Content
- Mob rule
- Between India and EU, a carbon gap and an FTA bridge
Hate-linked Vigilantism
Why in News?
- Late-2025 saw multiple mob-violence incidents across Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand and elsewhere where Indian citizens — mostly migrant workers and students — were falsely branded as “Bangladeshis” or “Chinese” and attacked.
- The pattern reflects:
- Rising xenophobic profiling based on language, region, appearance, or presumed nationality.
- A spill-over from political rhetoric on “illegal infiltration”, particularly in election-bound regions.
Relevance
- GS-II (Polity & Governance)
- Vulnerable sections, constitutional morality, rule of law, federal policing responsibility
- Role of civil services, Centre–State coordination in law & order
- GS-III (Internal Security)
- Social tensions, misinformation, mob mobilisation through digital platforms
- Impact on labour mobility, urban security, and economic activity
Practice Question
- Mob violence poses a serious challenge to constitutional morality and rule of law in India. Examine the structural causes behind the recent surge in identity-linked mob attacks and suggest institutional reforms to address them. (250 Words)
What is Happening?
- Mob violence / lynching = extra-judicial killing/assault by a group claiming to enforce “suspicion-based justice”.
- Victims in these cases: Indian internal migrants and youth from the Northeast, Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh etc.
- Trigger factors: identity demands, accent/language suspicion, racialised stereotypes, rumours amplified through social media.
Scale, Patterns & Data
- Internal migration:
- Census 2011 — 45.6 crore migrants (~37% of population); 2020-25 estimates place internal migrants at 55–60 crore.
- High-dependence states for migrant labour: Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat.
- Hate/mob crimes data:
- NCRB does not maintain a separate “lynching” category; such crimes appear under murder/rioting/assault.
- Independent trackers (academia/civil society) show post-2015 rise in identity-linked mob violence, especially where rumours of theft, cow-related suspicion, or “illegal immigrant” labels are invoked.
- Northeast discrimination trend:
- Multiple commissions have highlighted racial slurs, stereotyping, and targeted assaults against people from Northeastern states in metros.
(Data caveat: absence of a statutory category means under-reporting and classification gaps.)
Drivers — What Explains the Spike?
- Political narrative effects
- Election-time messaging around “illegal infiltration” (Bangladesh-linked) normalises suspicion against Bengali-speaking and migrant communities.
- Stereotyping & racialisation
- Northeastern Indians misidentified as “foreigners/Chinese”; linguistic profiling of workers from Bengal/Odisha.
- Weak deterrence
- Slow trials, poor investigation quality, low conviction in crowd-violence cases → mob impunity.
- Digital rumours & performative violence
- Filming and circulating assaults on social media → copy-cat behaviour and mob mobilisation.
- Labour precarity
- Migrant workers lack documents, networks, and bargaining power, increasing vulnerability to vigilante suspicion.
Legal–Constitutional Lens
- Fundamental rights violated:
- Art. 14 (equality), Art. 15 (non-discrimination), Art. 19(1)(d)/(e) (movement/residence), Art. 21 (life & dignity).
- Applicable penal provisions:
- IPC/CrPC: 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 323/325 (hurt), 341/342 (wrongful restraint), 153A, 295A, 505 (hate speech & provocation), criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly.
- Supreme Court — Tehseen Poonawalla (2018) guidelines:
- State nodal officers, preventive policing, fast-track trials, victim compensation, accountability of district administration. Implementation remains patchy.
- State-level initiatives (uneven):
- Anti-lynching bills/ordinances proposed or passed in some states (e.g., Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Manipur) — national framework still absent.
Governance & Security Implications
- Internal security: fear among migrants → labour shortages, informalisation, social unrest in host states.
- Federal labour economy: sectors such as construction, hospitality, logistics, plantations depend heavily on migrants — violence threatens supply chains.
- Social cohesion: normalisation of vigilantism erodes rule of law and police legitimacy.
- Human rights & international image: recurring mob violence undermines India’s constitutional morality and commitments to equality and dignity.
Editorial Overview
- Rhetoric around “infiltrators” creates moral licence for mobs to police identities.
- Policing responses limited to post-facto arrests rather than preventive intelligence, hotspot monitoring, and narrative correction.
- Absence of centralised data & statutory category prevents targeted policy action.
Way Forward — Policy & Administrative Actions
- Implement SC anti-lynching guidelines in letter and spirit; designate nodal officers and district-level tasking.
- Create a statutory offence of mob lynching with command-responsibility and time-bound trial provisions.
- Data architecture: NCRB to add distinct categories for hate/mob crimes; disaggregate by motive and victim profile.
- Police reforms:
- Rumour-control protocols, social-media monitoring, early-warning grids in migrant-dense localities.
- Witness/victim protection & compensation.
- Political and civic messaging: bipartisan condemnation; avoidance of xenophobic election rhetoric; community outreach with employers and labour contractors.
- Migrant inclusion measures: registration, helplines, inter-state coordination cells, awareness of legal rights; grievance kiosks at workplaces and transport hubs.
- Education & sensitisation: anti-discrimination campaigns in schools, workplaces, and transport systems — especially regarding Northeast communities and inter-state migrants.
Between India and EU, a carbon gap and an FTA bridge
Why in News?
- From 1 January 2026, the EU will start imposing full tariffs under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) on imports of steel, aluminium, cement, fertilizers, electricity, hydrogen, etc.
- Indian steel and aluminium exports to the EU already face higher compliance costs under the transition phase since October 2023.
- CBAM is emerging as a trade barrier + climate instrument, impacting India–EU trade, FTA negotiations, industrial competitiveness, and carbon pricing strategy.
Relevance
- GS-III (Economy | Environment | Industry)
- Green industrial transition, trade-climate nexus, carbon pricing, competitiveness
- Impact on steel, aluminium and MSME supply chains
Practice Question
- CBAM represents the emergence of climate-aligned protectionism in global trade. Analyse its likely impact on India’s export competitiveness and suggest a policy roadmap for adaptation and resilience. (250 Words)
What is CBAM?
- CBAM is the EU’s mechanism to equalise carbon costs between:
- EU producers covered under EU-ETS (carbon pricing)
- Foreign exporters whose countries lack similar carbon pricing.
- Importers must purchase CBAM certificates proportional to the embedded emissions during production.
- Covers only Scope-1 & Scope-2 emissions (fuel + electricity used in production).
Transport and downstream emissions are excluded.
Goal: Prevent carbon leakage (firms shifting production to low-regulation countries) and protect EU industry.
What Changes for India?
- The tax may reduce 16–22% of the price actually received by Indian exporters due to:
- certificate cost,
- compliance expenses,
- buyer price discounts,
- renegotiated contracts.
- In FY2025, exports of Indian steel & aluminium to EU = $5.8 billion
— already down 24% YoY, despite no carbon tax yet → anticipatory compliance burden. - EU buyers are demanding lower prices upfront to hedge expected CBAM costs.
How CBAM Liability is Calculated ?
- Benchmark EU carbon price ≈ €80 per tonne of CO₂
- If exporters don’t submit verified plant-level data:
- EU applies default emission values (30–80% higher) → increases payable tax.
- From 2026, emissions must be ISO-14065 verified by EU-approved auditors → increases compliance cost.
Sector-wise Impact
Steel — Highest Risk
- Blast Furnace–Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF-BOF):
- Highest emissions → CBAM burden ~€80–€120 per tonne
- Could raise costs by 50–70%.
- Gas-based Direct Reduced Iron (DRI): Lower CBAM hit.
- Electric Arc Furnace (EAF) using scrap: lowest burden — favoured by CBAM.
Aluminium
- Electricity-intensive → emissions linked to grid carbon factor.
- EU share in India’s aluminium exports ≈ 10% of global trade exposure.
Competitiveness Comparison
- China’s carbon price ≈ 10% of EU level → much lower CBAM pass-through.
- Rich countries can absorb climate costs better → competitive asymmetry.
Key Economic Effects Highlighted
- Pricing pressure on exporters
(buyers discount prices to offset CBAM). - Contract renegotiations and reopening of long-term supply agreements.
- Shift in supply chains toward:
- low-carbon technology,
- scrap-based/EAF routes,
- relocation to countries with carbon pricing alignment.
Compliance & Governance Gaps
- Many firms lack:
- plant-level emissions measurement systems,
- verifiable data & auditors,
- internal carbon accounting.
- Risk of exporters relying on default EU emission factors → higher tax liability.
Opportunities if India Responds Strategically
- Firms that measure accurately, verify early, and decarbonise can:
- retain margins,
- avoid deep price cuts,
- secure contracts via carbon-differentiated pricing.
- CBAM can act as a push factor for low-carbon industrial transition.
Broader Trade & Policy Implications
- CBAM overlaps with India–EU FTA negotiations:
- India seeks market access + rules discipline.
- EU uses CBAM as climate-trade conditionality.
- The editorial frames CBAM also as:
- industrial protection + revenue generation tool for the EU,
- not merely a climate instrument.
Strategic Risks for India
- Export erosion in high-emission sectors.
- Rising compliance costs → affects MSME suppliers.
- Possible trade diversion away from EU.
- Competitive disadvantage without:
- domestic carbon market,
- industrial decarbonisation incentives.
Policy Priorities for India
- Domestic Carbon Pricing / Carbon Market (phased, industry-linked).
- Green steel pathway:
- EAF transition, scrap recycling, hydrogen pilots.
- National MRV framework:
- plant-level Measurement–Reporting–Verification.
- Financial support for energy-efficient retrofits.
- FTA strategy:
- secure transition support,
- mutual recognition of carbon accounting systems.
- Data ecosystem:
- emissions registries, verified auditors, standardised protocols.
Critical Assessment
- CBAM reflects climate-aligned protectionism — climate goal + competitiveness shield.
- For India, the risk is not only tax burden but structural competitiveness loss if industrial decarbonisation lags.
- Early compliance + technology transition is economically superior to late adjustment.
