The news report in the Lahore-based Ghazwa Times about Ishrat Jahan Raza, killed in a police encounter last month in Ahmedabad, being a member of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba seems to be the culmination of a soap opera. This incident was much debated in the print media and television channels, with stories being filed about Ishrat Jahan and Javed Sheikh, two of the four slain terrorists.
The events in the aftermath of the killing of four persons last month, for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi could at best be described as a discordant swansong. Political parties displayed callousness in dealing with the incident, tried to outwit each other in the garb of defending secularism, minority rights and in giving a Hindu-Muslim colour to this incident. While one may assess the event in terms of a possible fake encounter, given cases of abuse of power by police forces, the tone and tenor displayed by the media and political parties heightened communal tensions.
With an eye on the forthcoming state assembly polls inMaharashtra , this issue had the potential to harvest some dividends in the electoral arena. The Maharashtra state government went ahead with a parallel probe, while one of the senior leaders of Nationalist Congress Party handed over a cheque of Rs. 1 Lakh to the mother of Ishrat Jahan, one of slain suspects. Though he has retracted, a member of the Rajya Sabha belonging to the Samajwadi Party, Abu Azmi, announced a grant of Rs. 25,000 to Ishrat’s family on the grounds that they had lost their only earning member. This was followed by a large turnout at her funeral, marked by heavy security arrangements, and a bandh observed by local traders and businessmen in the town, following belligrant slogans that she was killed for ‘belonging to a particular faith.’
Not to be outdone the Shiv Sena and Bhartiya Janata Party went further, chastising the parties which questioned the veracity of the encounter. The Sena chief Bal Thackeray lambasted the supporters of “anti-nationals,” questioned their patriotism and attempts to gain sympathy of the minority community by raking up the religious identity of the suspected militants. Thus this issue has further added to the political discourse on minority appeasement, communalism, secularism and pseudo-secularism. The politicization of the killing certainly added luster to the personality of the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was, till recently, facing a revolt against his leadership within the BJP state unit. This has helped him to keep his detractors at bay, which explains the impact of politicization of such killings on party politics inIndia
The move to hoist a trial through media ranged from interviewing Ishrat’s college-mates, teachers, and neighbours, informing the world what a good person she was. Similar stories were filed about Javed, soliciting the opinion of his acquaintances and friends. They proclaimed that, Ishrat and Javed would be the last persons who could be suspected of any nefarious and fundamentalist tendencies. The coverage of the killing by 247 visual broadcasts dragged the case outside the realm of legal adjudication and greatly heightened existing communal paranoia. While one may argue that none should be deemed guilty till proved as such in any court of law, one certainly hopes that the champions of human rights and political groups wrangling over the incident extend similar benefit to the law enforcement authorities ofGujarat . Targeting the State government on flimsy grounds only compounds the crisis and deflects attention from ensuring a fair trial.
TheGujarat riots clearly demonstrated that communalism operates at various levels ranging from individual relations to local, institutional and national politics. Most of the political parties have carefully carved out support bases in which the unit of mobilization principally remains caste, religion and linguistic groups. Over the past two years after the riots Gujarat has witnessed a few major incidents like the attack on the Akshardham temple, so greater restraint needs to be exercised regarding such incidents. The situation warrants an active role for civil society and the media in checking distortions and romanticizing such incidents by any section of society.
While one may argue that it is utopian to restrict religion in the public sphere, it is prudent for political parties and organization not to capitalize on the religious identities of suspected militants. A modern democracy likeIndia
Published on 23 July 2004, Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies.
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The events in the aftermath of the killing of four persons last month, for allegedly plotting to assassinate the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi could at best be described as a discordant swansong. Political parties displayed callousness in dealing with the incident, tried to outwit each other in the garb of defending secularism, minority rights and in giving a Hindu-Muslim colour to this incident. While one may assess the event in terms of a possible fake encounter, given cases of abuse of power by police forces, the tone and tenor displayed by the media and political parties heightened communal tensions.
With an eye on the forthcoming state assembly polls in
Not to be outdone the Shiv Sena and Bhartiya Janata Party went further, chastising the parties which questioned the veracity of the encounter. The Sena chief Bal Thackeray lambasted the supporters of “anti-nationals,” questioned their patriotism and attempts to gain sympathy of the minority community by raking up the religious identity of the suspected militants. Thus this issue has further added to the political discourse on minority appeasement, communalism, secularism and pseudo-secularism. The politicization of the killing certainly added luster to the personality of the Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who was, till recently, facing a revolt against his leadership within the BJP state unit. This has helped him to keep his detractors at bay, which explains the impact of politicization of such killings on party politics in
The move to hoist a trial through media ranged from interviewing Ishrat’s college-mates, teachers, and neighbours, informing the world what a good person she was. Similar stories were filed about Javed, soliciting the opinion of his acquaintances and friends. They proclaimed that, Ishrat and Javed would be the last persons who could be suspected of any nefarious and fundamentalist tendencies. The coverage of the killing by 247 visual broadcasts dragged the case outside the realm of legal adjudication and greatly heightened existing communal paranoia. While one may argue that none should be deemed guilty till proved as such in any court of law, one certainly hopes that the champions of human rights and political groups wrangling over the incident extend similar benefit to the law enforcement authorities of
The
While one may argue that it is utopian to restrict religion in the public sphere, it is prudent for political parties and organization not to capitalize on the religious identities of suspected militants. A modern democracy like
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