You know that building on Sansad Marg in Delhi, the big round one with the pillars and the flag? I get the feeling that a lot of people who work there think that building is a big fat nuisance, and wouldn’t it be great if we just didn’t have to deal with it?
It’s not only because they’ve locked the place up and run off to beg for votes in Gujarat. Governments have done that before. It’s because that building, which enshrines all sorts of sunny, breathable things like freedom, representation, rights and debate, now feels like a poison pit, taking things from us one money bill, one ordinance, one lopsided majority, one killing, one sleazy underhanded way at a time.
Because why else would we all now get 18,000 text messages a day from banks warning us to link our Aadhaar numbers, else they will discontinue services, as if our hard-earned money has suddenly turned into their Tata Sky office? It must be why a thousands-strong protest by farmers was eclipsed by screaming matches about a movie.
It explains why electronic voting machines in Meerut are “malfunctioning” and sending all votes to the Bharatiya Janata Party. It explains why large sections of what used to be media have redoubled their efforts to keep a constant hawk eye on… the opposition. It is why female students at Banaras Hindu University are told that studying in the library after 10 pm is immoral. It is why propaganda is replacing education, allowing Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to say with a straight face, and without getting thrown out of his job, that cancer is divine justice for sin. It is why debate and consensus are being replaced by fear and coercion.
Fear and coercion are, in fact, the mummy and daddy of this central government’s political philosophy, and in the last three and a half years they have frolicked a good deal and given birth to lots of ugly, ugly little spawn — fake news, pseudo-nationalism, vigilantism, death threats and actual murder. All of these existed before, of course, but now they’re emanating straight from that big round building.
Thank god we have a protection against that building. Let’s hear it for the judiciary, right?
Please make the effort to read the two-part Caravan magazine investigation on the death of Justice Brijgopal Loya, who was presiding over a trial in which BJP party president Amit Shah was the accused. (In sum: The chief justice of the Bombay High Court, Mohit Shah, tried to bribe Justice Loya ~100 crore to deliver a judgement favourable to Amit Shah, but was turned down. Thereafter, Justice Loya died in what can only be called extremely fishy circumstances, and the judge who replaced him acquitted Amit Shah after three days of hearings.)
That story directly implicates the integrity and independence of the courts. I don’t know about you, but I need reassurance from our working judges, who hold the power to decide our fates. Surely they won’t clam up, look into the middle distance and whistle, since that would look horrible? I’m just panting for the robes to stand up and say, “Justice Loya’s death must be investigated, because if there has been an instance of professional misdemeanour, corruption and tragic criminality, we’re going to bring it to justice, because, hello, that’s what we do. That will bring a family justice, and restore the public’s faith in our commitment to justice, integrity and independence.”
That’s what I need to hear. I don’t think I’m just being needy, and if it’s not just me, we should probably all be calling for that statement, and for that investigation. Who will watch the watchmen?
Mitali Saran is a Delhi-based writer.
mitali.saran@gmail.com
mitali.saran@gmail.com
