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The Uncivil Civil VigilantesAll hail the new justice league. An army of plainclothes superheroes is out on a rampage at the next corner. These self-styled superheroes, who hunt in packs, don’t wait for court trials.5 September, 2007:
Welcome to the world of our country’s V for Vendetta vigilante, found in every street of the smallest corner of the country. The last few weeks alone have seen at least three instances of such vigilante behavior in different parts of the country, including the latest Uma Khurana scandal. Blasting from the PastMob vigilantes are not new in India or the world at large. In India, it dates back to the days of Tenali Ram and Birbal, when those who dared to step on the wrong side of the law were paraded in streets in various stages of undress, either riding backwards on asses, or being dragged behind one. With their faces blackened, they were booed publicly, stoned, and humiliated using any means possible. Public shaming in those times enjoyed regal sanction. Victims were often scarred for life, physically and emotionally; but the justification that they brought it upon themselves often ignored issues of justice. For instance, did an accused deserve to be mauled publicly before his or her crime had been proved? But since the justification provided by vigilante groups was ineffective governance and law enforcement, very often extreme brutality and sadism was par for the course. Vigilantes have, after all, had very positive connotations too in popular stories, such as Robinhood, and comic books. Batman, Spiderman, Superman were pure vigilantes with the public's interests at heart. Perhaps, that is why a lot of vigilantes convince themselves that their motivations are pure even when they act on prejudices. Heck, even the Klu Klux Klan probably feels morally justified in carrying out its vicious executions and violence. For that matter, all the genocides and riots that have happened in history have been carried out by those who fancy themselves to be vigilantes fighting for truth and justice. Vilifying Vigilante
The matter has now taken a communal colour, because our opportunity hungry politicians can never let a chance like this slip. The cop who dragged Salim may have been suspended later, but Salim has been shamed for life. One can be sure, somewhere in a dank corner of a room lit with a 40-Watt bulb, a member of the vigilante drinks to the glory of its victory. When professor Batuk Nath’s Lolitaesque romance with a student half his age became public last year, the public went berserk, thrashing him and his paramour, named Julie (somehow reminiscent of the 70’s hit film Julie starring Lakshmi) with a gusto fueled ten-fold by the presence of television cameras. The professor’s wife joined hands with the vigilante, completely shattered in one frame, but in a complete reversal in the other, is the image of wrath personified. Channels repeated the entire sequence over and over again, till the gravity of the case no longer mattered, and all we were left with were feelings of a farcical frivolity. The futility of the vigilante’s efforts shone through, as the professor smiled through the entire episode, and Julie kept her poise. One began to think from the professor’s point of view. He may have been Julie’s father’s age, but Julie is not a minor, and as an adult, has a right to love a person of her choice. Even this stance was glanced aside when the Professor later started conducting lessons in love for students. Filmy, very filmy. The vigilantes couldn’t care less. They had moved on to other minor offenders. More recently, the bai force took on Prakash Shetty, the alleged maid molester in Thane. The bai brigade’s modus operandi, where they manhandled the lungi-clad Shetty was splashed over the pages of one tabloid in Mumbai. The next day, to counter this vigilante judiciary, we were let in on how the residents of the housing complex were managing after banning bais from the building. We had pictures of husbands washing dishes, helping in household chores. Ironic, to think that it takes a few bais to make the man of the house finally try to become the man about the house. True chivalry? Naah, the report reeked of frivolity, the expressions of men in the said pictures gleefully gave the sham away.
While the police will take time to determine whether the riot was premeditated, the rioters gave Reuters rampaging news to fill up its ticker. Juice doubled up as our vigilante did not hesitate to disrobe the teacher, and beat her up. As Uma Khurana, the maths teacher was arrested; evidence went missing from her house. Apart from the student who spoke against her on camera, none has stepped forward to support this case. Could Khurana have been a victim? Probably not, but the vigilante, as always did what it does best – thrash, beat, unclothe, and leave. What gives
Such vigilante action is reminiscent of odd bits of news we heard when a certain Panchayat of a certain village, flouting all form of civility, created a parallel court of justice. Punishment by the village folk could range anywhere from parading women in the nude for alleged debauchery, or outright killing of the accused for 'crimes' such as falling in love with someone of another caste. The phenomenon seems to have spread out of the rural backdrop. The urban is no longer urbane as the country's great rural-urban divide appears fuzzy. With people from rural areas migrating to larger towns and cities, the mob culture comes naturally as an add-on. What is interesting is how it has inspired more urban folk to join in, for their share of the penalty pie. What is even more interesting is the stance the vigilante adopts on what it considers as public outrage, and the means it adopts to mete justice. The same crowd, while beating its King Kong chest over rapists, adulterers, prostitutes, and anything 'amoral', does not think twice when delivering punishment. The defaulters in the eyes of the vigilante are, more often than not, deprived of any vestments, and paraded nude or semi-nude as part of the process. Opportunistic voyeurism, in the very least? Or a reflection on the repressed angst that finds a vent at times like this? Take your pick. Meanwhile, the vigilante will carry on rapping the rapist, and raping all norms of reason. Comic ReliefIn all these cases, and more that could be listed but have not due to space constraints, the role of vigilantes comes across as one that impacts the country if only for those 30 minutes it is telecast on television or as long as it takes to read the report in a newspaper. Public outrage or angst against the tardiness of police in cases of small crimes seems to raise differing reactions – from outright support to Gandhian disdain. Such vigilante justice, when the police fails to do its due, seems justified on the surface. But the manner in which it is carried out, and the sardonic spin given to such incidents by the mockery that is Indian media today stands out merely as comic relief in our already stress-laden, sorry lives.
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They are the new face of India’s
punishment paratroopers, who leave no
stone unturned in doling out
retribution against petty criminals,
traitors to morality, or simply those
stung by the news channels’ apian
reporters.
Not
much seems to have changed since those
times. What we see today could merely
be revival of a tradition long buried
under the anglicized annals of penal
codes and archives of dusty, musty
case studies. What has perhaps changed
is the role media has played in
popularizing our vigilante force. When
a certain Salim was brutally beaten up
by an angry mob, and then dragged on a
kuchcha road behind a
policeman’s bike, the channels left no
footage uncovered, Salim’s torn
trousers notwithstanding. Salim’s
crime – snatching a chain.
And
then we have the latest sting
operation – that of the mathematics
teacher forcing her students into
prostitution. Shall we call it a case
of prostitution? That said, what is
worth a second thought in the entire
case is how quickly, after the sting
op was aired, the vigilante mob was
out there, rioting on Asaf Ali Road.
As if! Could this have been
pre-planned? Or is the vigilante
forever on its toes, ready to take to
the roads the second any news of
misdemeanor is leaked ever so
sneakily. 
In
the days when a portion of the Indian
junta is deeply fascinated by the
concept of Gandhigiri, mob
justice looks like a slap on the cheek
of those who believe in candle light
vigils and silent protests.
Unfortunately, turning the other cheek
only empowers those sworn to public
violence as a means of venting their
ire. The vigilantes are only too happy
to oblige.