We reap what we sow, a fairly common saying although it seems to have lost the weight of its meaning. The various instances of lynching across India beg to differ from and probably makes a wide arc in disapproving that although the crime was never done, the culprit was caught, judged, and sentenced without a plea hearing. If the mob responsible for lynching is tried in front of a judge and jury and an extremely simple question is asked, ‘What prompted you to commit this act?’ I can tell you with absolute certainty that even the initiator of the lynching cannot possibly give you a radical response.
The harmony facade
This stems from a deep-rooted stigma and as cliché as it may sound stereotypes that we stamp as guarantee seal or a token of verification on the heads of every single person we come across in our lifetime. We are asked even as a child, when our own ideas are taking form, to conform to the straight-laced path while we shut down and start to resent the misfits. Society has been conditioned to think every person associated with faith, sex, race, religion, belief different from theirs in a binary way, and till all those boxes are ticked in their mind the harmony although as delusional as it may be is maintained.
Markers of a target
There can never be a watered-down version of the hard-hitting truth. But what is urging the mob to take measures into their own hand? What makes a group of people think that an MBA grad student from a Manipur Muslim family was a thief? The fostered hate and anger carry salience and the one who is silent or mere watcher don’t loathe the act instead there is a very disturbing sense of gratitude for the mob in wiping them off the guilt of making the alleged perpetrator pay for their crimes.
Mob Judgement
The wave of the majority is set on destroying the safety that comes along with inclusivity which is not only limited to the political landscape but extends far beyond this to educational institutes for a lower caste minority, in the workspace with wage gap setbacks for a woman. The will for violence is not a natural or inherent thought that just jumps out in all of us. There is a silent recess of collective fantasy that resides in the consent for this violence. It is only human to vent out or have an outburst when a constant resentment builds up, but it is truly beyond logic to pinpoint this to a narrow narrative which in no ways affects you.
Finding Voice
It is imperative that as a society we throw serious concerns about our mental health. The collective disregard for societal pressures as simple lifestyle norms is detrimental in every way.
What might have taken root as an act of bullying someone in schools or colleges has turned and rooted in something truly evil, and there is nothing ever radical in evil. Inclusiveness is not a luxury or a lifestyle choice it’s a way to live and abide by and as sacred as all the holy books.
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