Editorial: Indefensible act
Silence of political parties on mob justice amounts to normalising despicable acts like lynching in the name of religion
Mob lynching in the name of religion is a despicable act that has no place in democracies. Only in theocratic societies where blasphemy laws take precedence over principles of equality, such vigilantism is encouraged. The recent cases of mob lynching of two persons in Punjab accused of sacrilegious conduct have raised disturbing questions about mixing of politics and religion and the complicity of police. Deliberate attempts at desecrating any place of worship of any community are reprehensible but the chilling mob justice is even more disturbing and should be condemned unequivocally. What is appalling is that politicians, cutting across party lines, failed to condemn the barbaric incidents. Particularly reprehensible was the State Congress chief Navjot Sidhu’s call for public execution of the sacrilege accused. This is unconscionable coming from a man who aspires to be chief minister and also demonstrates the extent to which leaders are prepared to go in stoking religious aggression for votes ahead of the Assembly elections. With a history soaked in blood, Punjab has suffered the consequences of a volatile mix of politics and religion and a dark phase of terrorism. However, with the support of the people, the insurgency of the 1980s was successfully put down and peace and normalcy restored. The back-to-back cases of mob lynching have now revived the bitter memories of the past when religion was sought to be used as a potent weapon to achieve certain political goals. An unidentified person who attempted to desecrate the Guru Granth Sahib was killed by a mob at the Golden Temple in Amritsar while another man was beaten to death by locals in Kapurthala district for allegedly disrespecting the Sikh flag.
The silence of political parties on the mob justice amounts to normalising despicable acts like lynching in the name of religion. Insincere condolences and platitudes notwithstanding, the political class, across the spectrum, was complicit in poisoning the environment in the border State by infusing religion into politics, deliberately facilitating the so-called fringe elements with dog-whistles and echo chambers, and above all, by remaining silent when the situation demanded explicit condemnation and action. Mobs are energised by political dog whistles while the police often wink at the violence carried out in the name of a religion that has self-proclaimed political backers. Those who committed the murders must be caught and punished. There is certainly no place for bloodthirsty mobs in a civilised society. The accused should have been handed over to the police for the initiation of legal proceedings. In the Golden Temple incident, it seems that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee — which manages the holiest Sikh shrine — failed to handle the situation sensibly and responsibly. Things were allowed to spin out of control, leading to the death of the man who had jumped over the railing in the sanctum sanctorum.
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