ARREST FIRST,INVESTIGATE LATER !
It is a dangerous trend. ABVP boys now decide who or what is anti-national and state power is used to silence their political opponents. First, it was Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad, now it is Kanhaiya Lal in JNU. Earlier, two dim-witted politicians — a BJP MP and the HRD Minister — responded to the boys' complaint. Now the Union Home Minister has thought it fit to use the might of the state to crack down on JNU students. In a tearing hurry to please the boys, who are apparently trying to further the RSS/BJP cultural and political agenda, the Home Minister did not care to get his facts right. The police action, reminiscent of the Emergency days, was based on the rule: Arrest first, investigation later. Courts have repeatedly held that slogans and speeches alone do not constitute sedition, an incitement to violence does.
Realising perhaps the folly of slapping a legally untenable sedition charge against a Left-leaning student, who was present at a spot where a handful of unidentified persons raised pro-Afzal Guru and anti-India slogans, Rajnath Singh has tried to justify the police action by saying the dreaded Hafiz Saeed supports the JNU protest. In the process he has committed another blunder. First, the LeT chief's tweet was fake since his Twitter handle was disabled long ago, according to Pakistani daily Dawn. Secondly, will the BJP now need Hafiz Saeed or David Headley to bail itself out of political troubles? Will the Indian state act against anyone Hafiz Saeed supports? By this logic, the BJP-PDP government should have arrested all those raising anti-India slogans in Kashmir.
There is a serious danger to the autonomy of institutions of higher learning. With a little help from their patrons in the government, Hindutva partisans can summon the police anytime and get anyone framed. Politics of communal polarisation on campuses can backfire for the BJP as middle-class parents would not like universities they so value to turn into ideological battlegrounds. The police cannot be used to settle political or academic debates. Politically, the BJP has scored a self-goal. It has united the Opposition. By targeting JNU, it has turned academics against itself.
It is a dangerous trend. ABVP boys now decide who or what is anti-national and state power is used to silence their political opponents. First, it was Rohith Vemula in Hyderabad, now it is Kanhaiya Lal in JNU. Earlier, two dim-witted politicians — a BJP MP and the HRD Minister — responded to the boys' complaint. Now the Union Home Minister has thought it fit to use the might of the state to crack down on JNU students. In a tearing hurry to please the boys, who are apparently trying to further the RSS/BJP cultural and political agenda, the Home Minister did not care to get his facts right. The police action, reminiscent of the Emergency days, was based on the rule: Arrest first, investigation later. Courts have repeatedly held that slogans and speeches alone do not constitute sedition, an incitement to violence does.
Realising perhaps the folly of slapping a legally untenable sedition charge against a Left-leaning student, who was present at a spot where a handful of unidentified persons raised pro-Afzal Guru and anti-India slogans, Rajnath Singh has tried to justify the police action by saying the dreaded Hafiz Saeed supports the JNU protest. In the process he has committed another blunder. First, the LeT chief's tweet was fake since his Twitter handle was disabled long ago, according to Pakistani daily Dawn. Secondly, will the BJP now need Hafiz Saeed or David Headley to bail itself out of political troubles? Will the Indian state act against anyone Hafiz Saeed supports? By this logic, the BJP-PDP government should have arrested all those raising anti-India slogans in Kashmir.
There is a serious danger to the autonomy of institutions of higher learning. With a little help from their patrons in the government, Hindutva partisans can summon the police anytime and get anyone framed. Politics of communal polarisation on campuses can backfire for the BJP as middle-class parents would not like universities they so value to turn into ideological battlegrounds. The police cannot be used to settle political or academic debates. Politically, the BJP has scored a self-goal. It has united the Opposition. By targeting JNU, it has turned academics against itself.
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