In the wake of the Dadri lynching, there is an urgent need to redefine the concept of terrorism and bring instances of mob violence within its ambit, senior advocate Yusuf Muchhala said on Tuesday.
“What happened to Mohammed Akhlaq [killed by a mob in Dadri], is it not an act of terrorism? Why can’t the accused be charged under stringent laws? Such incidents should come under the definition of terrorism. Why do our police and government machinery fail to prevent such incidents? Who is accountable for them? Why don’t the media show the same zeal in investigating these incidents as in the Sheena Bora case?” Mr. Muchhala said at a press conference here. By extension, hate speech and support for mob violence should also attract anti-terror charges. “The BJP protects the very same people involved in mob violence,” he said.
The media usually described mob violence as “spontaneous reactions” and gave exaggerated figures, thus confounding the identity of the perpetrators. “Is it possible around 1,500 people entered a four-foot lane [to Akhlaq’s house]?”
Calling the incident “a murder of the rule of law,” Mr. Muchhala demanded that a provision to make the administration accountable should be part of the laws against communal violence.
The Forum for Democracy and Communal Amity and the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, both in Maharashtra, condemned the Dadri lynching and the killing of a Dalit man for entering a temple at Hamirpur in Uttar Pradesh. They demanded the strictest punishment for the perpetrators and Rs. 20 lakh in compensation for the families of the deceased.
Mohammad Aslam Ghazi of the APCR questioned the silence over the use of leather items and the functioning of leather industry, when humans were killed in the name of cow.
The organisations said several incidents in the recent past put a question mark on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s slogan sabka saath, sabka vikas [together with all, development for all].
