Cowed down: On the need for strict anti-lynching laws (UPSC Current Affair)

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Why in the News?

Recently, two tribal men were lynched to death in Seoni, Madhya Pradesh, on the suspicion that they were slaughtering cows has again brought the issue of mob lynching the discussion.

What is mob lynching?

• Mob Lynching is an act of mob violence committed by a crowd of people who turns aggressive which results in the killing of a person on the assumption of being guilty of a crime without any legal and fair trial.
• In a general sense, Mob lynching is an act of targeted violence against an individual by a large group of people motivated by mob justice mentality.
• Cases of mob lynching are on the rise in India since 2015 and minorities and vulnerable groups particularly Muslims, Dalits and tribals have been the victims of mob lynching.
• The murder of a dairy farmer, Pehlu Khan, and his sons by self-described cow vigilantes in Rajasthan in 2017 is still fresh in people's minds.

What are the Reasons for rising in mob-lynching incidents in India?

• Failure of state: The failure of the state to protect Minorities from the mob.The Inefficiency of Police Administration in maintaining Law and Order situation and protecting the life of the people. This has led to people losing their faith in law enforcement machinery and therefore taking laws into their hands.
• Lack of Speedy Justice: Inefficient working of the Court, a huge backlog of cases, and scenario of delayed Justice is the primary reason why people take law into their own hands and have left no fear of the consequences.
• Lack of impunity:The absence of legislation for mob/crowd murder in India is one of the key causes for the surge in mob lynching. Lynching is not covered by any specific law, and it is not mentioned in the Indian Penal Code. It is difficult for police to register and investigate instances involving large crowds. As a result, the criminals frequently get away with it.

Social Reasons

• In recent years, intolerance has grown, particularly against the marginalized and minorities. For example, hatred toward Muslims has grown as a result of cow slaughter and beef-eating and mob lynching cases have risen as a result of the news of Muslims eating beef.
• Loss of Social values like Fraternity, and respect for others under the influence of political propaganda in society
• Rise of Cow Vigilante: Supreme Court judgment of 2005 had justified the total ban on cattle slaughter which has motivated cow vigilante groups. It is one of the crucial reasons that had led to the growing rise in mob lynching activities.
• Economic Reason: With the growth in unemployment, politicians and religious organizations are misinforming the youth. They act against particular groups to exact retribution or are driven by thrill and excitement as a result of incorrect preaching.
• Internet and Fake News: Since 2015, the rise in use of the internet and Social media platforms has led to the spreading of rumors and fake news quickly. Which has misinformed people leading to events of mob lynching.

Why Mob lynching and aftermath incidents are disturbing?

• Communities including Dalits, Muslims, and tribals have been stigmatized because of their eating patterns and reliance on cattle products for a living since the Supreme Court's 2005 decision on the cow slaughter ban.
• As a result, Muslims, Dalits, and Tribals have borne the brunt of the mob violence. For example, Pehlu Khan murder in April 2017 in Rajasthan.
• The police fail to try to bring people implicated in lynch mobs to justice while enforcing the livestock slaughter regulations.
• Even The law enforcement authorities' priorities are absurd. Instead of investigating and arresting the criminals, the police have attempted to excuse mob lynching in Rajasthan 2018 by pointing to the victim's participation in a cow slaughter case..
• The cattle slaughter restrictions appear to have been introduced to please majoritarian sentiments in order to gain political support rather than to protect animals.

What steps have been taken to curb mob lynching?

Supreme Court

• Supreme Court in Tehseen Punawala vs. Union of India and others 2018, has issued disciplinary, remedial and preventive guidelines for the case of mob lynching and asked Parliament to enact legislation for mob lynching.
• The Supreme Court has also issued directives to the Centre, the Human Rights Commission, and ten states for failing to follow guidelines issued to prevent mob lynchings.

Legal

• Since there is no separate definition for lynching under the IPC, Supreme Court has asked to use the sections of IPC applied to deal with instance of mob killing.
• This includes Section 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (causing voluntary hurt) 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting armed with deadly weapons) and 149 (unlawful assembly).
• Also, Section 223A of the CrPC provides for criminal prosecution for crowds involved in similar crimes.

Union Government

• A high-level committee led by Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba was formed..
• According to Supreme Court Directives 2018, the central government formed a panel to deliver a report to the Prime Minister

State Government

Four states (Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Manipur) had passed anti-lynching legislation, but it was still being implemented.

Other steps

Social Media Rules 2018, regarding the forwarding of messages through social media like WhatsApp and others has been restricted to only five chats, in order to stop the fake rumors from spreading so easily and fast.

Civil Society Organisation

• To promote awareness, the 'Not in my name campaign' was organized.
• Manav Suraksha Kanoon (MASUKA)’ is a law to prevent mob lynching that was proposed by National Campaign against Mob Lynching (NCAML).

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