This article provides a sharp, critical analysis of India's deep-rooted issues with mob mentality, crowd behavior, and the state’s failure to effectively manage mass movements. It highlights how the country’s vast population, cultural tendencies, and weak enforcement mechanisms often allow chaos to flourish unchecked, leading to disasters, violence, and a general disregard for individual rights.
The piece opens with an exploration of the origins of the word "mob," derived from the Latin phrase mobile vulgus, meaning a moving crowd. The author sets the tone by highlighting how crowds, particularly in India, often lose their sense of individuality and rationality, turning into uncontrollable forces. He equates them to a flash flood—unstoppable and destructive—suggesting that the combination of faith, frenzy, and numbers makes them a dangerous force when set into motion.
This idea is illustrated with a recent incident in the Delhi Metro, where revellers celebrating Shab-e-Barat disrupted public order. While no major damage was done, it foreshadowed a more tragic event two days later at the New Delhi Railway Station, where a stampede occurred due to mismanagement. The imagery of a "sea of humanity" waiting for a train to Prayagraj for the Kumbh pilgrimage paints a vivid picture of the sheer scale of such gatherings, and how a single misstep—like a sudden platform-change announcement—can unleash devastating consequences. The tragedy claimed 18 lives and left many others injured, demonstrating how uncontrolled crowds can lead to fatal consequences.
Beyond religious gatherings, the article points to the violent destruction witnessed in Bihar, where mobs of pilgrims vandalized trains and harassed passengers, turning railway stations into sites of fear and destruction. These incidents, according to Singh, are symptomatic of a larger societal issue: India's inability to discipline large crowds and the state's reluctance to enforce strict measures against them. He argues that India's population density makes it inherently prone to crowd-related problems, yet the law enforcement's approach to handling them remains primitive at best and incompetent at worst.
The article further differentiates between a crowd and a mob, emphasizing that movement—whether physical or emotional—determines when a gathering transforms into a dangerous force. When the movement is purely physical, it results in stampedes like the one in Prayagraj. When emotion is added to the mix, it leads to violent expressions of collective rage, such as mob lynchings, caste-based conflicts, communal riots, and politically motivated violence. Singh references the origin of the English word "juggernaut" from the chariot of Lord Jagannath, warning that once a crowd gains momentum, stopping it becomes nearly impossible. In such moments, the state is often powerless, leaving people to rely on fate rather than law enforcement for protection.
A crucial point the article makes is the government's lack of preparedness in handling such situations. Despite India's long history of crowd-related incidents, the country has failed to implement effective crowd-management strategies. Law enforcement is ill-equipped and untrained in handling large gatherings, and bureaucratic responses remain reactionary rather than preventive. The author criticizes the authorities for treating crowd control as an afterthought, only taking action when disasters strike. In an age where mobile cameras capture every failure, the government can no longer downplay such incidents, yet their response remains limited to setting up inquiries that yield little to no concrete outcomes.
The piece also touches upon India's deep-seated cultural resistance to queuing and discipline. The author humorously compares the English word "queue" with the Hindi word for "why" (kyu), illustrating how Indians often view queues as unnecessary inconveniences rather than essential organizational tools. While individuals may be capable of discipline, collective behavior often devolves into chaos unless strict enforcement is in place. This lack of adherence to rules is not just a reflection of poor civic sense but also a consequence of an administration that does little to ensure compliance.
A particularly scathing critique is reserved for how the Indian state selectively enforces laws, often bending to the will of loud and aggressive groups rather than upholding individual rights. Singh contrasts India's approach with that of Western democracies, where the state, while condemning hate speech or offensive acts, still ensures that individuals’ rights are protected against mob aggression. In India, however, mob sentiments often dictate state action. Whether it's banning books, censoring comedians, or silencing dissenters, the government frequently prioritizes the demands of vocal groups over the principles of democracy and free speech. This imbalance has led to an environment where organized groups—be they religious, political, or ideological—have learned that they can pressure the state into submission.
The article presents several examples to illustrate this mob-driven governance. Pilgrims overcrowding trains and making life miserable for regular travelers go unchecked. Authorities allow thousands to gather at stations without ensuring safety measures, making stampedes inevitable. If a mob demands a book ban, the government complies without debate. When lynchings occur, officials hesitate to take firm action. Most hit-and-run cases see people fleeing the scene—not just out of fear of legal repercussions, but because they fear immediate mob justice. Stand-up comics and YouTubers facing death threats for their opinions find that instead of protecting their rights, the state often joins in prosecuting them. These patterns suggest that India is gradually normalizing mob rule, where the loudest voices dictate the law while individual freedoms erode.
Singh takes this argument further, pointing to how mobs fueled by grievance and ideology can quickly escalate into mass violence. He cites the example of Manipur, where young men, jobless and directionless, have been engaged in violent conflict for nearly two years with no resolution in sight. This, he argues, is what happens when a state allows mob mentality to thrive unchecked. The vandals in Bihar knew they could burn down railway stations without facing serious consequences. A handful of protesters can block roads and inconvenience thousands, and instead of dispersing them, authorities often concede to their demands. The state has made a habit of prioritizing group rights over individual freedoms, often at the expense of law and order.
In the concluding section, the author presents a stark warning: India has a mob problem, and its leaders are not serious about solving it. The ease with which crowds can be gathered has made them a tool of power, particularly in politics. From mass rallies to street agitations, political influence is often measured by how many people one can mobilize. This, combined with a lack of rule enforcement, has created an environment where lawlessness thrives under the guise of democratic expression. The result is a country operating under "controlled chaos"—where things function just well enough to avoid complete anarchy but frequently spiral out of control in moments of crisis.
The final lines deliver a biting conclusion. While individual crimes are harshly punished, crimes committed by mobs often go unpunished. Worse still, while a mob’s crime is treated as a joke, an individual's joke is treated as a crime. In the end, it is always the mobile vulgus—the moving crowd—that has the last laugh, leaving behind destruction, unanswered questions, and a system too weak to hold it accountable.
