Afghan woman lynching: The awful truth about mob justice

We would all like to believe that we have the fortitude to make independent choices based on our individual assessment of situations. Alas, that is not often the case, sadly. We are copycats, mostly. Otherwise what can explain the mob attack on the 27-year-old Farkhunda in Afghanistan after being falsely accused of burning pages from the Quran or even the assault on author Zainub Priya Dala in South Africa after she praised Salman Rushdie's work. Instances are aplenty. To give you another one - a man, accused of allegedly raping a woman, was beaten to death at the beginning of this month after being pulled out of a jail by a mob at Dimapur in Nagaland. Earlier, a man who allegedly attempted to molest a girl in West Bengal was stripped and paraded naked.

Unfortunately, many such episodes go unnoticed if the perpetrator comes from a higher socioeconomic background. The demographic of those who pander to such blind rage come from the lower strata of society. After years of having put up with injustice and inequality, they are more than willing to define their form of justice. With a glint in their eyes, they condone their actions.

In the Dimapur case, they initially said the man was a Bangladeshi. But he is from Assam and then the tests revealed the girl wasn't raped and that it was allegedly done out of the fear that "Bangladeshis" were taking over the land and jobs in the Northeast, and they needed to be taught a lesson. Probably real education would help.

Moving over to Afghanistan, how could a mullah incite so many people into believing that a woman who taught the Quran tore pages from the holy book? What is it to anyone if she did or she didn't? It was hers to do and not our business to inflict punishment. The mullah was allegedly selling taaveez (charms) and Farkhunda had objected; in effect he was hawking superstitions. That is the beginning of mind games. It is easier to stick pages of a book than it is to straighten out belief systems. Why are women at the receiving end of a lot of moral policing? What is it about women that frightens men into subjugating them? There are one too many questions yet to be asked here and most of them on human rights. And they all go without answers.

In the secret spaces of our mind, many of us bhadralok are elated that such vigilante-like action exists. We rationalise it with the thought that since the government and the police seem to be unable to do anything, let such mob action bring on the justice. It is a misplaced sense of fairness. The system always has and will be inadequate, because we all have different expectations from it, but that doesn't mean violence-happy masses can be allowed to become the judge, jury and hangmen. It almost justifies our inability to move beyond the comfort of our zones to do anything at all other than posting statuses.

What about the police who remain mere audiences as the lynching show reaches its climax?

There is almost a silent plea for an encore from them. It can't be asked for standing as a person's life is at stake, but they seem to egg it on with their inertia and indolence. Their excuses begin and end with "there were too many people". Then isn't it a given that reinforcement must be called for immediately. The 1984 riots stand as a chilling example - what was the Delhi police doing as angry mobs roamed the streets targeting Sikhs? The public prosecutor said "every policeman was keeping his eyes closed". It repeated itself in 2002 in Gujarat. The police wants to reek of inactivity. Then where do most of us, who do not have money and power to flaunt, turn to?

There are no checks and balances in this society of ours. Those who are meant to be for our protection turn the other way. In most cases, the victims have died and the governments are more than content with status quo. They'd rather sweep it under the carpet, instead of identifying the perpetrators and bringing them to justice. This is nothing but an incentive wrapped in pretty paper for any angry mob. If there is no one to convict those responsible, such activities will only continue unabated. Intolerance of any kind is nothing but insecurity fanned on by the weak "mind". Strengthen it, as Rabindranath Tagore would say.

Scientific studies have proven that it takes a minority of just five per cent to influence a crowd's direction - and that the other 95 per cent follow without realising it. Put this herd mentality to good use; stop the fanatics from becoming mainstream.

There is a post doing the rounds on social media and it goes thus:

"Heard at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR):

Afghan President Ghani: If we arrested everybody who did something wrong, there would be no one left on the streets.

CFR moderator: Well, you could always build more prisons; that's a good business!"

As we read this, we would chuckle because it is true and so would the audience. Justifying inaction with humour doesn't sort out the issue. It should frighten us into action just as those intolerant of criticism swing into creating a commotion.