| Published on 20-11-2008 In General |
| Viewed 685 times |
| L.K.Advani ko "shock aur outrage" kyon hota hai? |
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Written by
Girish Nikam |
It was touching to read the way in which the BJP's Prime Minister-in-waiting L.K.Advani rushed to the defence of one of the accused in the Malegaon blasts, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur the other day. His reasoning that he had kept quiet all this time as Sadhus and Sadhvis and army officers were being rounded up, but could not bear the thought of a young Sadhvi being tortured by the police (going by her application before the court), certainly show his sensitivity. In fact Advani is known to be quite an emotional person, despite his tough and no nonsense exterior. Remember how he wept like a child when he watched Aamir Khan's "Taare Zamin Par"?
Well, for a Prime Minister-in-waiting to be sensitive to the pains of the fellow citizens is certainly an admirable quality. It also displays that he is not just a hard-nosed politician but also human, like all of us, and can react emotionally to situations which demand it.
Therefore his "outrage and shock" at the alleged torture of the Sadhvi and the allegedly "obscene" language used by the Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) of the Maharashtra police against her was understandable.
It was quite remarkable that he had maintained silence over the goings on, as one hindutva proponent after another was being rounded up. Even the arrest of serving and retired officers of the army did not force him to break his silence. For someone who has been the Home Minister of India and has handled scores of cases of terrorism, and knows very well, how these cases keep changing shades, his decision to remain silent was understandable. But obviously the pressure on him being built up within his own party, as his Party President Rajnath Singh openly declared that none of the arrested can be guilty, was just a tad too much for Advani.
The torture allegations therefore came as a convenient handle for him to break the silence. It's all fine. No civilised society should certainly tolerate the torture of people in custody. And that none other than the Prime Minister-in-waiting raises his voice against it, is certainly a major blow in favour of the human rights activists, who have all along battled valiantly, but not very successfully against this dastardly habit of the Indian security forces—be it the police or the armed forces in the border areas.
But then one wonders, how a person of the stature of the Prime Minister-in-waiting can be completely blind to similar allegations against the police, as long as those being rounded up and tortured were not Hindus! It is quite ironical that just a couple of days before the Sadhvi torture allegations came before the court, a prominent newspaper, Indian Express, carried graphic reports about the kind of torture endured by scores of youths who had been suspected as being behind the Mecca Masjid blasts in Hyderabad last year. These youths who were released by the court for complete lack of evidence against them, had been in custody for months and suffered the most humiliating torture, that one only reads about but would not like to believe it really does happen.
The "shocked and outraged" Prime Minister-in-waiting however did not think it necessary to even express a mild criticism against such heinous acts. Why? Is it because they were not Hindu youths? Or is it because he and his party could not have done it, as they had already jumped to the conclusion that all these boys were guilty? Did he not think it fit to call for a judicial enquiry into these tortures of the now proven innocent young men? Especially when he can call for a similar enquiry into the alleged torture of a person who is still very much under suspicion with more and more evidence of her possible involvement falling out of the cupboard?
Isn't this basic fairness in outlook expected of a Prime Minister-in-waiting when it comes to citizens of all hues and shades? Or are these not-hindu youths' sufferings justifiable since they don't ascribe to the hindutva theory?
It is interesting to note that Advani who on Oct.31 had declared that Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur should be punished if she was found guilty, and had also denied her links to the BJP( despite her having been a well known ABVP activist earlier) now finds the entire probe "politically motivated" and demanded a change in the ATS team. But when the same ATS team was investigating the previous blasts in Maharashtra and was rounding up not-hindu youths, incidentally many of whom have been found innocent, he had no complaints against the ATS. Nor did he find any "political motivation".
Coming to his lofty statements that he had kept quiet all this time, it sounds as hollow as an empty vessel, as he has allowed his party leaders, including his party President as well as Chief Ministers and Chief Ministers-in-waiting to go all out in defence of the arrested Sadhus and Sadhvis. In fact, his assertion now that there is no religion when it comes to terrorism is an amusing construct by a man who has never let go off an opportunity to insinuate about Islamic terrorism. His Chief Minister in waiting for Delhi, V.K.Malhotra, just the other day, was on TV repeating the Sangh Parivar's pet statement, "all Muslims may not be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims", line brazenly.
His other Chief Minister, Vasundhraraje Scindia is all over TV nowadays, seeking votes, and accusing Congress of sheltering "terrorists". This, even as her own Rajasthan police have released at least half a dozen young men all dubbed as "masterminds" of the Jaipur bomb blasts which occurred in May, for lack of any evidence.
It is this kind of two-facedness and duplicity which has been the hallmark of the Prime Minister-in-waiting and his party, which has sought to push this country further into the arms of those who want to create terror. After having fathered the mind-set which has created the Sadhvis and Sadhus and unfortunately the defence officers, who are out to take revenge, the Prime Minister-in-waiting cannot escape responsibility. His touching "outrage and shock" notwithstanding. |
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