By Express News Service
CHENNAI: In the backdrop of the spate of lynching cases in India, the apex court recently termed mob lynching as a horrendous act. Chennaiites voice their demand for a law to curb this violence
Maithili Shaan Katari Libby,advocate, barrister
India is a melting pot of religions. It is heartbreaking to watch people tearing other people to shreds over cows or over what they eat, or what so-called ‘caste’ they are born into. In a country where education has not been a priority for whatever reason, we need to use the stick to stop this kind of backward mob mentality.
Jayashri Ramesh, author and communication officer in an NGO
If a law is the only solution, I am afraid this will take the society nowhere closer to solving any crisis, having seen that problem is at the implementation level. The Supreme Court of India and the Centre along with the states have to accept that and work towards a better mechanism to implement the existing criminal laws that can be effectively applied to punish the offenders rather than writing new ones. This is not to say that there should be no intervention by the government. While lawful recognition of a communal problem is important, it should be consciously watched in the rhetoric aspect as well.
Thirupurasundari Sevvel, architect planner of Nam Veedu Nam Oor Nam Kadhai
It should be a holistic approach, which handles the issue at all levels and not just an overview solution. A much-needed approach to give the law a completion but which is generally not addressed is victim-centered investigation. Victim blaming is a major issue to be addressed. The power of the local law officials to take preventive actions can make even a peaceful public assembly an offence. Mainly, if the gathering is of people fighting for their rights.
Mridulya Narasimhan,research manager
As a citizen, I feel that such acts do require preventive and remedial measures to be put in place. But most importantly, it calls for punitive action to be taken against those who take matters into their own hands and breach the rule of law. These incidences although widespread have been concentrated in certain localities across the country. It is important for the state and the police forces to identify and deploy quick response teams (QRTs) in these areas. They also need to get creative and come up with ways to identify sources of fake news.
Tejaswini Sridharan,architect
Lynching is a huge void in India’s law and this void is not only used by the public mobs, but also used by the policemen and the government (lately), because they simply think that they will be able to provide more justice than the law or because they have to act quicker than the law, fearing retribution, victimising the minorities. There are several provisions in the law to tackle lynching, but they aren’t effectively implemented so far.
Vinay Pushpakaran,business consultant, and public speaking coach
The recent spate of lynching and mob violence raises a disturbing question — as a society, do we devalue human life so much that it takes only a WhatsApp forward, or a rumour to take a life in cold blood? A strong anti-lynching law is definitely a step in the right direction but I don’t think it is good enough to be called a solution unless there is swift, unflinching and decisive action from the state governments and the police. A law is only as good as it’s enforcement. Right now, our country needs unbiased and swift enforcement more than ever before.
Chanesh Babu, start-up consultant
State government can avoid lynching with the help of technology. Technology can track everything. With the help of AI technology we can reduce mob rumours. WhatsApp is one of the platforms where rumours are spread in just a matter of seconds. WhatsApp doesn’t have a feature to mark a message as spam, or report. The government should create awareness programmes for the masses.
Inputs from Roshne Balasubramanian, Vaishali Vijaykumar, and Dia Rekhi
