Fellow Indians, get ready to see Vigilantes!

[hvj1]

Dear IFGians,

A girl gets gang raped, she and her friend get mercilessly beaten up and thrown out of a moving bus by 6 animals. The Police want the victim to sign on their version of the incident.

The next few days, citizens take to the streets in a non voilent protest. They are tear gassed , water cannoned and lathi charged by the Police who are the custodians of the law.

The Chief Minister of Delhi and the Police Commissioner are pointing fingers at each other, the Home Secretary lauds the role of the Delhi Police in apprehending the 6 rapists, the Delhi Police Commissioners smiles depreciativly.

In the seven days of protests, No government Official or MP or minister comes out to make a statement or genuinely reaches out to assuage the public anguish. Instead, the Home Minister stutters and mumbles platitudes. in the meantime, the Government shifts attention from the protest to the unfortunate death of a Constable.

The Opposition demands special parliament session, the very same opposition who were instrumental in wasting time in the parliament.

The crowds on T.V. displayed placards like : Castrate the Bastards, Hang them high, some chanted that the six be handed over to them for instant justice.

Elswhere in the country, In Kolkatta a crowd apprehends a rapist and hands him over to the local police station, 24 hours later the police have no clue as to the whereabouts of the rapist.

In Jammu, two days late another girl is gangraped.

Three days later a woman gets raped in a toilet in M.P.

So then what do the law abiding citizens of this country do? When the Political class is collectively behaving like the proverbial ostrich with its head stuck in the sand, completely disconnected with the plights of the common man on the street. The Police, supposed custodian of the law and are there to protect the common man has turned upon the same common man. Criminals continue to commit the same offences with impunity.

So dont be surprised when citizens take the law in their own hand and turn into vigilantes.

[thakur]

Hi hvj1,

Your analysis is correct. It will be unfortunate if the Indian Society sees vigilanties taking law to the other end. I hope some sense prevails in our minds and we become civilised.

[inplainsight]

I hope they don't, it will take away focus from the plight of women in our country.

[Safarigent]

I had pretty darn similar thoughts myself this morning.
Riding on buses at night once in a while....
That kind of stuff

[brihacharan]

> hvj1's analysis is an "Eye Opener"...
> Wonder if the "Victim" of the rape happened to be a Police Officer's or Minister's daughter - What then?
> It so happened that last night I saw the Hollywood film "Shooter" on TV...
In the story a US Senator & an Intelligence Chief together plan & wipe out an entire African village of innocent men, women & children because they opposed Oil Pipelines going through their village.

The 'Shooter' happened to be the backend cover man for the force that decimated the village - But he was told that the decimation was in response to a political uprising.

When later the 'Shooter' comes to know the truth - He is accused of plotting to take revenge on the Senator & Lawman.
He is arrested & brought for trial - The presiding judge rules that since his jurisdiction does not cover operations in a foreign country he lets the Senator & Lawman go scot free & also the 'Shooter'.

The 'Shooter' then shows photographs of the mutilated bodies of men, women & children buried in a shallow grave.

The judge ponders - seems shocked & comes close to the 'Shooter' and whispers....
"The atrocities of polititians & lawmen cannot be tackled with the use of force" - "But then at times, one is left with no choice".

The 'Shooter' with a knowing smile departs - In the final scene the 'Shooter' does what needs to be done to the Senator & Lawman.
Briha

[fantumfan2003]

It can be done, by jointly working with the cops, provided the intent, purpose and actions are genuine and without any vested interests.......

We had an independent volunteer force called ORC in Nairobi consisting of people from Asian communities. These people would volunteer to patrol in their own vehicles from sunset to midnight in mainly Asian localities where car jackers would strike. Each vehicle had four occupants, two Asians with 2-way radios and two cops, one armed with a AK and the other with a pistol or SMG. This patrolling did have positive results as it helped in nabbing car-jackers when they tried to flee after hitting someone. There were a lot of successful preventions of Car-jackings. There were also occasions when the cops in the back used to be drunk "tally" and were of not much use.

I considered joining ORC after being nearly poked with the business end of a brand new kalasnikov by a car-jacker.....

It was actually great fun listening to the action on the 2-way frequency when the nights were boring....

M.

So dont be surprised when citizens take the law in their own hand and turn into vigilantes.

[shooter]

If u liked the film then wait till you read the book it's based on. It's called point of impact by Stephen hunter.

[brihacharan]

If u liked the film then wait till you read the book it's based on. It's called point of impact by Stephen Hunter.

Thanks Shooter,
> I'll get the book asap.
> I wish I had read the book earlier & then seen the film
Briha

[TC]

I agree with all of you....

TC

[airgun_novice]

Deathwish series deals with such a vigilante (Charles Bronson). So does Star Chamber starring Michael Douglas, which inspired our own Hindi "Akhari Adalat" starring Jackie Shroff & Vinod Khanna.

1. I agree we need "vigilantism" - but for that we need the society to be vigilant.
2. Some amount of selfish attitude must be cast aside at individual & societal levels.
3. Would the police be more prone to do their duty or follow their own selfish interests ?
4. Revolution of sorts against the corrupt law-makers is the ultimate step of vigilantism - would they be ready to relinquish their "hold" ? (Mark Wahlberg's Shooter)

Speaking of Mumbai Police, will we ever have a PC of the caliber of Julio Rebeiro ? The only reason he started off with Operation Elimination was to put the fright of Mumbai Police inside the psyche of Indian Underworld. Cops were *shown* imported pistols (not even shot at) and the turning point was the minor bomb that exploded within the premises of CP office. But then even he did not have the "guts" to take on the REAL culprits by the horns - the remnants and breakaways of Haji Mastan/ Karim Lala/ Yusuf Patel gang that were getting organized under a new upstart - Dawood Ibrahim. Interestingly, Julio's first "encounter" was Manya Surve, one of the most principled and 'sharif' of the 'dadas'. He was gunned down near Ambedkar College Mumbai after a complaint from a lathi-wielding Dadar Police Station constable that he was threatened and that the "dada carried a gun".

We all know what eventually was to become of the Operation Elimination. How many members of the "D Gang" were eliminated vis-a-vis his opponents or breakaway factions ? Mumbai Police eventually became henchmen or Execution Branch of the D Gang and at least two of the "encounter specialists" (whatever that means), one of whom was suspended for disproportionate assets and the other gunned down by Ajmal Kasab, eliminated the rivals of the D Gang. These officers were turned into heroes and movies were made on them. But the true hero - Police Officer Sachin Vaze - who is suspected to have shot dead the Ghatkopar train-blast terrorist stays suspended to this day. Was the society vigilant when all this was happening ?

Today police are also henchmen of the political system and are often used to coerce and/ or eliminate those opposed to particular politician. Long gone are the days of Emergency when the honest police officers used to inform honest political opposition or intellectuals of the impending arrest raid. Feels good to see dialogs like "You politicians change after every 5 years but we in khaki stay on" etc. etc. - but they are just dialogs - reality is different. Will vigilantism work hand-in-glove with such police ? Naxalism is another example of Vigilantism that's turned terribly poisonous and turned against national interests by the (external) powers that be.

As FF pointed out the Kenyan example or Sadashiv Amrapurkar points out in Mohra, let the vigilantes do the police job. Would that not pose danger to the society, to the 'redundant' police and finally to the vigilantes themselves ? Vigilants would in this case, eventually become an acceptable link in the chain that can be broken and taken out to prevent the "Matter" from proceeding further. Why does India not institute the "Bounty" system like the US - the one where they brought in the con - DOA" ? Why has the US itself lowered the significance and activities of the Bounty Hunters ?

Having shared 2 cents worth of thoughts, as an answer to the simple Q - "Do we need the vigilante system?" - my answer will be our PM's infamous words - "Theek Hai" (OK).

[Tango_ Charli]

Well Said

[dr.jayakumar]

in other words women are not safe in this country .politicians as usual try and divert the situation,the top brass go hibernating,the youth act at the spur of the moment...so on....what we need is permanant solution...ie arms,it is the only way a women can defend.
old saying''god made man but sam colt made them equal'' .do this and all rapist's will be dead and gone in few years time.
regards
dr.jk

[essdee1972]

Agree with AGN (partly) and Dr. Jayakumar.

Vigilantes might become a law unto their own, similar to what the Local Area Committees in Mumbai (esp Bandra, Juhu, etc.) have become. Instead of ensuring safety, etc., these guys have taken to harassing & extorting from couples "canoodling" on the seaside.

Plus, there's a high risk that vigilante movements will attract the scum of society - the very people whom we would like the vigilantes to "take care" of! Many people would not want (or their families would not want them) to be exposed to the risks involved with vigilantism, so the remainder might form a high proportion. And there's the ever present threat of political parties of extreme persuasions butting in.

The Prime Minister has gone on record blaming "immigrants" for the crimes. There are posts on FB stating the region of the perpetrators (as if it matters!). Do we really want the vigilantes to target anyone who speaks a different language? (We'll have the debate on "immigration" somewhere else, please!)

And whatever be the solution - cops, vigilantes, commandos - the eternal question remains - "who shall guard the guardians"?

Better that we (the innocent women and men) guard ourselves. It's high time we get the right we deserve - the right which will guarantee all others - RKBA.

<rant over>

[gladiatorgarg]

I agree with all of you with a pinch of salt..now why should we only blame the police n politicians alone???as a society where is our integrity???while that lady n her friend was wreathing in agony for atleast 45 minutes on that busy high-way no one came to atleast cover them up!!!no one called the police!!!i have seen with my naked eyes that after accidents in delhi people get involve in fist-cuffs which result in traffic jams n no body calls the police they jst keep watchin!!so their is an urgent need of self apprisal in this country...vigilantee okkk but what about self vigil???sorry if my straight talk has offened any one

[hvj1]

Dear Friends,

Thank you all for your deeply felt replies. I personally am against 'Vigilantees' and or 'Vigilantism', simply because it is an indicator of a failed society. We all know that laws came into being for the preservation of society, when these laws become ineffective or are deliberately rendered ineffective with the sole motive being the benefit of the the few (read those in power), then that society reverts back to barbarism.

In the battlefield, in the absence of proper medication or prompt medical facilities, cauterisation followed amputation. We are witnessing (very unfortunately) the same thing, in the absence of prompt justice, instant justice will be meted out, same as in cauterisation.
And as in cauterisation, the surrounding healthy tissues also get burnt, the very same way, instant justice, vigilantism, can and does claim the lives of innocent.

But just as cauterisation, is the need of the hour, so also is 'vigilantism' , whether you and I like it or not.

Best Regards to all.