National campaign against lynching

The “Not in my Name”campaign all over the country has now produced tangible result in the form of a draftbill against lynching mobs.

MASUKA is the draft of Maanav Suraksha Kanoon (MASUKA), a new law to address the menace of mob lynching, that was unveiled at the Constitution Club in New Delhi on July 7^th. As a response to a spate of lynching incidents that have rattled the nation over the last few months, this draft was prepared.The drafting committee of the MASUKA is headed by senior Supreme Court lawyer Sanjay Hegde and advocates, Anas Tanwir and Pranjal Kishore. The committee was founded by youth leaders Tehseen Poonawalla, Shehla Rashid, Kanhaiya Kumar and Jignesh Mewani.

The draft “bill” criminalises inaction by authorities as well as indirect incitement of mobs through vilification. Under the draft law, “lynching” shall mean any act or series of acts of violence as extra judicial punishment, whether spontaneous or planned, committed to inflict summary punishment, or as an act of protest upon a person. Punishment is a maximum of life imprisonment for the crime, once prosecuted.

These are desperate times when any vulnerable person can be targeted anywhere. Fake videos can create riots and human beings killed in the name of cow-worship. Hence there is a definite need for this new law. The real test for the PM and ruling party is how seriously they implement it and prove that they are against this lynching culture and believe in the rule of Law.

Swara Bhaskar, popular actor in Hindi films joined in the campaign against lynching and said emphatically that it was time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to walk his talk as the youth of this a nation has elected the first PM born after independence. “We want him to preserve our social independence,” she added.