On June 3, the city of Kanpur witnessed arson, stone pelting and violence over the alleged objectionable remarks against Islam’s Prophet by Nupur Sharma, although it was clear that Nupur had only quoted from the hadith (Muslim scripture) while speaking of a hypothetical scenario to show the mirror to those who were mocking and disparaging the sacred Shivling. Dozens of rioters were arrested.
But worse was to follow on June 10 when more than a dozen Bharatiya towns and cities erupted in violent protests amidst chants of ‘sar tan se juda’ (call for beheading) against Nupur Sharma, with even her effigy being hung at one place. In Ranchi, the police had to open fire to quell the mob violence leading to two deaths and many injuries. Many cities in Uttar Pradesh also witnessed violent protests where people pelted stones and indulged in arson.
More than a hundred rioters have been booked and arrested and the government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has even started bulldozing illegal properties of these offenders. The state government has made it clear that it will spare no rioter.
CVoter conducted a nationwide survey on behalf of IANS to gauge public sentiments on this sensitive issue. On being asked if other state governments need to take strong action against alleged rioters, a huge majority of the respondents answered in the affirmative.
Over 75% people approved of UP’s strong action against the rioters. It may be recalled here that Yogi Adityanath had acquired a reputation as “Bulldozer Baba” in the run up to the state Assembly elections.
Another interesting revelation was that while almost 71% of ‘less educated’ Bharatiyas agreed, the opinion was evenly split among ‘highly educated’ Bharatiyas. Clearly, as many experts have pointed out, our education system is need of urgent reform. Our current education system is designed to produce deracinated individuals who are alienated from real issues facing the country and who idealize Western intellectual frameworks and concepts.
The worldview of English-speaking affluent class living in secure, gated societies is often dramatically different from the real Bharatiyas who face the brunt of the periodic outbursts of Islamist violence that our country suffers from. The common man, who don’t have the resources to hire senior Lutyens’ lawyers or activate influential NGOs on his/her behalf, know the helplessness one feels when our judiciary gives absurd judgements like commutation of death sentence of someone who raped and murdered a 4-year-old child.
So, phrases like “judiciary is the last hope of a common man” or “gatekeepers of Constitutional morality” sound like a cruel joke when one sees terrorists, rioters, law-breaking activists and dangerous criminals get preferential access to courts because of the empathy they garner from left-liberal elites. In such a scenario, commoners are happy when they see speedy justice being dispensed to wrong-doers.
(With IANS inputs)
