Campaign launched against mob-lynching -Governance Now

Campaign launched against mob-lynching

We will be on the streets of Gujarat if there is no action by July 11 – which marks the anniversary of the Una movement, said Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani

Pranita Kulkarni | June 5, 2017 | New Delhi

#Tehseen Poonawalla #Jignesh Mewani #Shehla Rashid #Kanhaiya Kumar #law #Mob lynching #Gujarat

A group of activists on Monday launched a national campaign against mob-lynching and demanded a new law to curb it.

The panel comprised JNU student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar, Shehla Rashid, and activists Jignesh Mewani and Tehseen Poonawalla.

Rashid alleged that the mob-lynching has become the order of the day, and suggested a few people to be a part of a committee, which can work on the draft of the anti mob-lynching law.

Poonawalla, who had petitioned the apex court regarding ban on the vigilante groups, said, “The need of our times is a specific law to deal with vigilantism. The government must make lynching a non-bailable offence with punishment up to life imprisonment. The local police officer, in whose jurisdiction lynching took place, must be suspended immediately and a judicial inquiry must be initiated against the officer.”

He also alleged that the incidents like the one in Dadri cannot take place without police complicity. “If the government fails to enact the law in the stipulated period, we’ll lead farmers, cattle grazers and dairy farmers to the PM’s house and will leave the cattle there.”

Dalit leader Jignesh Mewani, who had led the Una Dalit uprising last year, said, “We will be on the streets of Gujarat if there is no action in this front till July 11 – which marks anniversary of the Una movement. The shocking flogging of Una victims, brutal murder of Pehlu Khan, the devastating account of Latehar – these are more than a wake-up call to demand a special law to deal with mob-lynching.”

Kumar expressed concern that the country might be moving to bheed-tantra (mobocracy) from loktantra (democracy).

Comments

Other News

The economics of representation: Why women in power matter

India’s democracy has grown in scale, but not quite in balance. Women today are active participants in elections, influencing outcomes in ways that were not as visible earlier. Yet their presence in legislative institutions continues to lag behind. The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam was meant to addres

India will be powerful, not aggressive: Bhaiyyaji

India is poised to emerge as a global power but will remain rooted in its civilisational ethos of non-aggression and harmony, former RSS General Secretary Suresh `Bhaiyyaji` Joshi has said. He was speaking at the launch of “Rashtrabhav,” a book by Ravindra Sathe

AI: Code, Control, Conquer

India today stands at a critical juncture in the area of artificial intelligence. While the country is among the fastest adopters of AI in the world, it remains heavily reliant on technologies developed elsewhere. This paradox, experts warn, cannot persist if India seeks technological sovereignty.

RBI pauses to assess inflation risks, policy transmission

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has begun the new fiscal year with a calibrated pause, keeping the repo rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent in its April Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. The decision, taken unanimously, reflects a shift from aggressive policy action to cautious observation after a signi

New pathways for tourism growth

Traditionally, India’s tourism policy has been based on three main components: the number of visitors, building tourist attractions and providing facilities for tourists. Due to the increase in climate-related issues and environmental destruction that occurred over previous years, policymakers have b

Is the US a superpower anymore?

On April 8, hours after warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight,” US president Donald Trump, exhibiting his unique style of retreating from high-voltage brinkmanship, announced that he agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. The weekend talks in Islamabad have failed and the futur