‘Accident’ at Bulandshahr

UP CM Yogi Adityanath covered all the bases soon after a UP Police official was killed by a mob of gau-rakshaks in Bulandshahr. He met the family of the slain cop and announced a generous compensation (Rs 40 lakh for the widow, Rs 10 lakh for his parents and a government job for a family member), just like the time he papered over the police ‘encounter’ of a youth in the heart of the state capital. Only this time around, it was a policeman at the receiving end. And while investigations were on, the Chief Minister announced his verdict: ‘No mob lynching incident took place in UP. What happened in Bulandshahr was accident.’ In an accident, there may or may not be a culprit. But when gunshots are fired at a police posse attempting to get unruly citizens to end an impromptu vigilante blockade, it surely is a criminal act, plain and simple.

With the Supreme Court breathing down on states over incidents of lynching and mob violence, Yogi may have been clever in describing a case of brazen lawlessness as an ‘accident’. He may or may not fall foul of the Supreme Court when it examines the state’s report card in reining in intimidation and reprisal. But what is clear is that there is a partisan administration at work. Cops of the Meerut range, which also includes Bulandshahr, have acted on 41 cattle smuggling incidents in the past five years but not against vigilantism.

The basic tenet of governance — impartial administration — stands on shaky legs in UP. The covert official sanction to gau-rakshak mobs has now acquired an air of impunity and brazenness because of the climate of disdain in the governing arrangement that now extends to the courts. The same crowd that was attacking a Pehlu Khan or an Akhlaq is now adequately emboldened to take on the security forces. The demand for mob retribution is here and now; no mediating institution is to be allowed a hearing. Mob fury is not easy to regulate. The UP CM should not discover this axiom the hard way.