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Mathew Moothasseril
Jul 22, 2018, 10:48:49 PM7/22/18
to santhome, mstgeneralate, Fr. Joby Njallyil, Thomas Chirayil, syromalaba...@googlegroups.com
The Complex Web of Lynching
Who is the culprit of lynching: Technology or Culture?
Whole world was in prayer this week for the amazing rescue operation
that saved 12 boys and their 25-year-old coach trapped in the
treacherous Tham Luang cave in Thailand. Diving experts from various
countries involved in the rescue mission undertaken by the military
which proved that saving the lives of those young boys (some of whom
are not even Thailand citizens) perhaps are as valuable as protecting
their national leaders.
Meanwhile, back in India Jayant Sinha, a union minister from Jharkhand
was felicitating six men garlanding them with saffron flowers at his
residence on the outskirts of Hazaribagh. This was not for winning a
world cup but for gaining bail in a convicted case of lynching a meat
trader last year!
Lynching: A National Sport
Two years ago the nation was shocked by a mob that murdered Mohammad
Akhlaq in Dadri, UP for allegedly keeping beef in his house. In a
country which was marred by communal tensions and riots however, such
a tendency was unheard up until the BJP came to power in the centre.
Subsequently the nation witnessed a series of lynching incidents most
of which were allegedly for trading cows or beef. But some recent
happenings had the feigned reason of child abduction. 27 people had
been killed in 15 different cases in 9 different states within the
last 3 months! Over 63 people have been lynched to death from 2015
according to The Quint. Lynching has now become a sort of ‘national
sports’ in India.
Many people argue that the social media is the culprit behind
lynching. Of course, social media, especially WhatsApp, was used
conveniently to spread rumours and fake messages about child poachers
and robbers entering respective cities and towns. India is one of the
countries having a very large number of people (70 Million) using
instant messenger service WhatsApp. The rumours that virally spread on
these apps have the potential to reach thousands of people instantly
and cause immense damage to people’s lives.
In social media not many people consider verifying facts before
forwarding a message. The 16 year old son of Alimuddin Ansari, whose
murderers Mr Jayant Sinha was garlanding, indeed received the video of
his father being lynched by the mob in Ramgarh. What a heart-breaking
situation a son could have! Unlike Facebook and Twitter, WhatApp’s
feature of end to end description had made it impossible to trace the
source accounts until recently. But the company has promptly responded
to the alarming situation of increasing fake messages that put
people’s life at risk by adding a new feature of ‘Forward Label’
thanks to the suggestions by experts.
The Culture of Lynching
But could Indians simply wash their hands putting the responsibility
over the media giants? While technology was a catalyst, particular
social psychosis and apathy have caused the number of lynching in the
country increasing recently. Mob killings have become the new normal
in India that people are not bothered about it. The mob quickly
gathers, do their ‘business’ and then simply disappears. In Arunachal
Pradesh the two lynched dead bodies lied unattended in the busy town
square of Tezu for hours while life around routinely continued.
In a couple of occasions of mob attacks the police remained inactive
to manage the mob. In Arunachal Pradesh the lynching occurred when the
confessional statements of the arrested labourers were widely shared
on social media. Soon people gathered at the station and murdered the
labourers in front of the police.
In Rainpada, a remote village of Maharashtra, when the five suspected
poachers were taken to the panchayat samiti office for questioning,
people from adjoining villages called up their friends and around
3,000 people gathered and indulged in the lynching. In Tripura’s
agonising story of lynching an announcer hired by the authorities to
campaign against fake news was lynched to death in front of so many
people. In all these incidents, people celebrated and vindicated the
murders as ‘mob justice’ on social media while police remained
reticent. In many cases even an FIR was not registered.
Impervious Public and Lawless Lawmakers
The indifference of the law and order system in seizing and punishing
the perpetrators is equal to social media permitting people to spread
any fake information about anything. If left uncontrolled we would be
inviting a situation where anyone would circulate false messages on
anything which would panic people to death. The society at large
should be concerned about developing strong law and order system to
manage the mobs and antisocial elements both in society and in cyber
world. Similarly we need fast track courts to serve justice to the
victims and as an antidote to mob frenzy.
Garlanding of the culprits by the minister himself is equivalent to
righting the wrong actions in the society. It is not the first time
that BJP and its stalwarts come up to protect the criminals. BJP MLA
Sangeet Som, MoS Dr Mahesh Sharma, MP Nishikant Dubey, MP Giriraj
Singh were all in the forefront to aid the criminals in various cases.
After the gang rape and murder of a minor in Kathua, J&K many BJP
leaders came up in support of the accused. Such supports not only
encourage crime but also provide security to criminals. The political
discourse over the last four years have created an environment in
which the people could shed their inhibitions even to kill another.
BJP’s political ideology has been thriving on the idea that Hinduism
is targeted and attacked by the minorities as well as spreading hate.
This has helped the majority Hindus to create their ‘other’ and
dehumanise them as an outsider of the moral community they represent.
It is then easy to kill a stranger even if he/she has not done any
crime to those directly involved in the lynching.
People who feast fake news have become thoughtless and insensitive.
Our education system has failed our people to think critical. Indians
use less of reason more of emotion especially with religious or caste
issues. Media and politicians aggravate it rather than douse. Most
people murdered in mob attacks were either Muslims or Dalits.
The Way Forward
The rescue operations in the cave of Thailand where an international
community of experts were joining hands to save live without counting
their religious identities is a proof that the world aspires for a
renewed humanity. No discrimination was shown in saving the lives of
those boys some of whom are not the citizens. So far as the Indian
citizenry does not learn to respect other’s life and their legitimate
space in the society, our dream of development will remain
unfulfilled. So it is important to create counter narrative for which
social media itself is the best platform. We need to transcend out
online gossip culture with more introspective and proactive dialogue
culture.
People who are active in social media should personally become more
critical about the messages they send and receive. Admins of each
groups should be more responsible and analytical in handling messages.
People who are able to recognise fraud messages should immediately
warn their friends about it and educate them instantly. Further, our
educational institutions should take more interest in educating the
children and young people about the dangers of spreading false news.
Hopes are not dead as we learn about some valiant men and a prompt
police officer who dared to stop rallying crowd baying for innocent
blood in some recent lynch attempts. But even after 65 reported
killings no humanitarian agencies or organisations for social justice
have come up with a fruitful campaign that counter the death culture
prevalent in India. It is high time for us to spread true and positive
messages against mob frenzy, street justice, and lynching considering
mass murders as a modern day menace.
This article was published in Indian Currents on 16th July 2018,
Volume XXX, Issue 29
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By Jose Vallikatt| July 14th, 2018|In Depth, Vallikatt|0 Comments
--
*GATHER THE SCATTERED*
Fr Mathew Moothasseril
Sant Thoma Bhavan
Post Box 306
RAMAN MALA
Kolhapur,416 003
Maharashtra
INDIA
Who is the culprit of lynching: Technology or Culture?
Whole world was in prayer this week for the amazing rescue operation
that saved 12 boys and their 25-year-old coach trapped in the
treacherous Tham Luang cave in Thailand. Diving experts from various
countries involved in the rescue mission undertaken by the military
which proved that saving the lives of those young boys (some of whom
are not even Thailand citizens) perhaps are as valuable as protecting
their national leaders.
Meanwhile, back in India Jayant Sinha, a union minister from Jharkhand
was felicitating six men garlanding them with saffron flowers at his
residence on the outskirts of Hazaribagh. This was not for winning a
world cup but for gaining bail in a convicted case of lynching a meat
trader last year!
Lynching: A National Sport
Two years ago the nation was shocked by a mob that murdered Mohammad
Akhlaq in Dadri, UP for allegedly keeping beef in his house. In a
country which was marred by communal tensions and riots however, such
a tendency was unheard up until the BJP came to power in the centre.
Subsequently the nation witnessed a series of lynching incidents most
of which were allegedly for trading cows or beef. But some recent
happenings had the feigned reason of child abduction. 27 people had
been killed in 15 different cases in 9 different states within the
last 3 months! Over 63 people have been lynched to death from 2015
according to The Quint. Lynching has now become a sort of ‘national
sports’ in India.
Many people argue that the social media is the culprit behind
lynching. Of course, social media, especially WhatsApp, was used
conveniently to spread rumours and fake messages about child poachers
and robbers entering respective cities and towns. India is one of the
countries having a very large number of people (70 Million) using
instant messenger service WhatsApp. The rumours that virally spread on
these apps have the potential to reach thousands of people instantly
and cause immense damage to people’s lives.
In social media not many people consider verifying facts before
forwarding a message. The 16 year old son of Alimuddin Ansari, whose
murderers Mr Jayant Sinha was garlanding, indeed received the video of
his father being lynched by the mob in Ramgarh. What a heart-breaking
situation a son could have! Unlike Facebook and Twitter, WhatApp’s
feature of end to end description had made it impossible to trace the
source accounts until recently. But the company has promptly responded
to the alarming situation of increasing fake messages that put
people’s life at risk by adding a new feature of ‘Forward Label’
thanks to the suggestions by experts.
The Culture of Lynching
But could Indians simply wash their hands putting the responsibility
over the media giants? While technology was a catalyst, particular
social psychosis and apathy have caused the number of lynching in the
country increasing recently. Mob killings have become the new normal
in India that people are not bothered about it. The mob quickly
gathers, do their ‘business’ and then simply disappears. In Arunachal
Pradesh the two lynched dead bodies lied unattended in the busy town
square of Tezu for hours while life around routinely continued.
In a couple of occasions of mob attacks the police remained inactive
to manage the mob. In Arunachal Pradesh the lynching occurred when the
confessional statements of the arrested labourers were widely shared
on social media. Soon people gathered at the station and murdered the
labourers in front of the police.
In Rainpada, a remote village of Maharashtra, when the five suspected
poachers were taken to the panchayat samiti office for questioning,
people from adjoining villages called up their friends and around
3,000 people gathered and indulged in the lynching. In Tripura’s
agonising story of lynching an announcer hired by the authorities to
campaign against fake news was lynched to death in front of so many
people. In all these incidents, people celebrated and vindicated the
murders as ‘mob justice’ on social media while police remained
reticent. In many cases even an FIR was not registered.
Impervious Public and Lawless Lawmakers
The indifference of the law and order system in seizing and punishing
the perpetrators is equal to social media permitting people to spread
any fake information about anything. If left uncontrolled we would be
inviting a situation where anyone would circulate false messages on
anything which would panic people to death. The society at large
should be concerned about developing strong law and order system to
manage the mobs and antisocial elements both in society and in cyber
world. Similarly we need fast track courts to serve justice to the
victims and as an antidote to mob frenzy.
Garlanding of the culprits by the minister himself is equivalent to
righting the wrong actions in the society. It is not the first time
that BJP and its stalwarts come up to protect the criminals. BJP MLA
Sangeet Som, MoS Dr Mahesh Sharma, MP Nishikant Dubey, MP Giriraj
Singh were all in the forefront to aid the criminals in various cases.
After the gang rape and murder of a minor in Kathua, J&K many BJP
leaders came up in support of the accused. Such supports not only
encourage crime but also provide security to criminals. The political
discourse over the last four years have created an environment in
which the people could shed their inhibitions even to kill another.
BJP’s political ideology has been thriving on the idea that Hinduism
is targeted and attacked by the minorities as well as spreading hate.
This has helped the majority Hindus to create their ‘other’ and
dehumanise them as an outsider of the moral community they represent.
It is then easy to kill a stranger even if he/she has not done any
crime to those directly involved in the lynching.
People who feast fake news have become thoughtless and insensitive.
Our education system has failed our people to think critical. Indians
use less of reason more of emotion especially with religious or caste
issues. Media and politicians aggravate it rather than douse. Most
people murdered in mob attacks were either Muslims or Dalits.
The Way Forward
The rescue operations in the cave of Thailand where an international
community of experts were joining hands to save live without counting
their religious identities is a proof that the world aspires for a
renewed humanity. No discrimination was shown in saving the lives of
those boys some of whom are not the citizens. So far as the Indian
citizenry does not learn to respect other’s life and their legitimate
space in the society, our dream of development will remain
unfulfilled. So it is important to create counter narrative for which
social media itself is the best platform. We need to transcend out
online gossip culture with more introspective and proactive dialogue
culture.
People who are active in social media should personally become more
critical about the messages they send and receive. Admins of each
groups should be more responsible and analytical in handling messages.
People who are able to recognise fraud messages should immediately
warn their friends about it and educate them instantly. Further, our
educational institutions should take more interest in educating the
children and young people about the dangers of spreading false news.
Hopes are not dead as we learn about some valiant men and a prompt
police officer who dared to stop rallying crowd baying for innocent
blood in some recent lynch attempts. But even after 65 reported
killings no humanitarian agencies or organisations for social justice
have come up with a fruitful campaign that counter the death culture
prevalent in India. It is high time for us to spread true and positive
messages against mob frenzy, street justice, and lynching considering
mass murders as a modern day menace.
This article was published in Indian Currents on 16th July 2018,
Volume XXX, Issue 29
Share this:
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on
Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new
window)
By Jose Vallikatt| July 14th, 2018|In Depth, Vallikatt|0 Comments
--
*GATHER THE SCATTERED*
Fr Mathew Moothasseril
Sant Thoma Bhavan
Post Box 306
RAMAN MALA
Kolhapur,416 003
Maharashtra
INDIA
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