In another incident of mob justice in Pakistan, two robbers were tortured to death in Karachi by the locals after they were caught killing one and injuring another citizen.
We are witnessing mob justice on an increasing scale all across the country in response to the crimes, petty and heinous, whose end we do not see anywhere soon in the foreseeable future.
In Karachi, on Sunday, two robbers approached a man and his son outside their home in 7A Sarjani Sector and tried to deprive them of their cash and valuables. On facing resistance, the suspects opened fire on them.
As soon as the robbers opened fire, another citizen who was armed with a gun opened fire on the suspects and brought them down.
Locals gathered on the spot, overpowered the injured suspects, and started giving them a sound thrash. Police said the injured citizens and the suspects were transported to a hospital where one of the citizens and the two criminals were pronounced dead.
Crimes mean crimes such as theft, mugging, robbery and kidnapping. We are not concerned with crimes at the moment.
Our main concern here is the effect crimes have on the people and the public response they evoke in the context of state and society that have lost their most important tools: the former its writ and the latter is its equilibrium.
Recently, two employees of a telecom company were tortured to death in Karachi’s Machar Colony in yet another mob justice.
In order to understand the phenomenon of mob justice we should first try to understand the nature of the mob which apparently has an unstructured structure, formless form and shapeless shape.
The situation needs to be analysed at multiple levels taking into account the role state and society play in conducting the affairs of humans whether individual or collective. The state in our context has to shoulder the main responsibility for the unintended creation of visible and invisible violence-prone crowds that through their highly unpredictable behavior can lead to social anarchy.
There can be no soft corner for the crimes and the criminals, but at the same time mob justice also cannot be justified and state has to play its role.
