SEVERAL media outlets said that the villagers of Takshal in Narsingdi district lynched to death seven suspected robbers and injured another on early Monday. Local people said after robbing two houses, while the gang of 20-22 robbers was robbing another house, the family members shouted for help. In reply, the villagers rushed there, chased the robbers and caught eight of them. After being beaten by the mob seven suspected robbers died on the spot and another received severe injuries.Given the circumstances that led the villagers to take the law into their own hands instead of handing them over to the police, the incident testifies to the people’s growing distrust in law-enforcement agencies. The incident also unveils the fact that the villagers’ level of tolerance has reached its nadir. By remaining passive on-lookers of such incidents of so-called ‘mob justice’ and not resisting them, we are completely 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 anger, just due to our sheer indifference?We don’t wish to be robbed and at the same time we have no right to beat to death alleged criminals as it is barbarism and completely antagonistic to civilized norms and manners. People have lost the confidence upon law-enforcers and judiciary which are known for corruption, ineptness, lingered procedures and systematic hassles, but the mob lynching is not the solution by any means.In such cases, police tries to cover up the brutal incidents as the spontaneous outburst of the people’s wrath on the criminals, but whatever the mob has done to establish its own style of “justice” is not justified. Though, the members of police, RAB and other state-agencies are salaried by citizens but their sycophantic attitude with the ruling elites makes the ordinary people vulnerable.People of the country have lost their confidence in the law-enforcers as police and other law enforcing agencies are found busy in protecting the ruling party men and suppressing opponents rather than offering security of ordinary citizens and containing crimes. Due to politicization and political recruitment in law enforcing agencies’ people are being forced to take self-defense mechanisms, which have been reflected in the latest incident of the mob beating to death seven alleged robbers in Narsingdi. Moreover, the low levels of tolerance and the heightened aggressiveness of ordinary people who kill alleged criminals in mob beatings is also a point to note. We have to arrest this dangerous trend of ever-eroding faith in the rule of law. Before things slip out of control, we have to resist the trend. Police are not politicians, but we know that it is a dangerous development when police become controversial among the general public and the people then find justification in taking law in their hands. The high officials of our police force must take into serious consideration the way the situation is turning dangerous and reaching a point of no return.
