In his second term, Narendra Modi is becoming further prime ministerial. This is a welcome sign, his acquiring statesman-like traits. It will do the nation, him and his party a lot of good. First, in his reply to the debate on the President’s address in the Lok Sabha, he unequivocally condemned the mob attack on a suspected cycle thief, one Tabrez Ansari, who later succumbed to his injuries.
A communal colour was given to the incident, alleging that the mob killed him for his refusal to chant Jai Shri Ram. Modi said he was pained by the incident and hoped that the strictest possible action would be taken against those found guilty.
But it was wrong to dub Jharkhand as the ‘hub of lynching.’ This was unfair to Jharkhand and its people. Incidents of violence whether in West Bengal or Jharkhand need to be treated strictly, and perpetrators should be booked, but to condemn the entire State for these acts was not justified.
Given the propensity of the English language, the press tends to see everything through the prism of Muslim and Hindu, it rushes to dub any incident in which a member of the minority community is at the receiving end of mob violence as a communal act perpetrated by members of the Sangh Parivar.
On the other hand, it ignores or grossly underplays the attack by groups of Muslims on the majority community or its places of worship. For example, a fight over parking in the walled city in Delhi the other day escalated, with a group of Muslims vandalizing a temple in the densely-populated neighbourhood.
Scant notice was taken of the incident by the secularist media. After desecrating the temple, a violent group of Muslims laid siege to the police station following a false rumour on social media that one of them had been arrested. Such prejudiced treatment of news feeds into the majority community narrative, which conveys that the English language media is essentially anti-Hindu.
Media too needs to introspect. To return to Modi’s prime ministerial conduct, it was heartening to see him berate members of his own party when he said if anyone took the law in his own hands he would be dealt with sternly. Without doubt, the incident uppermost in his mind was the one in Indore, Madhya Pradesh.
Akash, the MLA son of the BJP general secretary, Kailash Vijayavargiya, had reportedly assaulted a municipal corporation official with a cricket bat for undertaking demolition of a dangerous building.
Speaking at the first meeting of the BJP parliamentary party after its return to power on Monday, Modi did not mince words, warning that ‘arrogance and misbehavior irrespective of whoever it may be, whoever’s son he may be’ will not be tolerated.
It may be recalled that not only did Akash assault the public servant but he seemed to exult in it, saying this was only a `trailer’ of what may follow if the authorities failed to defy him.
Freed on bail after a night spent in prison, he was given a hero’s welcome, with the local BJP members garlanding him profusely. After the stern rebuke by the Prime Minister, the Indore BJP leadership was forced to be on the defensive, unable to explain itself for applauding the gross misconduct of the local legislator.
Admittedly, in the constant tussle to win cheap popularity, politicians feel obliged to defend their constituents even if they are in the wrong. The Indore building was set to be razed because it posed a threat to those living in it. On Monday, the Madhya Pradesh High Court gave the go-ahead to the Indore Municipal Corporation to demolish it.
But what happened in Indore was not an isolated incident. Only a couple of days earlier, the brother of a ruling Telengana Rashtriya Samithi MLA was caught on camera assaulting a woman forest officer who had gone to plant saplings as part of government’s green initiative.
The legislator’s brother gathered a group of villagers, claiming the land belonged to them. The officer suffered head injuries, while the offender, who was caught on camera, went into hiding.
Though the PM certainly had the Indore incident in his mind, it is beyond doubt that the rebuke equally applied to the errant Telangana politician. In a complete reversal of their role as elected representatives of the people, legislators now tend to behave as arrogant masters, taking law in their own hands, intimidating, bullying even getting violent with public servants.
This is unacceptable behavior. And must be dealt with sternly under the law, and also by the parties the perpetrators may belong to. Modi has put all such politicians on notice.
By S Sadananad
