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Round The States
Whither Law & Order
INCREASING MOB VIOLENCE
By Insaf
New Delhi, September 29, 2007
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.
* * * *
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.
* * *
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!
* * * *
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?
* * * *
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.
* * * *
“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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newseditor@sarkaritel.com
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