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The awful politics of Bharat bandh

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Makarand R Paranjape
Makarand R ParanjapeApr 04, 2018 | 09:05

The awful politics of Bharat bandh

Monday’s Bharat bandh resulted not only in casualties and damage to public property. It also shocked the nation by the kind of images that emerged from it and were widely circulated. In some photographs, protesters toting pistols and rifles were seen roaming the streets. In one image that was flashed repeatedly on TV, a bespectacled man in a white shirt shot straight ahead with his revolver.

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Other pictures showed youth armed with thick wooden clubs, which seemed sourced from the same place, rampaging and menacing the streets. Elsewhere, rioters torched buses, tractors, and other vehicles. Highways and railway lines were besieged and blockaded.

Shops and public property were also looted and destroyed. When journalists asked some protesters what they were fighting against, those interviewed seemed uncertain. Some smiled and looked away.

Act’s misuse

Ostensibly, the issue was what some groups called the “dilution” of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act of 1989. Under the draconian provisions of this Act, an accused can be jailed without bail. Though convictions under this Act have been low, there have reportedly been many instances of its misuse.

Taking note of the misuse of the provisions of the SC/ST Atrocities Act, the Supreme Court ruled against automatic arrests and registration of cases. It mandated an inquiry to ascertain if the complaint was justified and also required the permission of a senior superintendent or approval of nodal officer before arrests could be made.

What was wrong with the Supreme Court’s recommendations? Is it fair, one might ask, to lock up citizens, denying and violating their right to liberty, besides subjecting them to the humiliation and indignity of arrest and jail without prima facie evidence of guilt? Instead of welcoming such humane and moderating recommendations, nearly every SC/ST leader and association has come out against them. The government, buckling under pressure, filed a review petition on April 2.

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One of the problems with such laws in India is that they fly against the very basis of “presumption of innocence”, which is considered the cornerstone of enlightened jurisprudence in most modern, democratic societies.

The Latin utterance eiincumbit probatio qui dicit, non qui negat (the burden of proof lies on one who affirms, not on the one who denies) is attributed to the nearly 1,500-year-old Digest of Justinian but is probably even older in spirit. In English law, it is popularised by a coinage by Sir William Garrow (1760-1840), “Innocent until proven guilty.” So important is this principle that it has been enshrined in Article 11 of the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

But the government’s filing of the review petition did not deter the call of Bharat bandh. It was this call that let loose the violence and mayhem on our streets. Not surprisingly, in Congress-ruled Karnataka, very little disruption to normal life was reported. One would have to be completely uninformed or naïve to believe that the protests were not politically motivated or engineered by professional rioters. The fragility of the Indian state, the weakness of its law and order machinery, and its vulnerability to attacks by unscrupulous, even criminal elements disguised as agitating citizens, has been shown up again and again.

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Dalit card

When it comes to SC/ST-related causes, we have seen how the Opposition has tried in the past to paint the ruling BJP and NDA as anti-lower caste. Narendra Modi and Amit Shah outwitted them in the past by making Ram Nath Kovind the President of India. By elevating to the highest office of the land a person who hails from the Kori community, which has been recognised as a Scheduled Caste, the BJP dampened if not deflected the Opposition strategy to turn one of India’s important vote-banks against the BJP.

While the outcome of the government’s review petition is still awaited, the nation needs to do some clear and honest thinking on this subject. Members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes must ask themselves if they want to be turned into pawns in this deadly, one might even say nation-breaking, game. How does creating severe measures that violate age-old principles of justice and the UN Declaration of Human Rights serve their cause or protect them from atrocities?

Deeper conspiracy

More importantly, all of us, whether we are SC/ST, BC/OBC, minority, or the so-called remaining majority, must ask ourselves what does it mean to be the citizens of the Republic of India. How long will we allow ourselves to be divided by religion, caste, community, language, region, or some other identity marker just so that we are fooled by some illusory or inconsequential “special” privilege?

The deeper conspiracy of creating such divides in our society we may conveniently attribute to our former colonial masters as we do many of our present-day ills. But who will take responsibility for their continuance?

Similarly, can today’s ruling party keep blaming the Congress-led earlier governments, or will it stand up the Constitution of India and for rajdharma? Isn’t it our duty to stand up for the right even if there are political costs involved?

Once again, hasn’t the time come for us to say that all Indian citizens are equal? Therefore, shouldn’t all of us be treated alike by the law, with the same opportunities for justice and the same punishments for crimes?

(Courtesy of Mail Today)

Last updated: April 05, 2018 | 10:37
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