The root of this problem lies in political interference and lack of good policing system where people have confidence. So like a western country where if you feel threatened you do not hesitate to call the police and you have confidence in them. In the absence, people tend to take law in own hand and there is no fear of law and order. The issue, however, is not religion specific but people selectively only protest for one religion. There are similar incidences otherwise across the board. There is hardly any talk about Malda/Kerala by main media. There are some people who do not read beyond headlines of a key newspaper and they make their opinion based on these newspaper.
Here in lies the problem. As I mentioned earlier, die had been cast at the time of Partition. India, Bangladesh and Pakistan are three countries where riots, lynchings and mob violence are looked at as victimless crimes. Not even 1% of the perpetrators of such acts since independence have been brought to justice. It is a law and order issue before anything else.
How can we expect to be safe in the knowledge that these things have happened repeatedly and there has been no justice? The identity of the victim and perpetrators is secondary. The larger issue is why is it that neither are these people prosecuted to the last one, nor does the government take responsibility for it.
What happened to all the perpetrators of violence in :
- Partition riots (1947)
- Anti-Brahmin riots (1948)
- Hyderabad massacre (1948)
- Turkman Gate massacre (1976)
- Marichjhapi massacre (1979)
- Mandai massacre (1980)
- Anti-Sikh riots (1984)
- Hazaribagh riots (1989)
- Bhagalpur riots (1989)
- Kashmiri Pundit massacre (1990)
- Bombay riots (1992)
- Godhra massacre (2002)
- Gujarat riots (2002)
- Muzaffarnagar riots (2013)
- Saharanpur and Meerut riots (2014)
- Bengal riots (2016 and 17)
Apart from the dozens of other riots, caste violence, mob lynchings, violent protests, etc. Hardly a few of the thousands involved were even arrested or charged, let alone being sentenced.
Is it a surprise that we have a culture of impunity in our country? What is the worth of human life in India? Who feels safe here? Just because such violence has not touched that person individually?