How Mob Lynchings Reflect The Worst Of Our Society

In Homer’s ‘Iliad’, a decade-long war between Greece and Troy ends peacefully, and damage done is revoked, men collectively empathized with each other about the tragedy they had committed. Achilles, a Greek warrior, had sought revenge upon Troy by killing Prince Hector. In a rage of losing his friend Patroclus, Achilles refused to give Hector’s body back for burial. Hector’s father Priam, the king of Troy, came to Achilles, begging and crying for his son’s body. It was then that Achilles saw in Priam his own father crying, and wept with the man whose son he had murdered. Since the Greeks believed that weeping together created a bond, courtiers joined in, and harmony won over the wails of anguish.  Achilles handed over Hector’s body to the feeble father, along with the right to salvage the body of his lost son.

Such is the power of collective sympathy, sorrow, heartache and mercy. It changes the course of destiny and rewrites fate. Despite the recent flood of strongly worded tweets, “A day of shame for Pakistan”…“We are an embarrassed nation”… “Sad and shameful incident”… “Horrific and condemnable”, so and so, there is yet again another tragic incident of mob lynching in Mian Channu and another deluge of remorse expressed from nearly everyone with a virtual presence. Meanwhile the conundrum remains: if our leaders, professionals, scholars and humanitarian activists are wailing together, then why is there no harmony to rewrite our national fate?

 

Let us not forget our South Asian civilization dates back to the 2^nd millennium B.C.; since then we have been admired for our heritage, resilience, spirituality and rich culture.

 

Collectiveness is the quality of being united for a motive, like a gelled crowd. When empathy lies at the heart of such solidarity or unity, humanity is blessed and elevated. We have collective family systems and business fraternities as proof. Contrarily, if collective thought or action is driven by greed or vengeance, it results in mobs committing humiliating atrocities.  One such brutality, termed ‘mob lynching’, is the worst and most shameful act of bloodshed committed by humans in their collective deviance. Over the years, cases of mob lynching in Pakistan have occurred in broad daylight, in bustling public spaces, in markets, on a playground, and even at an institutional residency. India has its fair share of similar shameful incidents. There are concerns regarding safety in public spaces in the West, too, where mass shootings or open fires are getting out of control. However, the act of random strangers uniting as a mob against one unarmed target and then deciding his fate to quench blood thirst remains the most inhumane and vicious killing propaganda.  As far as we know, two young brothers, a student, a factory manager, and most recently a mentally-ill man met similar fates at the hands of a charged mob in Pakistan. Regardless of the details and motives, these acts should be openly condemned and such barbarianism must stop. How can such violence occur anywhere on the globe in the 21^st century?

Let us not forget our South Asian civilization dates back to the 2^nd millennium B.C.; since then we have been admired for our heritage, resilience, spirituality and rich culture. Any case of extremism is not just another sad incident but an example of our dying collective conscience and corroding values. We need to collectively pledge against mob crimes, which if not nipped at this stage will slowly engulf our collectivist societies. Any occurrence of mob violence should be thoroughly investigated and fair trials should be conducted in the court. There should be no compensation in law for murderers participating in such heinous crimes. Our society needs to take its power back to ensure peaceful communities and protected rights for individuals. There is no other way to rewrite our national fate than reinforcing criminal laws in true spirit, so that in the future any extremism is curbed. With meek laws against mob lynching, collectiveness will be no boon in the future, at least not for us!