Aggressiveness and hostility have long been the means to increase political power in this country. When it comes to achieving political goals in India, controlling the street veto, and using the mob has been the norm, rather than the exception.
If you comprehend this, you will understand why Lalu Prasad Yadav renamed his different rallies ‘rallas.’ Rally is a feminine term in Desi English. However, Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Garib Ralla, Lathi Ralla, and many other such rallas symbolized street power, and that power was plainly reflected in the number of people engaging in the same. So, mob mobilization is the key, and mobocracy is the path to accomplishing what Lalu Prasad Yadav achieved in the 1990s.
Lalu Prasad Yadav is now a convicted felon, yet he was once a rising star in Bihar politics. For his political clout, he did whatever came to his mind at any given moment. His attempts were also effective from a political standpoint. Except for being labelled a criminal, he and his family are still on the rise. After all, what is the reason? The answer is mobocracy.
Lalu Prasad Yadav was the pied piper of Bihar. Is Bihar, nevertheless, the country’s sole state that witnesses this? No. We have many other states which have witnessed similar political movements and have seen the mob bending the state to its will. The practice is not limited to grabbing power. The crowd’s energy has shaped policies, laws, judiciary, sometimes acting as a mere vote bank, and sometimes acting as a threat.
The mob’s power has even been shadowing the constitution of India. The State has been accommodating the mob.
The country was supposed to be governed by the constitution. The constitution is a book, a very good book, but it is not the only book that shapes politics and power in this country. This reality has now been well acknowledged by the country’s new pied pipers. Attempts have been made to alter the pro-reservation Constitution through the Jat Andolan. Some rape allegations (though later dismissed) did manage to partially derail it, but it cause the disruption nevertheless. Gurjar Andolans destroyed properties worth crores, but the will of the mob has prevailed, even at the cost of uncountable inconveniences for the common Indian.
The Maratha agitation for reservations used slogans like “One Maratha, Lakh Maratha” to raise awareness of the importance of numbers. The slogans accentuate the word “crowd,” “mob,” “number,” and hence “power.” The power to alter the Constitution and the legislation of the nation. Crores of farmers are happily working in their fields, while a few thousand men sitting in air-conditioned tents outside Delhi drove tractors to the Red Fort, knowing that a big crowd might first challenge and then make the State bow down. The state eventually did succumb to mob power. The lawless mob managed to make the State bow down to its will. Mobocracy> democracy.
Those in positions of power are aware of this fact. They just do not say or write it. The phrases and symbols are clearly understood by the elected members of parliament. That is why, every now and again, they raise the cry of democracy, but in practice, they invariably bow down to the mobocracy. Mobocracy triumphs over democracy. Is this true? All of the examples given above are answers to this question.
Islam is a religion. Some people follow this religion. Now, please read carefully. The word people include human beings and not cows, bulls, dogs, or cats. Similarly, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, etc., are also religions. These faiths are also practised by humans, not animals. You must be wondering why the word religion was introduced all of a sudden when we were talking about ‘mob’ or ‘crowd’. This is because the crowd is nothing but a large group of humans. The energy of the mob, which has been discussed previously, also relates to religion. Whether the mob can make the State bow down to it depends upon how focused and motivated that mob is.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, a religious body, had demanded a blasphemy law in India. And this demand was made by mobilizing the mob. As desired by them, the blasphemy law should dictate that if you say anything ‘negative’ about their religion’s symbols, you get capital punishment. They may also easily transform into a pied piper. Because they are backed by a mob that believes in beheading those who commit blasphemy. That mob had destroyed properties, halted trains and blocked roads for months over CAA, a one-time provision for some persecuted non-Muslims in India’s neighbouring countries.
Mob’s power has prevailed. The State is yet to formally notify the above law.
“The Shivling was 4 inches, became 12 inches when caressed. What is so special about the Shivling when everyone has a ling. Several Shivlings came out on the pavement at once. Condoms on the Shivling. Sita’s vagina bleeds after the rape.” If you are angry, then please read it all once again. All these lines are there in the news. And also notice the other mob and its reactions to such news headlines. It is the mob that does not shout ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’. This crowd does not demand beheading as a punishment for blasphemy. At the most, it may go to some court and file a case or two.
Now, let us have a look at the Nupur Sharma case that is all over the news. Let alone India, the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ mob was activated in foreign countries as well. What did the party (Bharatiya Janata Party) do? It listened to the demands of the mob and suspended its office-bearers. Now the question arises, is there any party/office/organization that suspended any of its members for derogatory remarks about Shivling? I haven’t come across any such news in the media.
Nupur Sharma reminds me of another name – Kamlesh Tiwari. Kamlesh Tiwari was a person. Now it just remains a name. He was jailed under the law of the land because somebody had made some allegations, and the police and lawyers produced him before the judge on the same charges and sent him to jail. What after that? Was the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ mob content with that? Did that mob believe in the law that jailed him? No, that mob was not satisfied with this. They killed Kamlesh Tiwari. The police arrested the murderers and the law is taking its own course in this case as well. But what course did the law take about the ‘Sar Tan Se Juda’ mob? Did it take any action against it? No. It did not. This again underlines that the mob is more powerful than the State.
“If you speak ill against Mahatma Buddha, we will pull out your fingernails, if you say something on Jain Tirthankaras, we will take gouge your eyes, If you say derogatory things about Ram or Sita, your tongue will be cut off”, there are no slogans that announce such things. The mob that has become aware that the State bows down to its whims, knows well that the above-mentioned groups of people can never match them in violence.
Can the followers of Ram, Shiva, Buddha and Tirthankaras start imitating the mob that makes the State bow down? The violent mob that has tamed the media enough to be branded as peaceful despite all the acts of beheadings and shootings and stabbings, is already demanding a strict blasphemy law in the country. Will the other people take notice, will they make pied pipers among themselves or helplessly wait for the State to be taken over and consumed by the most violent, most assertive mob?
