The rise of Hindutva sentiments in recent decades is seen by many with a sense of foreboding. Quietly, a fundamentalist streak is being nurtured and promoted in social life mainly, but not exclusively, in the Hindi belt with tacit backing from the BJP and its ideological grandmaster, the Rashtriya SwayamSevak Sangh. The latest manifestation of this streak was noticed in the manner that a shoe was hurled at the Chief Justice of India, Justice BR Gavai, who has just a few months’ tenure in this exalted office. The CJI was humiliated in the most heinous manner by a lawyer at the Supreme Court on Monday, in a protest against an observation Gavai made in a temple-related row in Madhya Pradesh – that the petitioner should rather go and refer the complaint to the deity, Lord Vishnu, for a divine response and settlement.
It is normal for judges to go overboard and pass unwarranted comments, some of which are not palatable to people with a strong sense of right and wrong. The general tendency is to let such observations pass, also considering the exalted seats from which such “indulgences” occur. A patently harmless comment from CJI Gavai however came as a provocation to the lawyer, who now claims he couldn’t sleep since September 16, when the “objectionable” observation was made in court. Gavai had recently taken courage in his hands to effect some reforms in the Supreme Court, to where he extended the widely prevalent job reservation system for Scheduled Castes and other underprivileged segments. Since he hailed from one such community, he thought it fit to act when the time was ripe and he had the authority in his hand to “set a wrong right.” Significantly, despite his abrasive act, the accused lawyer would go scot-free. No case has been charged against him though he has been suspended from the bar, which could be a temporary step. In other words, the Modi establishment opted to give a kid-glove treatment to the lawyer, whose notorious action shocked large segments of the society. The Prime Minister, however, had the gumption to hold forth on this huge insult to the chief justice. The blah-blah from Modi – that “there is no place for such condemnable acts in our society,” must be taken with a pinch of salt. He lacked the nerve to act against the lawyer who was upset over the alleged “insult to Sanatana Dharma” from the CJI.
Indian society is a melting pot — deeply divided as we are on the basis of race, religion, caste, language and much else. The dominant Hindu society itself is a divided house, with one segment set against the other, and the influential entities exploiting the weaker ones. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat only earns ridicule every time he speaks up for one-India. His organisation is allegedly in the forefront of undercutting national unity through its sectarian agenda. Insulting a CJI in the name of a distorted version of “dharma” is the height of religious fanaticism supplemented by sectarian prejudices. A civilized society has no place for such criminal indulgences.
