Abstract

The ideological battles which were earlier restricted to intellectual debates have taken the form of ‘rhetoric trespass’ and have come down to the streets thereby, implanting the venoms of radicalisation into the minds of the populace. The occurrences of mob violence are spilling blood at a phenomenal pace and this calls for special legislation for ‘criminalisation of collective violence’ to preserve the plurality of the society. The history of collective violence in India illustrates that extremism has in the past led to the subjugation of the rule of law and the principles of democracy sabotaged by ochlocracy. The exodus of Jammu and Kashmir which was followed by genocide is a classic illustration of the evils of radicalisation which needs to be curtailed before the situation moves out of hand. At the heart of such anarchy lies intolerance, leading to ochlocracy in the form of lynching, vigilantism, etc. and the like. It's alarming to see that ochlocracy is fast becoming the new "normal" in the nation and the need for speedy justice and effective compensation mechanism for the victim becomes obligatory. The purpose of this article is to draw attention towards the menace of ochlocracy in general and vigilantism and lynching in particular; thereby providing a starting point for future empirical research on the subject. There are three prominent aspects to the paper. The concepts of ochlocracy will be discussed in the first section alongside lynching and many recent occurrences of political vigilantism. Secondly, it discusses in depth the psycho-legal and socio-legal aspects of collective violence. Lastly, it provides an insight into the current legal framework and recommends the need for special legislation to meet the ends of justice.

Keywords