Dear Middle Class, your silence on the culture of mob violence is no more an option for you if you really believe in the Rule of Law
MUMTAZ ALAM Caravan Daily
NEW DELHI: If one gets habitual of sucking blood, he won’t stop, nor will he become vegetarian after killing one or two, had said an academician some time back and warned: Today’s mob attack on Muslims won’t stop with them as the attackers will find new preys. While speaking in the context of mob violence against and mob lynching of Muslims in the name of cow, he had appealed to secular and silent Hindu majority of the country to wake up before it’s too late.
The mob violence of Karni Sena gangs against the film Padmaavat in half a dozen states and their shameful attack on children in the bus of an elite school, just 20 kilometers from the Parliament of the country and offices of President and Prime Minister, is actually the price of silence of the peace-loving majority of the country when Muslim homes, hotels and shops were being attacked by mobs and Akhlaqs, Pahlus and Junaids were being mercilessly killed.
The Karni Sena men ransacked several malls and cinema halls and torched dozens of private vehicles and buses in fives states. The terrific scene of the young school children cowering down the seats on Wednesday shook the nation. Almost all TV channels shouted at the attackers from the rooftops and even called them terrorist. They demanded ban on the Karni Sena whose gangs went on rampage in several states from Rajasthan to Haryana to Uttar Pradesh to Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Governments in these states, all run by BJP, expectedly remained mute spectator to one of the most brazen and pubic disrespects of the Supreme Court in recent decades. They did so just for some petty and ugly political gains. The SC had rejected ban by these states on the film and had asked them to ensure its screening.
Apart from these states, the film was screened across the country and people came out to watch it. And a huge number will throng cinema halls in coming days. This and voices of common people on TV channels show they did not support nor were cowed down by the mob violence of Karni Sena. Kudos. But they must introspect if they are also responsible for spread of the culture of mob violence in the country in recent years.
Hardly any of the mobs of Karni Sena had more than a few dozens of people. Similar or smaller was the size of the mobs that attacked Akhlaq in Dadri of Uttar Pradesh or Pahlu Khan in Alwar of Rajasthan. But the huge majority did not come out then to stop the mob violence. The country is now paying a heavy price for that silence and will continue to do so in the coming days if the majority does not wake up even now.
Dear Middle Class, your silence on the culture of mob violence is no more an option for you if you really believe in the Rule of Law. Even an armed mob of dozens of people can never become more powerful than the unarmed peaceful masses. Political parties of all hues will always prefer political benefits to Rule of Law.
