Rule of law and civil rights are synonymous with discipline. However, lately, a new and terrifying disease has taken root in our social and political spheres, known as "mob culture" or the tendency of unruly crowds to take the law into their own hands. Whenever an unlawful assembly plays the role of a judge and subjects any individual or institution to harassment, attack, or pushes them towards ultimate death, it must be understood that the fundamental structure of society is collapsing. This self-destructive and dark culture needs to end right now.
In recent times, extreme and inhumane incidents like "mob justice" or mass beatings centering around trivial or rumor-based events have alarmingly increased across the country. Incidents of beating to death on suspicion of theft, personal attacks due to religious or political dissent, or angry crowds going to institutional premises and imposing coercive decisions cannot be signs of a civilized society. This tendency not only thumbs its nose at the rule of law, but rather drives society towards a primitive and barbaric era.
The biggest danger of mob culture is that there is no verification of truth or falsehood here. An agitated crowd has no face, no accountability. Radicalism created in a matter of moments based on rumors snatches away human lives, honor, and the minimum right to survive. The state has specific laws, police, and courts to judge any crime. Even if someone is a criminal, they have the right to self-defense and a trial under prevailing laws. But when a "mob" or unruly crowd becomes the judge and the executioner itself, ordinary people have no security for life and property.
This culture of impunity and anarchy was not created overnight. Delays in the enforcement of law, a crisis of confidence in the judicial system, and the failure to give exemplary punishment to criminals have strengthened this monster day by day. However, if the state and society are to survive, this trend can no longer be allowed to continue. No civilized state can be held hostage by a mob.
Now is the time to stand up against this madness. The administration must be stricter and more active. Wherever an attempt at mob justice is made, immediate legal action must be taken, and the masterminds behind this incitement must be identified and swift, exemplary punishment must be ensured. At the same time, awareness must be raised among citizens so that no one listens to rumors or takes the law into their own hands out of emotion.
We want a Bangladesh where every citizen's security will be under state law, not at the whim of a radical crowd. The end of mob culture is not an alternative, it is an essential condition for our survival as a state.
