When law enforcers operate outside the discipline of law

The so-called success stories of bulldozer justice and leg-shooting operations, popularly described as “Operation Langda”, present a new rationalisation and public approval of state violence. This recalls David Garland’s idea of the modern “culture of control”, where insecurity, fear, and public anger reshape crime-control policies and make punitive measures appear politically attractive. The disturbing fact is that people, by and large, appear to endorse these practices, though they essentially operate outside the discipline of law. There is a visible shift in public attitude: violence that would otherwise be condemned as street lawlessness begins to acquire legitimacy when sponsored by the state in the name of enforcing the rule of law.