MOB TURNS AGAINST THE STATE
Manas Pal
Repeated attacks on security personnel expose the growing audacity of smugglers and a dangerous culture of impunity in Tripura
The brutal assault on BSF personnel at Ashabari in Tripura should not be treated as just another border-area clash. It was an attack on the authority of the state itself. More dangerously, it exposed the growing audacity of criminal elements who apparently believe that a sufficiently large mob can intimidate, overpower and even terrorise uniformed personnel.
The BSF personnel were fortunate to survive. Had the assault taken a different turn, Tripura could have witnessed another case of mob lynching. The difference between a brutal mob attack and a fatal lynching can sometimes be no more than a matter of chance…. frighteningly thin.
What makes the Ashabari incident particularly disturbing is the brutal involvement of women in the assault. Their presence and aggressive participation cannot be brushed aside as a peripheral detail. It raises serious questions about the extent of local mobilisation behind the attack and whether criminal networks are increasingly using sections of the community as a shield against law enforcement. Women, like men, are equally accountable before the law for acts of violence. Gender cannot become a licence for assault or a shield against prosecution.
Chief Minister Dr Manik Saha has taken a strong stand and issued orders in no uncertain terms to pick up the culprits. The police also have gone in full action mode and arrested 10 persons in connection with the incident. That is a beginning, not the end of the matter. The investigation must establish the role of every participant, identify the instigators and uncover whether the assault was spontaneous or organised.
Arrests must translate into prosecution and conviction wherever the evidence establishes guilt. The Conviction is important because remember the murder of Police Sub-Inspector Durga Kumar Hrangkhawl?
In November 2019, Tripura Police Sub-Inspector Durga Kumar Hrangkhawl was run over by a vehicle allegedly carrying contraband drugs while attempting to intercept suspected smugglers near Kalamchoura. He too succumbed to his injuries. Even more disturbing was the subsequent acquittal of all seven accused for lack of evidence.
And this is not happening in a vacuum. Not only SI Hrangkhawl . Tripura has already paid a heavy price in the line of duty. Besides him two more BSF personnel have lost their lives in separate incidents involving suspected smugglers and hostile elements.
In April 2005, BSF Assistant Commandant Jeevan Kumar was abducted near the Lankamura border outpost and subsequently brutally killed after being taken into Bangladesh.
In October 2017, BSF Assistant Commandant Deepak Kumar Mandal was critically injured when a vehicle used by cattle smugglers hit him while he was attempting to prevent smuggling near Balerdepha. He later died in a Kolkata hospital.
Three officers. Three tragedies. Three reminders of the deadly risks faced by those who stand between organised criminal activity and the law.
The Ashabari assault is another warning. If smugglers can mobilise a crowd to attack security personnel, the issue has moved far beyond routine border crime. It points to a frightening situation in which criminal networks are prepared to turn mob strength into a weapon against the state.
Mob violence is the very antithesis of a civilised society. A mob does not investigate, does not hear arguments and does not follow due process. It intimidates, assaults and, sometimes, kills. The moment a crowd assumes the right to punish those enforcing the law, the rule of law begins to collapse.
There can be no justification for such conduct. If anyone has a grievance against the actions of BSF personnel or the police, the law provides remedies. Violence, intimidation and collective assault are not among them.
The administration must therefore resist the temptation to treat the Ashabari incident as a routine case of assault and make a few arrests before moving on. The entire network behind the attack must be exposed. Those who instigated, organised, facilitated or participated in the violence must face the consequences. The possible involvement of organised smuggling syndicates deserves particular scrutiny.
The government must also ensure that border personnel are not left to confront increasingly aggressive criminal networks without adequate operational support and institutional protection. Those who guard the country’s borders must know that the state stands firmly behind them.
There is a larger danger here. If a crowd can attack uniformed personnel, obstruct their duties and snatch away their service weapons and expect to get away with it, the message travels far beyond Ashabari. It emboldens smugglers, weakens the morale of security forces and encourages others to believe that violence can defeat the law.
Today it is the BSF. Yesterday it was the police. Tomorrow it could be any ordinary citizen who dares to stand in the way of criminality.
The state cannot afford to blink. Its authority cannot be negotiated with a mob, nor can the rule of law surrender to the muscle power of smugglers.
|Also Read : Tripura Court Remands Ten Accused Following Attack on BSF Personnel :
Also Read : 10, Including 3 women, Arrested For Attacking BSF Jawans In Tripura
