Bharat Bhushan: Weaponising mobs for political gain haunts today's India

The rapidity with which the rumours of child-lifting or braid-chopping a year ago were disseminated and the readiness with which people were willing to act on them point to high public anxiety levels

The adage that “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its shoes on” has been proven in India once again as social media rumours about child-lifting have led to 27 incidents of mob-lynching across nine states of India. They can hardly be pinned down to local issues as the attacks have occurred in states as far apart geographically as Tripura, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

About a year ago, rumours of braid-chopping had spread from Nagaur in Rajasthan, travelling across the North through Uttar Pradesh and Delhi to Jammu and Kashmir. Then they suddenly