Supreme Court sends out stern warning
Supreme Court has said it again, like it did in the last few days, that ‘assault in the name of cattle protection is gruesome criminal act’. This warning is like the last and helpless cry of democracy. Just last week the SC had issued directions to state and central governments against increasing crime in the name of cattle protection.
In connection with this, many people have been lynched to death in mob assaults. And unfortunately, mob violence is taking different forms in India like a virus. Once a while we would hear about Dalit women being killed in eastern parts of India suspecting them to be witches or black magic practitioners. This issue hardly created nervousness as it does now. It was well known that if members of upper castes in any village had some scores to settle on a woman, they would spread the rumour that the lady was into black magic and instigate the crowd to kill her. But those people who kill on rumours, are not those who really care about cattle protection.
The Gau Rakshaks are not farmers. They have nothing to do with any aspect of cow rearing. They are goondas who come together under the guise of cow protection. There are no examples of farmers coming together in the name of cow safety and assaulting the cow traders. The Gau Rakshaks belong to a particular political ideology and work for a single party. Their interest is not cattle protection, but their target is people from a particular community. Their agenda is to create fear and hatred among people.
Owing to all this, though the Supreme Court has said many a times that the assaults in the name of Gau Raksha should be contained, nothing has come out of it. Main reason for this is the political backing the Gau Rakshaks enjoy, and it’s the same power that is ruling the nation as well. This is not something the supreme court is unaware of. How would anyone pay attention to the words of a court when political leaders project these antisocial elements as crusaders of culture instead of calling them criminals? Why is the court not banning the ‘Gau Raksha’ outfits when the assault under this guise is being condemned by the very institution? Today, a lot of goondas have formed Gau Raksha teams.
But none of the governments are identifying and registering cases against them. The fake Gau Rakshaks don’t run away after assaulting the cow traders, instead they bring the guy to the police station. The police never register cases against the assaulters, and file a complaint against the victims instead. Which means the police and these fake Gau Rakshaks form a nexus. They support these crimes, in some indirect manner.
With this being the case, where would one take the case to? And how is the SC expecting these crimes to stop? The central government that has benefited from these Gau Rakshaks would hardly think of initiating action against the culprits, even if the SC says so. It is a good development that the SC has directed the parliament to frame a law to punish those who take law onto their own hands. But will the BJP government initiate this, after having benefited from the crime vitiated atmosphere? Would RSS allow this to ever happen? For this reason, the observation of the Supreme Court feels like the last cry to safeguard democracy.
The crowd violence in the name of cow vigilantism is spreading to other areas too. These instances of mob violence are waking the animal in even the sanest of people. Gau Rakshaks are an inspiration to such people. There is a criminal in even the most decent person. He would be living a sane life owing to the legal framework, society and family responsibilities. But should he get a chance to commit a crime instigated by a mob, he could even flash his bloody thirsty behavior. State saw this happen in Bidar in different form. The murder of an innocent person was not a coincidence fuelled by rumour, but a weak law and order system. The law has shown them they can get away with a murder if a mob carries it out. Hence, the murderers are out on the street without fear.
We cannot always blame WhatsApp for this. Miscreants have attacked Swami Agnivesh in Jharkhand. The assaulters were neither innocent nor victims of rumour mongering. Instead, they are recognized workers of a political party. They are sure that they would be arrested if they attack in groups. If there was a common man in the place of Swami Agnivesh, he would have been killed by now. These are signs of the country walking right into stone age under the leadership of Modi. The culprits are using democracy to kill democracy, which is a massive tragedy.
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Make polling hours 6am-7pm for May 7 LS polls, Karnataka BJP urges EC citing heatwave
Bengaluru, May 3: Citing the ongoing heatwave in the state, Karnataka BJP on Friday petitioned the Election Commission with a request to modify the polling hours to the 6am-7pm period in the 14 parliamentary constituencies in the state that goes to polls on May 7.
Polling is currently scheduled to be held in the second phase in the state in 14 segments in the northern districts between 7am to 6pm on May 7.
"It has become hard to come out and vote between hours 10.00 to 17.00 due to uncontrollable heat. The average heat in those parts (north Karnataka) covering 14 parliamentary constituencies are between 37 and 42 degree (Celsius). The mercury is rising at an alarming level and it would become hard for the electors to come out and vote," BJP's petition said.
The petition highlighted the alarming rise in temperatures, which are expected to go beyond 40 degree Celsius, and also stated that the number of voters over the age of 40 is high and that they are vulnerable to the heatwave.
"To keep up the good spirit of voting, necessary action should be taken," the BJP petition urged the Election Commission, saying, "In this background, it is requested to modify the time of voting in the 14 parliamentary constituencies from 06.00 to 19.00 hours on May 7".
Polling was held between 7 am and 6 pm during Karnataka's first phase of the Lok Sabha polls in 14 constituencies on April 26.
