UPSC Mains 2017 GS3 Q19 — Internal Security

• The socio-psychological and digital triggers behind collective aggression in India.
• The institutional and policing failures that allow mob violence to recur.
• A categorization of examples ranging from lynching to communal riots and vigilante justice.
• The impact on the rule of law and the constitutional fabric of the country.
• Suggested legal or administrative measures (like the Tehseen Poonawalla guidelines) to address the crisis.

• Focusing only on religious communalism while ignoring other forms like cattle vigilantism, honor killings, or child-kidnapping rumors.
• Describing the examples in too much narrative detail instead of analyzing the underlying causes they represent.
• Failing to mention the role of social media and 'fake news' as a modern catalyst for mob mobilization.
• Treating it purely as a social issue and forgetting to discuss it as a 'law and order' failure (police inaction or slow judiciary).

Allocate approximately 50 words to defining the phenomenon and citing 2-3 diverse examples. Spend 100 words analyzing 4-5 distinct causes (social, digital, institutional). Use the remaining 100 words to discuss the consequences (eroding rule of law, investment impact) and a brief forward-looking conclusion citing Supreme Court directives.