Mob violence is emerging as a serious law and order problem in India. By giving suitable examples, analyze the causes and consequences of such violence.
Approach · directive: “analyse”
What it asks · Analyse why mob violence is rising and what it does to society and the State, citing examples.
The question has 2 parts — answer each
- Analyse the causes of mob violence, with suitable examples
- Analyse the consequences of mob violence, with suitable examples
Open with · Mob violence is the collective, unlawful use of force against a person or group, often on the basis of rumour or suspicion, and it bypasses courts and the police.
Cover
- Rumours and social media: false messages on child-lifting and cattle smuggling spread quickly; child-lifting rumours led to killings in Jharkhand in 2017.
- Identity and vigilantism: self-styled cow protection groups, as in Dadri (2015) and Alwar (2017), target minorities and Dalits.
- Weak law enforcement: slow trials, low conviction, police inaction and political patronage produce a sense of impunity.
- Social factors: distrust of the police, prejudice, unemployment and frustration among youth, and a mob's anonymity reduce individual guilt.
- Consequences: loss of life, fear among targeted groups, communal polarisation and damage to the State's monopoly over force.
- Consequences: harm to the rule of law, livelihoods such as cattle trade, India's image and investment climate.
- Response: quick FIRs and fast-track trials, accountable district officials, curbs on rumours online and fresh law; the Supreme Court gave directions in Tehseen Poonawalla (2018).
Close with · Mob violence is best checked by swift, impartial policing and justice, accountability of officials and public education against rumours and hatred.
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2017, GS Paper III — paper ↗. Approach: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify) — UPSC publishes no model answers. ·
Model answer · 313 words (UPSC limit 250) · Minimalist IAS
Mob violence is the unlawful use of force by a crowd against a person or group, usually on rumour or suspicion, which substitutes the crowd's verdict for the courts and the police.
Causes
- Rumour on social media: WhatsApp messages about child-lifters led to several people being beaten to death in Jharkhand in May 2017; forwarding outruns any police response.
- Identity-based vigilantism: self-styled cow protectors killed Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri (2015) and Pehlu Khan in Alwar (2017) and flogged Dalits in Una (2016); Junaid Khan was killed on a train near Ballabhgarh in June 2017.
- Impunity: slow trials, low conviction, police delay or complicity and political patronage teach crowds that violence carries no cost.
- Distrust of justice: crowds seek 'instant justice' against suspected thieves, rapists and witches, as when a rape accused was dragged from jail and lynched in Dimapur (2015).
- Crowd psychology: anonymity dissolves individual guilt, while prejudice, unemployment and frustration among young men supply the tinder.
Consequences
- Life and liberty: killings and injuries, fear among minorities and Dalits, families uprooted; Article 21 rendered hollow for the victims.
- Rule of law: the State's monopoly over force erodes, the police lose credibility, and each unpunished case invites the next.
- Social fabric: communal polarisation, cycles of retaliation and distrust between communities.
- Economy: cattle trade, dairy, leather and transport disrupted; investors and tourists read lynchings as State failure.
- Politics and image: governance discredited at home and India's human-rights record questioned abroad.
Way forward
- Prompt FIRs and fast-track trials, personal accountability of station officers and district magistrates, rumour-busting with platforms and local media, community policing and victim compensation (since then, the Supreme Court in Tehseen Poonawalla (2018) laid down preventive, remedial and punitive measures and urged Parliament to consider a special law).
Mob violence recedes only when policing is swift and impartial, officials answer for inaction, and rumour and hatred are countered before they turn into crowds.
Written by Minimalist IAS from facts checked at source (how we verify) — a little fuller than exam length, so every part of the question is covered; in the hall, keep the structure and trim the detail. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.