When citizens don’t believe they can get justice, they often take the law into their own hands. This is called vigilantism, and it has been on the rise in India for the past several decades.
Vigilantism is commonly summarised as “taking the law into one’s own hands”, or “trying to punish someone for breaking a law even though one does not have the right to do that”. A vigilante practises or engages in vigilantism.
According to the political scientist Regina Bateson, vigilantism is “the extra-legal prevention, investigation, or punishment of offences”. This definition comprises three components: Extra-legal, meaning actions taken outside the law (not necessarily in violation of it); Prevention, investigation, or punishment, which require specific actions, not merely attitudes or beliefs; and Offence, which is a response to a perceived crime or violation of an authoritative norm.
Scholars and analysts studying vigilantism in India point out that there is also “collective vigilantism”, as “group violence to punish perceived offences against a community”.
Traditional societies practise vigilantism either because the judicial system isn’t available or because people don’t believe they can obtain justice from it. But in a so-called modern society like India, why is vigilantism fairly common?
India’s criminal justice system is severely strained by delays in justice caused by case backlogs and procedural complexities; overcrowded prisons and inadequate rehabilitation facilities; corruption and politicisation within law enforcement, which affect impartiality and efficiency; and misuse of investigative powers and occasional police brutality, all of which undermine public trust.
It is impossible to cover the history of vigilantism in India due to the many diversities and polarisations in religion, class, caste and privilege. I will take three important cases that share, as their common denominator, issues of injustice, poverty, caste and religion.
The first, the Naxal movement, began in the early 1960s as a land-grab movement at Naxalbari in West Bengal. It was led by a group of radical leftists who believed it would mark the start of a violent revolution to eradicate poverty, inequality, and injustice. Known as Naxalites, they spread their violent tactics and militarised actions to other regions within India.
In response, non-state actors, such as landlords and upper castes, formed private armies to protect their land and prestige and to defeat the “Naxalite menace”. The most notorious of these private armies was the Ranvir Sena, formed in Bihar in 1994. The Indian State also created forces to defeat the Naxalites, whom it viewed as a serious menace to society.
The emergence of Naxalite/Maoist movements can be traced to the Indian State’s inability to meet expectations and solve socio-economic problems post-Independence in 1947. This included the disregard for the social oppression of disempowered castes, the economic oppression of marginal communities due to the failure to implement land reforms, and the failure to implement schemes to promote economic development, as well as the parliamentary parties’ disinterest in solving these problems.
However, in the 21st century, recent vigilante groups are distinct in character from the militant groups of the 20th century. Vigilantism now appears to have created new relationships with the State, not only drawing on the latter for support but also increasingly targeting the Indian Constitution and pressing for extra-legal actions.
Analysts point out that rather than a State deficit, the situation is a reversal: vigilante groups are increasingly drawing their impetus from State support. For example, the “Salwa Judum”, or purification hunt, was a State-supported militia in Chhattisgarh mobilised to counter the Naxalite insurgency. It was later declared illegal by the Supreme Court for human rights violations.
Recent vigilante groups appear to have emerged not only to fill the vacuum created by the State’s deficit but also to serve as de facto “agents of the State”. This marks a new trend in the history of militant vigilante groups in India.
Since 2012, there has been a rise in organisations affiliated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a paramilitary right-wing organisation and a member of the Sangh Parivar.
The Bhartiya Gau Raksha Dal (BGRD), or the Indian Cow Protection Organisation, regularly engages in cow vigilante violence against the minorities, primarily Muslims and Dalits. It has close ties with the State machinery, including the ruling parties at both the Central and state levels, the police, and a Gau Commando Force. Vigilantes patrol state borders to prevent people from smuggling cows and conduct raids on slaughterhouses.
Contrast this with a movement in which women, particularly minority and poor women, came together to protect themselves against routine violence.
The Gulabi Gang, or the Pink Sari Brigade (named after the group’s electric-pink sari uniform), was formed in 2006 and is a rare vigilante group that did not emerge from “political cadre-land”. It was a response to the needs of unlettered village women on the ground, particularly violence against women. Based in Uttar Pradesh, the Pink Gang is considered the world’s largest women’s vigilante group, with an estimated membership of over 270,000 women between 18 and 60 years old.
They protect community women from domestic and sexual violence, and challenge the oppression of lower-caste communities, especially Dalit members. They intervene in cases of abuse, sometimes using non-violent persuasion and, when necessary, physical action with lathis against perpetrators.
Since 2014, when the BJP came to power at the Centre, there has been a rise in vigilantism by right-wing groups, sanctioned by the government. They target Muslims and other minorities, viewing them as threats to their agenda of creating a Hindutva state. The terror and fear unleashed on citizens by these vigilante groups have resulted in lynching, beatings, deaths and the destruction of entire neighbourhoods, which is horrifying. Minority groups and civil society, when they speak out, face reprisals.
Vigilantism is a blot on and a threat to democracy in India.
The writer is a development and communications consultant
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