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| Image from Mathrubhumi (Malayalam weekly) 2 April 2023 |
The media in India became the central government’s
lapdog long ago, with a few exceptions. Democracy bleeds when that happens. And
democracy dies when the judiciary becomes the government’s handmaid. It is impossible
for the citizens to get justice when the judiciary becomes a tool in the hands
of the government. Anyone can be arrested for any reason. As it happened, for
example, with the Kannada actor Chetan Kumar a few days back. He was arrested
for tweeting that “Hindutva is built on LIES.”
He mentioned a few lies too, like: 1992: Babri Masjid is ‘birthplace of Rama’ —> a lie.
A few days after his arrest and remand to judicial custody, Rahul Gandhi was
arrested for saying rather facetiously that too many Modis are thieves.
Truth is a crime now. Humour is a
crime too.
A lot of our
parliamentarians are hardcore criminals. There are murderers and rapists
among them. There are swindlers and kidnappers. They continue to be our
legislators while Chetan Kumar and Rahul Gandhi will be in jail for telling
truths or jokes.
There is something far worse than
this that is afoot, something that is corroding the very heart of India’s secular
democracy. The country is insidiously being converted into a Hindu Rashtra
using the judiciary.
In order to make the country a Hindu Rashtra, there are three
possible ways. One, change the Constitution. If the BJP wins two-thirds majority in
the next general elections (which is not impossible), the existing Constitution
can be dumped and a new Constitution that declares the country as a Hindu
Rashtra can be adopted.
Two, amend the existing Constitution.
Make some changes so that Indian secularism becomes something similar to what
the Pakistani Constitution claims: to protect the citizens of other faiths in
the light of Islam’s creeds and doctrines. Instead of Islam, it will be
Hindutva in India. The Constitution may call it Sanatan Dharma. Once this
happens, criticising Hindu religion, gods, scriptures, etc will become a crime
and gradually the non-Hindus can all be thrown behind the bars for telling
jokes or praying to different gods or whatever.
Three, which is more likely to
happen, interpret the existing Constitution as a Hindu document using the
judiciary. This is already happening. Take a couple of examples.
The
Ayodhya verdict says, among a lot of other contentious claims, that “Evidences support
the faith and belief of the Hindus that Lord Ram was born where the Babri
mosque was constructed. The conclusion that the place of birth of Lord Ram is
the three domes can therefore be reached.”
The Hindu faith becomes the basis of
the verdict. Similarly Hindu scriptures or conventions or practices or just
anything can become the foundation of justice. That would mean that anyone can
be proclaimed guilty somehow or the other. There is no justice, in other words.
There is only religion. Rather, there is only politics.
This is happening. Chetan Kumar and
Rahul Gandhi are just two recent examples.
In the verdict regarding the Hijab issue, there are
explicit suggestions that Hinduism is the eternal law (Sanatan Dharma) unlike
Islam or other religions. That is, it becomes the duty of every Indian to
accept the tenets of Hinduism as eternal truths or moral codes. Justice Hemant
Gupta of the Hijab case stated that “When dharma is used in the context of the
state, it means constitutional law.” He added that “Dharmarajya is necessary
for the peace and prosperity of the people and for the establishment of an
egalitarian society.”
When the judiciary becomes so ‘religious’
and politically motivated, the death of secularism is a foregone conclusion.
The Hijab verdict went on to say that
“The word ‘religion’ in articles 25 and 26 has to be understood not in a narrow
sense but encompassing our ethos ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhinah’.” [Emphasis
added]
Who are included in that pronoun ‘our’?
Obviously not the Muslims of India. Implicitly not anyone belonging to
religions other than Hinduism. Not even the Dalits, in practice.
Now, think. Isn’t India becoming a
Hindu Rashtra? Hasn’t it already become one for most practical purposes?
Jai Hind!
PS. Politics has begun
to be so detestable in this country that I want to stop writing about it. This
post is in response to the latest IndiSpire prompt: Has Indian judiciary become a
courtier of the government? #EnslavedJudiciary
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteI too find myself intensely dismayed at the falling away of true democracy, only to find in its place "sham-ocracy". Such heinous misuse of India's own deep culture, a culture so much the richer for all the facets within it. How can the brutes in charge not see how they damage their jewel, this diamond..??? YAM xx
The greatest injustice done by the present leadership is precisely this perversion of the country's ethos, its great values and principles. It will demand nothing short of a Messiah now for redemption.
DeleteI fully agree to the thoughts expressed herein. India, for all practical purposes, has become a Hindu Rashtra (with the shamelessly bald help of the Indian judiciary). Redemption is a remote possibility now. We can only hope against hope that the things will improve in the times to come.
ReplyDeleteIt will take years to change any culture. The more perverted, the longer it will take. So we can only hope against hope!
DeleteWe are certainly in a precarious democratic situation at the moment. We live in times when every word we say can be taken out of context with far reaching consequences.
ReplyDeleteEven jokes are forbidden!
DeleteI think about publishing opinions like these only to be discouraged by my parents. Because it's true, anyone can be jailed. This govt has succeeded to instill that fear. It's a slow painful death for our democracy.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed dangerous to articulate opinions these days. I presume I'm not famous enough to be bothered about.
Delete