I ignore Vampire movies, serials and stories, which are just a fig of imagination: cannibalistic zombies roaming empty streets baying for the blood of humans, or fanged creatures ready to dig into the neck of any unsuspecting person. Such episodes are at best emancipation of human mind as a proof of imagination, much like many aspects of religion.
Be that as it may, I touch upon a related and unrelated topic, humans acting as vampires taking away lives in India. I wouldn’t know if prior to 2014 they were omnipresent, who have taken upon themselves as the guardians of the society, in decrying anything aberrant to their minds and meting out swift and cruel justice- lynching.
It began with abhor of long standing habits, eating choice in this case beef. The bovines got exalted and anyone related to its trade, live or dead, found storing beef, cooking, or consuming the suddenly proscribed food of many were lynched. These judges emerged from the dark, taking over law and order on their hands as the government watched helplessly or quietly looked the other way, thus not discouraging such criminal elements. Beef business did not hold long, as the media-cry was too loud and public protests were huge. The Western governments and press too butted in, ignorant of the religious ethos our country attaches to cows, bewildered and harsh over the lynching. It soon stopped, save some occasional incidences.
The lynch mobs now are back in full swing. Their new manifesto – to identify child-lifters and beat them to death. The habit has evolved into a national menace undermining the public faith on our judiciary and law-enforcing agencies. From Kerala to Rajasthan, we suddenly witness and read of lynch mobs on the rampage.
Unlike the rapists, who could be caught with several technological assistance like the DNA tests, lynching leaves the victim dead, the mob melting away soon after their hunger for blood is satiated. CCTVs do not cover all such macabre acts and witnesses do not come forward to identify the culprits.
As we move ahead, we could be sliding back into a nation of anarchy and chaos, if these elements are not contained and severely dealt with. In one of the recent cases of lynching on the suspicion of being child-lifting gang, the group of five, poor and hungry and leaving their family back in their dry and drought-struck villages, had merely arrived in the town, looking for some jobs to feed their kids back home.
The urge to kill is growing in the wake of lesser deliverables and more challenges man faces. The need and greed has grown multifold, power playing a nasty catalyst. These types of Kangaroo court justice systems must stop, forthwith!
Sampath Kumar
Intrépide voix
