THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary- September 8, 2017- Topic 1

Vigil on vigilantes

On the Supreme Court's reminder

It is a telling commentary on our times that it needs the Supreme Court to remind those in power that they cannot remain silent while vigilantes take the law into their own hands in the name of cow protection. Sending out a stern message that the time has come to end the activities of aggressive gau rakshaks, the court has asked the States and Union Territories to appoint nodal police officers in each district to crack down on such mobs. 

The order came after the counsel for Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan offered to appoint such district nodal officers to check vigilante groups and act promptly whenever offences take place. For over a year now, instances of groups beating up and even killing persons allegedly suspected of transporting cattle or bovine meat have become commonplace. The court had issued notices to the Centre and some States in April on a writ petition that demanded action against such cow protection groups. In the few months since then, more incidents of lynching have taken place. Villagers killed two persons transporting cattle in West Bengal less than two weeks ago. Three persons were killed in the same State in June after they were accused of cattle theft. Three persons were beaten up last month in Bihar. In more than one State, cow ‘protectors’ have legal recognition as local laws provide immunity to them if they were acting in good faith. The validity of such provisions in laws aimed at banning or regulating slaughter of animals and protecting the cow may be decided in the course of these proceedings.

Curbing cow vigilantism requires an obvious change in the police’s approach to these incidents. In most cases, they register cases against the victims for slaughter or theft of cattle. Typically, the administration seems eager to determine if they were engaged in cow slaughter or transportation of bovine meat than in arresting the culprits involved in murder and violence. A related question is whether the Centre ought to take recourse to Article 256, which empowers it to issue directions to the States, to put an end to the activities of vigilantes, instead of shirking its responsibility on the ground that this is essentially a law and order issue to be addressed by the States. The Centre can no more ignore its credibility deficit because of the ruling dispensation’s ideological commitment to cow protection. It has to respond meaningfully to the charge that it is soft on vigilantism and is keen on pushing animal slaughter rules aimed at making life difficult for those engaged in the cattle trade for their livelihood. Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared a few months agothat killing people in the name of cow worship is unacceptable. The law and the way it is administered must demonstrate that these are not empty words.

Vocabulary

Vigilante: a member of a self-appointed group of citizens who undertake law enforcement in their community without legal authority, typically because the legal agencies are thought to be inadequate.

Example: A community of spam vigilantes constantly is improving free programs such as spamassassin.

Stern: serious and unrelenting, especially in the assertion of authority and exercise of discipline.

Example: A smile transformed his stern face

Synonyms: serious, unsmiling, frowning, severe, forbidding, grim, unfriendly

Aggressive: ready or likely to attack or confront; characterized by or resulting from aggression.

Example: He's very uncooperative and aggressive

Synonyms: hostile, belligerent, bellicose, antagonistic, truculent, pugnacious

Mob: a large crowd of people, especially one that is disorderly and intent on causing trouble or violence.

Example: A mob of protesters

Synonyms: crowd, horde, multitude, rabble, mass, throng, group, gang

Instance: an example or single occurrence of something.

Example: A serious instance of corruption

Synonyms: example, exemplar, occasion, occurrence, case, illustration

Suspect: doubt the genuineness or truth of.

Example: A broker whose honesty he had no reason to suspect

Synonyms: doubt, distrust, mistrust, have misgivings about, be skeptical about

Lynching: a mob kill someone, especially by hanging, for an alleged offense with or without a legal trial.

Example: Angry mobs lynching someone suspected of murder is wrong, even if that person is actually guilty.

Synonyms: execute illegally, hang, kill, string up

Recognition: the action or process of recognizing or being recognized, in particular.

Synonyms: identification, recollection, remembrance

Slaughter: kill animals for food.

Example: When I say meat, I do mean slaughtered animals killed for food.

Synonyms: kill, butcher

Bovine: of, relating to, or affecting cattle.

Example: Bovine tuberculosis

Synonyms: cowlike, calflike, taurine

Shirk: avoid or neglect a duty or responsibility.

Example: Their sole motive is to shirk responsibility and rip off the company

Synonyms: evade, dodge, avoid, get out of, sidestep, shrink from, shun, skip

Dispensation: exemption from a rule or usual requirement.

Example: Although she was too young, she was given special dispensation to play two matches

Synonyms: exemption, immunity, exception, exoneration, reprieve

Demonstrate: clearly show the existence or truth of something by giving proof or evidence.

Example: Their shameful silence demonstrates their ineptitude

Synonyms: reveal, bespeak, indicate, signify, signal, denote, show, display