WHY DEMOCRACY IN INDIA
September 2013
Everyone knew it was
administrative inaction backed by political manipulation that led to the
escalation of acts of religious violence into a full blown communal riot in
Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district and nearby areas.
It took almost two weeks for the
violence to escalate, from the initial switch to the final eruption, from the
three killings on day-1 to the murder of over 50 lives, yet, the administration
looked inept to handle the situation, an ineptness that was politically forced.
We all saw it. We all knew it.
And it was reaffirmed again and again.
A fact finding team of some civil
society activists implicated the ruling Samajwadi Party and the opposition
Bhartiya Janta Party and Congress for the Muzaffarnagar riots. Okay, some valid
questions can be raised about the intent of such fact finding teams.
But soon after it, a TV news
channel came up with a sting operation that showed police officials talking on
spy cameras how the higher-ups including Azam Khan, a senior minister in
Akhilesh Yadav’s UP government, intervened and asked the police administration
to remain lax and go slow, on riots and on rioters. It clearly nailed the lie.
It was in addition to the visual
evidence readily available showing leaders of the SP, the BJP and the Congress
party, from the two religious communities in question, delivering inflammatory
speeches in public meetings and thus fueling the hostile religious sentiments.
As if it was not enough to
threaten the social harmony of the area, the subsequent political reaction
yesterday was a step ahead – highly condemnable, like it should always be.
Yes, it was an expected reaction,
normal in the terminology of today’s political ideals, that Akhilesh Yadav’s
government would rubbish the sting operation claims even if every frame was so
crystal clear on the camera.
And this ‘normalization’ is a
real threat to the democratic spirit of the country. Let’s see how the two
senior most and important leaders and ministers of the SP government reacted on
it:
Azam Khan, while flatly denying
his role, took on the media**: "I want to tell the channel that this was
the time to ease the situation, not aggravate it. If people like me will not be
part of politics, it will be a blow to democracy. For the sake of TRPs, it is
dangerous and damaging for the country that uninvestigated claims are made and
taken as truths. ...Since everything is being done by them (the media), I ask
that the channel investigates into the claims they are making, and announce my
punishment if found guilty. I give them full authority to do this
immediately."
Reports about what he said in the
UP state assembly on media’s investigative roles in cases like Muzaffarnagar
riots was even more acidic. And he was supported well by his chief minister,
Akhilesh Yadav, who dismissed the sting operation saying such things are ‘cut
and paste’ and thus belittling an evidence the veracity of which was crystal
clear.
Over 50 dead, more than 40,000
displaced, that is what the media reports say but talk to any well known figure
of the badlands of western UP and you would come to realise the real scale of
horror.
And what has been the political
response to this horror – inaction, deliberate delays, ugly politics over dead
bodies, interference in efforts to control the riots, insensitivity in reaching
out to the victims, denying liability and responsibility and transferring
police officers in haste after they put their political masters in the dock –
yes, the political response has been more for inciting the religious hatred
when the political class is supposed to work for the well-being of the
electorate that votes it in the corridors of power.
©/IPR: Santosh Chaubey - http://severallyalone.blogspot.com/
*“Why democracy in India is in imminent danger of disintegration?’ is a regular column on my blogging platforms to take a periodic look (say a weekly or a fortnightly or a monthly round-up of events depending on the factors in play) on political developments that are dangerous to the democratic health of the country and contribute to the process of social disintegration of the nation..”
