Why do we have police, courts, jails and the whole machinery attached with it, to protect the rights of people, the natural, fundamental rights which come with us when we take birth as a human being and fundamental rights which our constitution gives us.

In Vadodara in Pavi Jetpur district three alleged thieves were lynched to death by angry villagers. It seems that there were many burglaries in the area and despite complaining to the police nothing happened. So when the villagers caught hold of three persons. they gave them a sound beating and took them to the police station, there also not satisfied they again beat up the three with sticks and stones on their heads and faces. When the policemen present in the station tried to save them they too were beaten up. Finally police had to recourse to firing in air and tear gas.

But the preventive measures taken were too less and too late, by the time medical aid could be given to the three they succumbed to their injuries. Now as per reports coming in police has registered a case against the whole village.

On the other hand in a Haryana village Singwalthe Panchayat took the matters in its hands and punished a boy and a girl for marrying. Unfortunately both belonged to the same sub-caste which is an absolute taboo as per the panchayatas ruling. The judgment was death, when the poor couple went to the High Court, it issued a notice against the Panchayat. When the boy came to the village to hand in the notice along with a Warrant Officer of court, he was beaten up so severely that he died on the spot while the officer was also beaten up. The newly married girl is missing.

While in the Jhajjar village where the boy was told either to live with his wife as brother or his whole family should leave the village, the poor family had to leave their ancestral property and have gone away from the village as ordered.

When the rights to life,movement, expression,marriage are all being taken away by the powerful people of the same area who unfortunately have the mob support and when the judiciary is just a helpless spectator , are we moving to a time when all our lives will be ruled by age old outdated traditions,totally out of sync with modern times. At least the growing impact of village panchayats and herd mentality is giving this indication only.