Editorial
Resist mob lynching
Ttrust in the rule of law must be restored
In yet another incident of mob lynching, villagers at Companiganj in Noakhali have beaten six alleged robbers to death.
Unlike the Aminbazar tragedy near the capital city on July 18 in which the victims were unarmed youths and students, in the present case the villagers fell on a firearms-wielding gang who had already killed a villager during an alleged act of robbery. The hue and cry raised by the frightened people at dead of night drew the angry villagers. They beat up six members of the suspected gang of robbers to death.
Given the circumstances that led the villagers to take law into their own hands rather than handing them over to the police, the incident testifies to people's growing distrust in law-enforcement agencies.
The incident also lays bare the fact that the villagers' level of tolerance has reached its nadir. Are we then to let the matter pass as another case of so-called mob justice?
By remaining passive on-lookers of such incidents of so-called 'mob justice' and not resisting them, we are implicitly supporting these outrageous acts of lawlessness to happen.
Granted the law-enforcers often fail to nab the criminals in time or bring them to justice, but has the community not also failed here, too ? Have we ever cared to know, how many innocent people had to die in these acts of mob frenzy, just due to our sheer indifference?
We have to arrest this dangerous trend of ever-eroding faith in the rule of law. Before things slip out of our hands, we have to resist the trend. The government must look into the failures of the law-enforcers and do everything to restore people's confidence in the law.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments