BIHAR Police and the legal system have been handed a great opportunity to set a telling example by handing strictest punishment to the ‘moral police’ in Jamui district. The group which harassed and molested two teenagers must face consequences of their disgraceful actions and should get stringent sentences if found guilty. It is a chance for the authorities to send out a chilling message to all those individuals who are out to judge people through their highly-tinted glasses. Entire country will be watching how the Bihar Government deals with the disturbing incident and what punishment the perpetrators get after due legal procedures.

 

Videos of the incident have left the society gobsmacked. The teenage boy and girl were manhandled by the group in a horrible manner despite the two pleading with folded hands. It was a pathetic picture to watch some self-appointed custodians of morality indulging in a heinous act by molesting a little girl. The impunity the perpetrators displayed in the incident has left the country seething in extreme anger. Notwithstanding the political fall-out of the incident, it is the duty of the Bihar Government to inject a chill down the perpetrators’ spine. Their act deserves a harsh punishment. The Jamui incident shows how mob thinking turns into a criminal mindset in no time. The group had no business stopping the teenagers, for, they were not indulging in any wrong activity. Yet, overcome with the false sense of being custodians of culture the perpetrators assumed the position of judges of morality. It took just a few minutes for them to show their true colours and the boy and girl were heaped with a horror that would leave a huge mental scar on their lives forever.

 

No one had given the mob the authority to judge the duo. Yet, the sense of entitlement prevailing in the society these days got the better of them and they became law unto themselves. Such rogue behaviour by a mob has become a bane for the society all over the country. It is a deep-entrenched malaise corroding the social fabric in cities and towns and villages. Self-proclaimed custodians of society, enjoying backing from their political masters, have been holding people to ransom with total impunity. They are a direct threat to the law and order, and peace in the society. In many cases people have been lynched in full public view by angry mobs. The Jamui case could also have gone the same way but the teenagers were lucky to escape death. A society cannot progress if such elements are allowed a free run without checks. These are all signals of societal decay. When a group, high on power, becomes a law unto itself, the results are always disastrous. It also points to a politician-criminal nexus which has been assuming dangerous proportions in every part of the country. If there is no fear of the law and legal system, then incidents like Jamui could well be normalised soon. This background makes it imperative for the Bihar Government and Bihar Police to set an example by preparing a watertight case against the perpetrators.

 

Their act cannot be pardoned by the people or the law. The Jamui case is also a warning for the entire country where ‘moral police’ are on the prowl in the name of defending culture. They will always go for soft targets including religious festivals or events featuring youngsters. Their jaundiced-vision will always try to find something wrong even in established traditions. By coming in groups, these elements will try to browbeat the law-fearing citizens. They need to be countered at all levels -- by people, by police, and by the lawmakers. Allowing this cancer to grow will only weaken the solid foundations of Indian society. Our inclusive culture has no place for such goons masquerading as protectors of morality. Totally unaware of the definition and ethos of morality, such groups use fear as their only weapon to make people submit to their whims and fancies. What terror a mob can unleash was evident in the Jamui incident. This terror now needs to be nipped in the bud, not only in Bihar but also across India. The country cannot afford a reign of fear.