Taking the law into your own hands is not a matter of justice: say no to the mob  

Faijul Islam: We are all born to rule. The joy of humiliating others is ingrained in us. But we forget where we have to stop. I am shocked, watching with amazement how the man who killed my brother Tofajjal said in the media: “It was passion.” Does someone really die of passion? Wounds can be an expression of another person’s emotional consciousness? Many people talk about mob justice. In reality, this is not mob justice. This is a cold-blooded murderous operation.

It is perfectly logical to talk about popular murder. This injustice has its origin in personal revenge. Dhaka University Law Department professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Kurzon said in a talk show: “During the previous government, if anyone criticized the government, they called him a Razakar. Now this has changed and now if anyone criticizing is called a friend of tyranny.”Theret is a proverbs, “a hundred criminals can be acquitted, but a single innocent person should not be punished.”It is not possible to judge the killing of innocent people like Tofajjal.

The country is heading for terrible anarchy. 36 people have been beaten to death in the last 40 days. No court in the world, no writing, no sane person can accept this. No sane person can accept the death of Tofajjal, a mentally unbalanced man. Because if he was born  a man, he must be a man. There is a Latin proverb, “Fīat iūstitia ruat cælum”, which means “Do justice even if the sky falls”. But actually no effective measures were taken to stop this crowd. Even if the killers of Tofajjal punished  from an exemplary process, innocent Tofajjal will not walk the earth.

Mob justice and mob lynching happen for different reasons in a country or society. However, when there is no rule of law, lax laws, mob justice and mob lynching are more common. On the other hand, when people are fed up with injustices and continuous injustices, a context of “mass lynching” is created in the name of “popular justice”. In this type of process, ordinary people are often affected. In the previous government there was a kind of popular justice, in the current government a kind of popular justice is in force.

There is also criticism of cases of harassment and resignation of teachers  in educational institutions throughout the country due to personal preferences. There have been several cases of attacks on the accused in front of the police out of anger. The failure to ensure the peaceful coexistence of teachers and students of all faiths and orientations in the university is an indication of the total failure of the country and society. The university administration and the government must take  responsibility for not being able to end the oppression of teachers.

The frenzy of chasing teachers must be stopped. Recently, Palash Basak, a professor at Dhaka University, resigned in protest against mob killings. Recently, a former  Chhatra League leader was beaten to death at Jahangirnagar University on Wednesday (September 18) and a mobile phone was stolen in the early hours of Thursday (September 19) from Dhaka University. Accused Tofajjal was killed in the same manner, allegedly involving “ordinary students”.

In 2011, six students were beaten to death on suspicion of theft. On July 17, 2011, the six students were beaten to death in  Aminbazar of Savarand, near Dhaka, on Sabbath night. On August 31, Md. he was beaten to death in Mirsrai, Chittagong. A BNP leader, Rafiq, died. It is known that the inhabitants of the area arrested the leader of PKB and his associates and beat them under suspicion of theft. Hero Alam was attacked on July 17, 2023 during the  Dhaka-17 constituency by-election.

He was elected against the candidate of the Awami League, Mohammad A. Arafat. The Awami League government of Arafat’s party fell. But the attack on Hero Alam did not stop. On September 8, Ashraful Alam  Hero Alam was attacked in Bogra court. Hero Alam said that some youths  carried out the attack by accusing the chairman in the BNP  Tarique Rahman of insulting him. Reacting to the attack, Hero Alam said: “After the fall of a dictatorship, another group  started its  terrorist activities.” Basically, these incidents have never been tried before in Bangladesh.

The chief Adviser  of the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, also said on Wednesday not to take the law into his  hands in his address to the nation. Earlier, some coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement  expressed their strong stance against the so-called “mafia justice”. But these measures do not work. Students believe they are  powerful. Many students believe they have been given “ Blank cheque “ to do whatever they want. It also encourages incidents like mob shooting.

There are specific reasons behind this. To you, theft, rape are crimes, but to the person  standing next to you and shouting, these are not only  crimes, but to them it is a crime to disagree, a crime to think freely. But they can contribute to the lynch mob  by cheering for these crimes. So whatever the crime, however positive mob justice may seem, it encourages a culture of impunity and a culture of mob justice, and while some of the actions of this culture may seem positive, they ultimately  harm society . That is why I do not ask for the release of thieves, rapists, bandits, murderers. Catch them, hand them over to the police, send them to the police station, but  also make sure that this crime does not fall into the hands of the mafia.

Writer is an Apprentice Advocate, Barguna District Bar Association