Inside the uncontrollable rise of ‘mob justice’
In light of persistent instances of ‘mob justice’ across the country, The Business Standard reached out to experts to explore the reasons behind the public’s actions and discuss potential measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future
Since the Sheikh Hasina regime's collapse on 5 August, Bangladesh has been engulfed by vigilante violence, harassment of women and assaults on political opponents and religious establishments. Despite continuous warnings from the interim government and widespread public outrage, there seems to be an apparent lack of swift or substantial action from the authorities.
Even as recently as on Wednesday, an ex-BCL leader was beaten to death at Jahangirnagar University, and another man accused of stealing mobile phones was killed similarly at Dhaka University in the early hours of Thursday, with "general students" allegedly involved in both incidents.
Earlier on Wednesday morning, a group of around 40 people vandalised the barricade at Kuril toll plaza and assaulted some workers on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway, creating chaos around the crossing of a pickup van.
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In light of these persistent instances of mob justice, The Business Standard reached out to experts to explore the reasons behind the public's reaction and discuss potential measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.
'Showing that there is a serious process ongoing for accountability may prevent more such incidents'
Barrister Sara Hossain
Advocate, Supreme Court
The term "mob justice" is being used to describe incidents of violence against a person or destruction of property by one or more people. These are completely unconscionable and urgent action is needed to prevent them and to hold accountable those involved.
We also need to deal with the causes. These happened under previous governments and were reported internationally and nationally. For example, one organisation reported 1,238 deaths from these mob attacks between 2009 to 2021; in a 2015 incident, people fired on and tried to break the then-opposition leader's motorcade with iron rods.
In the past few weeks, we've seen more of these incidents, in different contexts against different kinds of people, including women, vulnerable groups, political party members, and high-profile ex-ministers when produced in court implicated in the killing of students and others in live fire in July-August.
In some cases, those who have carried out attacks, beating people or humiliating them, seem motivated by political or personal enmity, or a lack of confidence in the justice system. These incidents take place when law enforcement agencies are absent or fail to act.
For example, two viral social media posts showed a few women in Dhaka and Cox's Bazar being harassed, humiliated and beaten in public spaces by individual men. The police have arrested one man but not the other, despite rights groups calling for action.
While the Chief Advisor and others in the interim government, among student coordinators, and senior politicians have repeatedly said no one must take the law into their own hands, there needs to be timely and impartial investigation, prosecution and punishment of those responsible.
Perhaps the deployment of the Army with executive magistracy powers may deter such attacks, but it remains to be seen. There can be social and disciplinary sanctions as well, for example, if lawyers who have a duty to maintain decorum in court, attack or intimidate people on the court premises, they should be sanctioned by the Bar Council or Bar Association.
Some people may be venting their anger after facing years of repression and harassment, being jailed for months or years, and having their lives and livelihoods destroyed by being implicated in multiple false cases by powerful political figures.
Showing that there is a serious process ongoing for accountability of those who carried out or directed such violations may also prevent more such incidents of "mob violence."
Sara Hossain is the executive director of Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST).
'It will take a minimum amount of time for the interim govt to restore normalcy after a prolonged period of authoritarian regime'
Mohammad Nur Khan
Lawyer and human rights activist
The most significant issue is that, due to 15-16 years of authoritarian rule, the entire state structure was dismantled. During this period, law enforcement agencies were especially pitted against the general public. As a result, when the people finally rose up and achieved victory on 5 August, we observed a kind of apathy and weakness gripping the police force.
The miscreants, however, have not remained idle; they continue their misdeeds. The resentment that had been building in people's minds over the past 15-16 years is now surfacing as well. To fully grasp this expression of discontent, we must look at the events of the past 15-16 years.
Without this prolonged period of authoritarian regime, we would not be facing the current situation.
Nevertheless, even in the extreme incidents occurring under the guise of mob justice, we can detect the influence of various parties. In such a situation, I believe the government should take appropriate measures to control and prevent mob justice.
But in no way can we say the government is failing because the government that has come to power through a people's uprising has also had to deal with the ruins of the system that was destroyed over the past 15-16 years. It will take a minimum amount of time for them to restore normalcy from this situation.
I believe the government is trying its best and doing everything it can. Unlike the previous government, which was desperate to hold onto power, this government has no self-interest involved. They are not a political government either.
We have seen that the police force has already started to function to some extent. We now see police patrolling the streets, something we didn't see three weeks ago. Gradually, they are beginning to regain control over society. Additionally, the army has been granted magisterial powers, allowing them to take action in certain situations as well.
At this point, all we can say is that the government should continue taking effective steps to control mob justice. This can be achieved by further improving the law and order situation.
Mohammad Nur Khan is the winner of the 2023 Human Rights Defender Award by the US Department of State.
'Many believe participating in mob 'justice' absolves them of responsibility, we need to correct that mentality'
Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed /Associate Professor, National Institute of Mental Health & Hospital
When people express their emotions of rage and despondency collectively it is called mob mentality or mob psychology. When we instead of being a knowledge-based society become a faith-based society, mob mentality comes to the fore, then we judge someone for their belief, not for their work or their knowledge.
In such cases, people believe they are beyond the jurisdiction of law. When people do something collectively they think they will not face legal consequences. The belief aids them in committing such acts. However, a crime is a crime.
If one person commits a crime it is a crime, if one thousand people commit a crime, collectively, it is still a crime. If this belief is established in society, incidents of mob violence will go down. Many people believe if I participate in a mob lynching where 20 people are participating I have no responsibility, we need to get out of this mentality.
Even though it is called mob justice, it is not really justice in most cases. It is more often than not impulsive and leads to many mistakes. If we talk about the incident that took place at Dhaka University last night or the other similar incidents that took place after 5 August, we cannot term these incidents justice.
People need to be more respectful of others' opinions. This needs to be introduced at the family level and institutions. We need to create a knowledge-based society where people will be valued based on their work and their knowledge. If we can do that, cases of mob movement and mob impulse will go down.
Dr Helal Uddin Ahmed MBBS and MD (Psychiatry) is a psychiatrist.
