Two recent lynchings following alleged cases of sacrilege in Punjab have raised disquieting questions at a time when the state is entering a hectic Assembly election campaign. The first incident was reported at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, where a person accused of sacrilege was lynched to death on the spot. The second case was from Kapurthala, where one person was accused of sacrilege. He was also lynched, but there is still no evidence that he had shown disrespect to the holy book or other symbols of faith, and he may have been attacked on the basis of unfounded suspicion. Some months ago, another person was beaten to death after he was falsely accused of committing a theft at a gurdwara in Gurdaspur. There have been other incidents also of instant justice being meted out to people accused of sacrilege.
Any act of sacrilege, intended to hurt the religious feelings of communities, should be condemned and strict action should be taken against those who indulge in such crimes. But the brutal killing of the persons accused of the crime was in blatant disregard of the law. Nobody has the right to administer instant physical punishment to the accused in a case of any kind. The suspected offenders should have been handed over to the police for investigation and suitable action. Many times, it has been seen that those who are accused of sacrilege are mentally disturbed persons. Even if it is a deliberate act or the result of a conspiracy, the evidence should not be destroyed by killing the person. The authorities in the Golden Temple failed to act with good sense and responsibility when the alleged sacrilege happened there. In the case of the Kapurthala incident, it is not clear whether an offence was committed at all.
The failure of the political community in Punjab to condemn the lawless killings is disturbing. Political and religious leaders have strongly denounced the alleged acts of sacrilege but have not said anything about the lynchings. Instead, the state Congress president Navjot Sidhu even called for public execution of the accused. Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Opposition leaders have decided that there was a conspiracy, even before any investigation has taken place. Sacrilege is a sensitive issue in Punjab and has created communal, political and social disturbances in the state. Some cases relating to acts of sacrilege that happened before the 2015 Assembly elections have not yet been solved. The occurrence of similar incidents, once again on the eve of elections, is itself a matter of concern. Politicians play with danger when they try to exploit religious sentiments and endorse lawlessness. Punjab has paid a heavy price for that in the past.