prasad1
Active member
I am saddened by such characterization.
Not too long ago, mob lynching was the sort of phenomenon one associated with remote villages ruled by khap panchayats, the kind that one drives past quickly on the highway and does not stop at irrespective of what one sees on the road.
It was certainly not something for which Tamil Nadu was notorious.
But the horrific beating and hanging of a homeless man in Pulicat district, on the misplaced suspicion of being a kidnapper, is the second such incident in less than 24 hours. Villagers have defended the attack, saying they believed he was North Indian, and that he had been carrying a knife.
The point is, it should not matter whether he was North Indian or was carrying knives. It should not even matter if he was genuinely a kidnapper. The mob should, at most, have held him and called the authorities to investigate.
The day before this, a group from Athimoor village in Tiruvannamalai beat a 65-year-old woman to death and critically wounded four others, again on the suspicion that they were a child-lifting gang. It turned out the five were actually in the village on a temple visit. No less than 23 people were involved in the lynching, and 67 have been secured by police for inquiry.
Some weeks ago, a North Indian man was beaten to death in Kanchipuram district.
A few days ago, an 18-year-old woman, believed to be mentally ill, was beaten up in Cuddalore district.
All these incidents have apparently been driven by fear that a gang of kidnappers has been scouring villages for children.
Why has this state descended into such lawlessness?
The fact that Tamil Nadu has been headless since months after the last election, ruled by a chief minister whom no one elected, is part of the problem. But there is something more sinister at work – the idea that the people have power, and can get away with lawlessness.
Read more at: http://www.sify.com/news/tamil-nadu-the-land-of-the-lawless-news-columns-sflnyAfhgiijj.html
Not too long ago, mob lynching was the sort of phenomenon one associated with remote villages ruled by khap panchayats, the kind that one drives past quickly on the highway and does not stop at irrespective of what one sees on the road.
It was certainly not something for which Tamil Nadu was notorious.
But the horrific beating and hanging of a homeless man in Pulicat district, on the misplaced suspicion of being a kidnapper, is the second such incident in less than 24 hours. Villagers have defended the attack, saying they believed he was North Indian, and that he had been carrying a knife.
The point is, it should not matter whether he was North Indian or was carrying knives. It should not even matter if he was genuinely a kidnapper. The mob should, at most, have held him and called the authorities to investigate.
The day before this, a group from Athimoor village in Tiruvannamalai beat a 65-year-old woman to death and critically wounded four others, again on the suspicion that they were a child-lifting gang. It turned out the five were actually in the village on a temple visit. No less than 23 people were involved in the lynching, and 67 have been secured by police for inquiry.
Some weeks ago, a North Indian man was beaten to death in Kanchipuram district.
A few days ago, an 18-year-old woman, believed to be mentally ill, was beaten up in Cuddalore district.
All these incidents have apparently been driven by fear that a gang of kidnappers has been scouring villages for children.
Why has this state descended into such lawlessness?
The fact that Tamil Nadu has been headless since months after the last election, ruled by a chief minister whom no one elected, is part of the problem. But there is something more sinister at work – the idea that the people have power, and can get away with lawlessness.
Read more at: http://www.sify.com/news/tamil-nadu-the-land-of-the-lawless-news-columns-sflnyAfhgiijj.html