridden streets, inhaling toxic fumes, while the high powers breeze through well paved, smooth roads that connect their luxurious homes to their legislative houses. The common man knows this very well, but he has done nothing and instead holds the anger deep inside both consciously and sub-consciously. He feels hopeless when he has to work very hard to get a decent education, toil at work in order to even afford basic personal transport, but a semi-literate, and in many cases with a criminal background reaches the top ranks of the government and drives off with cars most in the West can only dream of. Government’s raising of religious, caste, language and other minor issues to distract people from real issues and vent their anger at one another doesn’t always work. The common man is still furious.
…And justice is not for all
There is no hope for an average person to receive timely justice from the Indian courts. Lower castes and poor are constantly refused even a request to file an FIR (First Information Report). There is not one case in recent times where a powerful politician or a celebrity, or even a gangster living under political protection was sentenced to the kind of punishment that would be given to the common man for a similar crime. While there are several cases of the poor being held under custody for years waiting for trial, there are cases of the likes of Salman Khan where the courts waited 13 years to give a sentence only to suspend that within hours. In spite of widespread corruption, robbing of natural resources and crime among the ruling class, only a minuscule amount of that even gets reported and gets taken to court and almost none get punished. On the other hand there are examples of very quick government and judicial action on those who have voiced their dissent against the government or the perpetrators of crime in the government. There is no place in modern India for the common man to go to ask for justice; there is no justice for him.
Crowd-sourcing justice
Mob justice is common in many countries where the government has failed in delivering justice and in keeping law and order. India is fast becoming a country where many of its citizens no longer bother to report to the police and move the courts, but instead resort to a more guaranteed way to deliver justice – by mob. Mob justice is fast, less cumbersome and almost always works. Indian law enforcement and courts are very fickle. There are cases of very quick action on those who are thought to be a danger to those in power, and there are cases of refusal to accept even genuine crimes because of the social clout of the accused. A case may have a strong evidence and may even be fast moving but may come to a grinding halt because of a word from “higher up”. There is no guarantee how your case may work out with the Indian judiciary, and an increasing number of Indians no longer want to take their chances.
The anonymity in the crowd
Even as reasons drive the Indian public to bypass the law enforcement and the courts, there are still some barriers that prevent an average person to do so. An individual who physically assaults a person accused of a crime is still accountable for his actions. It is the same with two or three joining hands in assaulting an accused. It is though, not the same with the mob. There is a level of anonymity while acting as a mob. While there is a chance a handful from the mob may be identified, many walk scot-free. This anonymity removes the last barrier for an average person to step in and lay his hand on a total stranger. Once an active mob is formed, the individual members of the crowd no longer act by their own individual consciousness, but rather follow the mob’s collective emotion. The Indian public’s thirst for justice, fueled by burning mob emotion that spreads like contagion, coupled with the cover of anonymity is a great recipe for violent, irrational mob behavior. As long as the ingredients continue to remain, such mob behavior will continue to manifest itself in the Indian society.
An unfair justice system
Mob justice is a very unfair way to deliver justice. Those who get punished by the mob are in most cases petty thieves, small unorganized criminals and in many instances the wrongly accused. The mob can never get to the richer, more powerful criminals in the government who are causing a far more damage to the country and often times the public is not even aware of the level of crime and corruption the government is involved in. This diverts the public energy and the quest for justice into the wrong areas – from the real, high profile criminals who are destroying the country to low level petty thieves and lower officials. The more effective solution is to address the failures in the judicial system which will deliver a more fair justice to all the citizens.
The channeled energy
There is a real need in India for the public to properly channel their energies where they are most needed. There is a real need for reform in all levels and areas of government, which would need public involvement. In a democracy, public participation is vital in voting, questioning the government, raising awareness of social issues, etc, which is where the public’s focus should be. Currently the Indian public is distanced from these vital involvement which is one of the real issues plaguing India. Next time such a mob attack is on news, it should serve as a reminder that the Indian justice system has failed its citizens and call the public for action to step up and address the failures.
