India’s Weak Response to Muslim Mob Violence: How Maharashtra’s Government and Judiciary Enable Lawlessness
The recent riots in Nagpur have once again exposed the utter failure of the Maharashtra government, its police force, and the judiciary in handling Muslim mob violence.
What should have been a moment of firm governance and swift justice has instead become yet another example of state impotence in the face of lawless rioters who have no fear of consequences. The brutal attack on a female police officer—where rioters allegedly attempted to strip her of her uniform—should have been met with the harshest action. Instead, it has been met with the usual government apathy, police incompetence, and judicial leniency, allowing violent mobs to operate with impunity.
A Pattern of Appeasement and Cowardice
This is not the first time Maharashtra’s police force has stood by as mobs ran wild. The 2012 Azad Maidan riots saw similar atrocities, with Muslim rioters molesting female police officers, desecrating national monuments, and attacking law enforcement personnel. More than a decade later, nothing has changed. The state continues to bow before lawlessness, treating such incidents as routine disturbances instead of grave threats to law and order.
The Maharashtra police, despite its massive manpower and resources, has time and again failed to act decisively. The recent Nagpur riots prove that either the police leadership is grossly incompetent or that there is a deliberate attempt to avoid taking strong action against Muslim rioters out of fear of political backlash. What else explains their reluctance to crack down hard on those who dared to assault their own officers? Instead of using force to disperse the mobs and making mass arrests on the spot, they let the situation spiral out of control.
The Judiciary’s Role in Encouraging Rioters
If the government’s failure to act is shameful, the judiciary’s role in enabling such lawlessness is even worse. In countless past cases, rioters have been arrested, only to be released on bail within days, free to return to the streets and commit the same crimes again. There is no fear of serious punishment, no deterrent effect. Even in cases where clear evidence exists—such as CCTV footage of rioters attacking police officers—the courts move at a snail’s pace, treating these criminals as mere protesters rather than dangerous threats to public order.
Why does the judiciary hesitate to deliver strict punishment in such cases? Why do we not see fast-track trials for those who attack law enforcement? If a woman police officer is molested in broad daylight by a violent mob, how much worse can things get before the courts take decisive action? The answer is clear: the judiciary is complicit in this failure, treating rioters with kid gloves instead of an iron fist.
Political Apathy and Vote Bank Politics
The Maharashtra government’s response—or rather, its non-response—to these riots exposes the deep rot in the state’s political leadership. Instead of sending a clear message that attacks on police officers will be met with severe consequences, leaders offer weak condemnations and empty promises of investigations. There is a clear pattern: if the rioters belong to a particular community, the government chooses to look the other way, afraid of upsetting its vote bank. The lack of arrests, delayed action, and police hesitancy are all symptoms of a leadership that values political calculations over law and order.
A Nation in Decline
What message does this send to the people of Maharashtra? That mobs can attack police officers, molest women, and destroy public property without fear of repercussions? That the state will do nothing, and the courts will let them walk free? This is how nations descend into chaos—when the rule of law is selectively applied and when the government refuses to protect its own officers from violent criminals.
Maharashtra must wake up before it is too late. The government must drop its cowardly approach and crack down hard on such rioters, regardless of their religious identity. The police must be given a free hand to act decisively, and the judiciary must start treating these incidents with the seriousness they deserve. If nothing changes, then we are doomed to see these riots repeat themselves, with mobs growing ever bolder, knowing full well that the state lacks the will to stop them.
