In essence vigilantism as a concept is usually associated with populist and messianic fantasies of mysterious saviours rising from the masses to deliver justice in an unjust society.

There have been more myths, stories, comic books and movies about such characters than there have been actual, real-life epis-odes involving men taking law in their hands to cleanse society of bad apples.

But this hasn't stopped some people to give vigilantism a crack only to fall flat on their faces because simply put, life is not a movie.

Nevertheless, a number of politicians and military dictators have tapped into the populist and mythical impulse of vigilantism that so easily capture the imagination of struggling societies, and have presented themselves as modern messiahs and saviours.

But like former Italian fascist, Mussolini, and Germany's Nazi superman, Adolf Hitler, such men usually end up drowning in the madness and blood of their own delusions, painfully metamorphosing from shining heroes into hideous Kafkasque mutations, repulsing the same masses of people who had once adored them so passionately.

But not only has the impulse of fantastical vigilantism remained popular among those who believe that the law in their society is weak, corrupt or not according to the social, political and religious sentiments of the masses, it is still projected by politicians as well.

Interestingly, whereas most societies have now become jaded and cynical about leaders projecting themselves as being public and messianic vigilantes, their more exhibitionistic vigilante posturing has been adopted by certain media houses.

For example, recently in countries like India and Pakistan where rapid urbanisation has seen a growth in middle-class activism, private TV channels have gone on to project the concept of middle-class heroism that is mostly born from this class’s frustration of not being able to reach the top echelons of power despite gaining economic and social influence.

They are the blocked elite who accuse their country's corrupt system for their blocked status and in their desperation describe certain aspects of society as being the immoral and decadent fall-outs of this system.

In Pakistan, certain second-tier private TV channels desperate to stay in the ratings game have picked up on this impulse and have been running shows of hyper men and equally hyper women chasing transvestites, tipsy cops, dating couples, etc. with TV cameras and microphones, shouting them down for spreading immorality.

What is even more interesting is the fact that these are not angry bearded men or burqa-clad women with sticks, but 'normal' middle-class folks. Or do it seems.

This also affirms the fact that contrary to popular perception, the ‘Islamisation’ wave that began cutting across Pakistan from the 1980s onwards had little to do with the uneducated and the have-nots.

It was always and still is a phenomenon that is largely associated with the country’s urban middle and trader classes.

In the 1980s, a number of Islamist outfits had already made in-roads in the politics and sociology of Pakistan by riding on Ziaul Haq’s Islamisation process.

But as most of them were highly militant and eventually got themselves ‘strategically’ linked with certain sections of the radicalised state institutions, it were the evangelical movements that managed to reap the most success within the country’s social and cultural milieu.

Since when have the so-called ‘educated’ and affluent urbanites become moral crusaders?

The answer lies in the way the evangelical outfits found a ready audience among the urban middle-classes.

But vigilantism like the kind one now sees on some of these rather obnoxious TV shows was once associated with youth wings of religious parties who used to attack musical concerts, New Year’s parties and cinemas in the 1980s.

But these days, moralistic vigilantism has not only become a televised affair, it is being conducted by men and women who may find transvestites, dating couples and tipsy cops repulsive, but are likely to spend their free time frequenting cinemas, boogying at weddings and shopping at trendy malls.

The question is, these characters (most of whom are trendy women), might cynically and simply be doing this to gain an instant audience, but in essence, how exactly is their made-for-TV vigilantism different from the likes of what one saw two years ago in Punjab where a group of men beat to death two young teens plainly on the suspicion of them being thieves?

Instead of claiming to give shape to the society's supposed thirst for justice and morality, these vigilante shows are actually a symptom of an urban middle and lower-middle class milieu dangerously bordering on fascist tendencies and frustrated, vengeful fantasies.