Lynching: An insult to human dignity?

OCTOBER 2018 TOPIC: “Lynching” is an insult to human dignity. What do you think?

The recent cases of lynchings across Tamil Nadu, Tripura and Rajasthan have eroded India’s faith in human values. Lynching is ‘murder’ sponsored by society. It violates the dignity of an individual who is mercilessly punished without any established reason. The individual is overpowered by an angry mob and has no way to defend himself. It cashes in on prejudices based on religion and language to subdue the right to life of a person. It is a mirror of a cruel society that has lost virtues of tolerance and justice, and needs to be dealt with with the strictest punishment.
Shailja Pandey
Nainital

Lynching is one of the worst forms of insults to humankind. It is one of the most gruesome, annoying and painful way to lower a person’s dignity. Even recently, we had cases of people being lynched in North India on a regular basis due to some rumours spread through WhatsApp messages. Lynching is a punishable offence under the law and people doing it should be strictly punished as it not only affects the individual physically but also mentally, emotionally and psychologically.
Senjuti Saibal Bhattacharya (18)
A. C. Patil College of Engineering, Navi Mumbai

A criminal should be punished but lynching is not the way. There’s no definition for punishment for such a serious offence under the Indian legal system. The strangest reasons for mob lynching includes cattle smuggling, cow slaughter, beef consuming, etc. India is a nation with diverse religions and cultures and we have fought for our independence together so we should respect every religion and live together as one.
Krati Purohit

There is no right more superior than the right to live with dignity and further to be treated with humaneness that the law provides. ‘Man lynched to death’ says the newspapers every other day. A mob without any rhyme or reason is up in arms and destroys the majestic law. The role of the vigilante is to report such incidents to police and not become the law himself. Lynching is an abuse to human dignity.
Tanisha (14)
St Joseph’s Convent School, Jalandhar

Lynching is not only an insult to human dignity, but to human life, security and peace! The roots of this horrendous crime lie not in the WhatsApp messages or fake news spread amongst masses to instigate them, but in the fact that we as a nation have failed to inculcate values of fraternity and brotherhood in our people. The solution to this problem lies in realizing the fact that lives are precious and that the seeds of communalism sown in 1947, 1992 and 2002 are a deviation from the track of “secularism”. This can be achieved only through education and employment of masses.
Vatsala Sharma (23)

According to the Constitution of India, every person is entitled to all kinds of freedom as far as they do not exploit this provision. Shameful acts like lynching are done by people who consider themselves superior to the Constitution or the justice system and are ready to take law in to their hands. Such people should be severely punished.
Samridhi Goyal (14)
St Anthony’s Jr College, Agra

The fact that lynching is an insult to human dignity is not new to us. Lynching weaves its way through every phase of black history in our country, and we have not been bold enough to strongly oppose and denounce this offence, nor in demanding its eradication.
Daniel Ceiston (13)
St George’s College, Agra

Lynching is a pre-meditated and an extrajudicial act by a mob. It threatens humanity and is no less than terrorism. It is a very grave and serious offence as it is retarding the country’s progress. Although it is a punishable crime, we see no fear of the law, and lynching is becoming very common. Regular police patrols can, to a great extent, prevent this. This time has come when political parties should also unite and work against this crime.
Rohit Srivastava (13)
Jeevan Marg Sophia Secondary School, Deoria

It’s fine to punish a criminal, but keeping in mind the provisions of the law. Even if someone has committed a crime, lynching is not the solution. Lynching is against human dignity, as well. I personally feel that making a criminal understand his mistake is better than punishing him to death.
Sonali Garg
IPU, New Delhi

Lynching means killing of a person by a mob as he is thought to be guilty by the mob. Lynching is illegal but the whole mob cannot be sentenced to death or imprisonment. So the cases still remain unsolved. So, it is a threat to humans as in most of the cases, the victim of lynching may not be the real culprit, so an innocent person loses his/her life; besides there is no solution to this problem so there is no fear in the minds of people. They should understand that lynching is not a part of democracy and only the court has the right to punish the culprit.
Anahit Sandhu (14)
St Joseph’s Convent School, Jalandhar

Lynching is a pre-meditated extrajudicial killing of a person by a group. And I do think that it is an insult to human dignity. Every human being, whether guilty or not, has a right to trial before the court. If proven guilty, he/she can be punished only on the basis of his crime, referring to the book of law. Nobody can deprive another’s human rights, nor has the right to take away his/her honour and dignity.
Gouri B. Indi (19)
KLE Society’s Lingaraj College, Belgaum

“Lynching” is killing somebody who is thought to be guilty of a crime by a mob. It is surely an insult to human dignity. A person should be given a chance to prove his/her innocence. People should have faith in the law, and nobody should take the law in to his/her hands. Even a person who has done something wrong deserves a fair trial. The practice of killing a person by a group of people without a trial by a court is a black spot on humanity.
Vibhushit Tripathi
Jeevan Marg Sophia Secondary School, Deoria

There is no right greater than right to live with dignity but lynching demolishes this very right. Lynching is punishment without trial that is based on illogical rumours which are circulating on today’s serial killer, social media. Lynching kills innocent men, women and transgender people who are mistaken to be criminals. Such practices should have no place in a civilised society.
Arunima (13)
St Joseph’s Convent School, Jalandhar

Lynching is a premeditated extra-judicial killing by a group. In this act, the people themselves react and give punishment to the guilty without any legal sanction from the government. In my opinion it should be considered as an act of terrorism and punishable offence by law. It is an insult to human dignity because lynching raises several tough walls between castes and religions. Nobody can justify such acts of cruelty. Lynching is actually killing of human right to live a life of freedom. Strict actions should be taken to stop such incidents.
Isha Tripathi
Sophia Girls’ Sr. Sec. School, Bhilwara

16 cases of lynching have been reported in the recent two months. As many as 22 people have been killed in incidents of lynching across the country. According to Article 5 of our Constitution no one should be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Lynching is unlawful as well as inhuman. It is an insult to the dignity of a human being. The government should strictly enforce laws against such an inhuman practice. Let not religion divide our country.
Kripaa Luthra (12)
St Anthony’s Jr College, Agra

The one thing to be strongly argued against lynching is that it is not merely a crime against an individual, but an attack on humanity because no one has the right to take the life of another. Why then is it happening so frequently, these days? Because the civil society is silent. Another reason is that we as a country has failed to live according to the spirit of our constitution. Not to consider lynching as a crime is an attack on the constitution itself. So the government should ensure strict implementation of the guidelines issued by SC. Moreover, we as a country should also start thinking rationally. This is the only way we can stop our country from becoming ‘Lynchistan’.
Anuradha Chaudhary (16)
St Anthony’s Junior College, Agra