A new law will soon enter the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Provisions will be set for stricter punishment of those who are found guilty of mob lynching. A few days ago, the Supreme Court suggested that the Centre examine the pros and cons of enacting such a law. On its part, the central government too, without wasting any time formed two committees. One is headed by a Union Home minister and the other is headed by a Union Home secretary.
But the million-dollar question is whether the new law would be able to stop the growing cases of lynching in the country. Lawmakers are hopeful that it will be. But those who are aware of the ground realities are not enthusiastic. According to them, a new law will not serve any purpose till the offenders are deprived of political patronage. They point out that people involved in such crimes do not fear the law because of political patronage they enjoy. They know that the law might also get diluted in their favour as long as their masters are in power. On the other hand, the masters will do everything possible to get the support of such people to remain in power.
Clearly this ‘give and take’ policy of political masters and their followers has turned into a vicious cycle. To grab power, political leaders are indulging the goons and, taking advantage of the dependence, the goons are committing such crimes. A close scrutiny of lynching incidents in Rajasthan will prove this fact. In the recent times Rajasthan, the land of sun and sand, has earned the dubious distinction of being the lynching capital of India. What transformed Rajasthan? The answer is simple: It is not possible for any political party to please all its cadres as everyone cannot be ministers or MLAs. So the ruling party in Rajasthan floated a novel plan to keep its supporters busy and inject a feeling of being close to power —they formed various groups in the name of protecting cows, preventing inter-religion marriages (“Love Jihad”), etc.
While doing so, the political leaders thought that the groups would strengthen their grip on the state. But what they didn’t realise was that they were actually creating a Frankenstein, a monster —blessed by political masters, the groups have started taking law into own hands, unleashing a reign of terror upon detractors and people with whom they have differences. The trend, which initially started as a means to quell any diverse views, quickly turned into mob lynching and other heinous crimes. But with the 2019 general elections knocking at the door, the leaders who came up with such ideas are virtually helpless and not in a position to take any action against the criminals, fearing loss of power.
This is why in the past few days we have heard many explanations supporting such crimes. We have seen even, for instance, Union ministers garlanding a person accused in a lynching incident. Another Union minister visited the prison to meet with those who were sentenced for such crimes. Statements such as ‘stop killing of cows, lynching will automatically stop,’ are being made. So, no matter how strict the new law may be, lynching will not be stopped until the nexus between politicians and hooligans is intact. The new law will be successful only if along with the perpetrators of crime the politicians who instigate the people are also punished.
