Cycle of Violence Continues Majoritarian Society Incompatible With Constitutional Idea of India: Justice (Retired) AP Shah
(Judicial Quest News Network)
Former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Justice AP Shah while delivering the 25th DS Borker Memorial Lecture at India International Centre recently expressed grave concern over the growing violence and hatred in the society.
He warned that the country is slowly becoming an “elected autocracy”. The next stage of Hindutva movement, the birthing of the hindu Rashtra
, is firmly in the works.
Democratic principles have not been directly or explicitly subverted, but in the past decade, democratic institutions and accountability mechanisms have been neutralised or compromised. There has been an insidious harvesting of a culture of hate, leading to active theatres of violence. Polarisation is unrestrained, vilifying minorities, with the majority being made to think of the other, especially Muslims, as the enemy, whether in Haridwar or Haryana or elsewhere. A general sentiment of hatred of minorities can be heard, seen and felt across the country. He added.
However in a revelation that surprised the audience members Shah went on to mention that we need to recognise that communalism is ‘not only the badge of a backward nation’, as Nehru had famously once said, but also that it has a limited shelf life. Recall what I had said at the start of my lecture today, that history has a lot to teach us. History has taught us, time and again, that hatred and divisiveness, whether in politics or society, cannot survive for long.
Religion and religious groups might be having their day in the sun, when it comes to influencing politics, and economics. This is happening the world over, but this is also only a temporary phenomenon. Peacefulness and a peaceful society is the natural equilibrium for human society. Periods of war and instability have mostly been sporadic, we have, as humankind, reverted to peace as the default. In India too, we must never let go of that certitude that we will return to peace, sooner than later. For every statue of Gandhi or Tagore being defaced or pulled down or their thoughts and ideas being otherwise devalued by the extremist Right-wing, there is a movement that reminds us and reinforces that peace is the only path to real progress.
Now, I see the rise of illiberal and communal forces in India, that is made possible, in part, by disillusionment with successive governments. This is compounded by a legal architecture that is permissive of abuse, and prejudices inherent in the society.
This worrying resurgence of communalism, a deeply divisive form of religious nationalism, has powerful political backing, seeking to realise Sarvakar’s ideal “Hindu Rashtra, Hindu Jati (race) and Hindu Sanskriti.”
As a thought exercise, though, let us test Savarkar’s theory. He believed that those whose sacred sites lie outside India’s geographical limits cannot be Indian or would be lesser citizens. Thus, Muslims and Christians would be foreigners, not indigenous to India, because their religion originated elsewhere. By corollary, then, as Rajmohan Gandhi in a previous Borker lecture explained, the millions of Hindus who live outside India cannot be Americans, or South Africans, or Fijian. ALL Indians abroad would be second-class citizens there. By extension, ALL Christians and Muslims living outside their Holy Lands would be suspect too.
Even while decrying the rise of the Hindutva nationalism, which he asserted, ran contrary to the very essence of Hinduism as aliberal and tolerant religion, Justice Shah revealed his own familial ties with the Hindu Mahasbaha, a leading figure of which was Vinayak Damodar Savarke.
“My grandfather was the President of the Hindu Mahasabha in the 1940s. The earliest literature I read as a young boy in school was Savarkar, when I fell in love with his initial poetry, though his later poems became highly sanskritised and tedious to read. Savarkar’s poetry was one of my subjects in graduation…. I feel that the idea of Hindutva, as we have received it today, challenges Hindu faith itself, which many consider a liberal, tolerant, and generous religion. Why is Hindu society largely silent to what is being perpetrated in the name of their religion against the minorities?, is a question many of us might well ask today. Recall Vivekananda’s memorable words from his 1893 Chicago address, where he said, “We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true,” and that he was “proud to belong to a nation which had sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the world”. Should we not want to feel that pride always?
He further explained that this ideology, which existed on thefringes during the Independence struggle and the framing of our Constitution, has now gained prominence, leading to democratic backsliding and the creation of a climate of fear among minorities.
With respect to the demolition of the houses of people suspected of being involved in riots or other crimes, Justice Shah said that judicial response has been deficient and lacklustre.
Justice Shah further sadi that extrajudicial tools like encounter killings, panchayat bans on traders from minority communities, and ‘bulldozer politics’ have exacerbated this situation. This last situation is something that particularly troubles me. The bulldozer today has become a symbol of power, that is wielded without legal sanction or authority. Innocent lives and livelihoods are lost, with no respite in sight. It involves the physical demolition of homes on the mere suspicion that “maybe someone living there has participated in riots or indulged in some form of criminal violence or activity”. Beyond the act of demolition, there are devastating consequences for entire families and communities. Who will help them re-build their destroyed lives – not just their homes? Does the state realise the grave implications of its machismo display?
Justice Shah Said That Peacefulness And A Peaceful Society Is The Natural Equilibrium For Human Society. Periods Of War And Instability Have Mostly Been Sporadic; We Have, As Humankind, Reverted To Peace As The Default. In India Too, We Must Never Let Go Of That Certitude, That We Will Return To Peace, Sooner Than Later. For Every Statue Of Gandhi Or Tagore Being Defaced Or Pulled Down Or Their Thoughts And Ideas Being Otherwise Devalued By The Extremist Right-Wing, There Is A Movement That Reminds Us And Reinforces That Peace Is The Only Path To Real Progress.
But the situation that we are in today is not irreversible. To reverse this, we must jolt ourselves awake with a few realisations.
We need to recognise that communalism is ‘not only the badge of a backward nation’, as Nehru had famously once said, but also that it has a limited shelf life.
Recall what I had said at the start of my lecture today, that history has a lot to teach us.
History has taught us, time and again, that hatred and divisiveness, whether in politics or society, cannot survive for long. Religion and religious groups might be having their day in the sun, when it comes to influencing politics, and economics.
This is happening the world over, but this is also only a temporary phenomenon. Peacefulness and a peaceful society is the natural equilibrium for human society.
Periods of war and instability have mostly been sporadic; we have, as humankind, reverted to peace as the default. In India too, we must never let go of that certitude that we will return to peace, sooner than later. For every statue of Gandhi or Tagore being defaced or pulled down or their thoughts and ideas being otherwise devalued by the extremist Right-wing, there is a movement that reminds us and reinforces that peace is the only path to real progress.
