Daily Times

When we hear news of an unsuspecting teacher being killed by an unremorseful security guard citing “petty grievances”, it is not unfair to assume that we are nearing apocalyptic times. Vigilantism is typically understood as one taking the law into their own hands but it stems from a larger tradition of establishment violence. Opportunism and mistrust run rife in Pakistani politics-we are constantly told to be vigilant of one another, to act first and think later. The state has set an inflammatory precedent of extrajudicial killings that grossly undervalues human life and encourages people to resolve their problems through force and coercion rather than empathy and understanding.

Interpersonal conflicts are blown out of proportion and transformed into acts of violence. It is difficult to understand why someone might kill another person where there are no ideological forces at play or serious premeditation for that matter. In those cases, vigilantism may be a symptom of an individual’s moral outrage and perceived entitlement over someone else’s life. When people regard law enforcement authorities as ineffective in dealing with their disputes, they employ their style of self-justice.

Sometimes the police participates in this culture by offering immunity to vigilante actors who pose as morally upright citizens determined to uphold the law. Indeed, it was under the police’s supervision that Mughees and Muneeb Butt were lynched in Sialkot nearly a decade ago. Falsely accused on the spot and given no time to refute the allegations levelled against them, a mob of angry men hanged and mutilated their bodies on a busy street a mere few feet away from an emergency rescue centre. The police looked on silently, as though powerless over what was happening.

If our institutional structures were stronger and better equipped to deal with mob violence, Mughees and Muneeb might have been alive today. Bashir Ahmed, an English lecturer who was just trying to do his job, might have been alive if vigilantism wasn’t so pervasive in Pakistani society. The state no longer maintains a monopoly over the use of physical force-ordinary people have made it their imperative to punish those they are responsible for their discontent. *