© 2006-2018 Kasturi & Sons Ltd. -vijay kumar [email protected] - EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CHENNAI THE HINDU 10 EDITORIAL FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2018 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE India needs ‘individual acts of bravery’ We are at a juncture where fundamental notions of modern India are under existential threat

and had the locks of the Babri rupt. Another aspect is anti­intel­ As a judge, naturally, I wonder if mosque in Ayodhya opened to lectualism, for the “enemy of fas­ the courts will save the Constitu­ Snooping or saving? Hindus. Every political party, in­ cism is equality,” and the target of tion. I am honestly sceptical about cluding the Congress and the BJP, such anti­intellectual campaigns this. Although the Supreme Court Proposed rules for online monitoring should has played communal politics with are places of learning, like univer­ has delivered some wonderful balance legitimate interest with privacy everyone in India — Hindu, Mus­ sities. How can the educated elite judgments recently, can the court Ajit Prakash Shah lim, minorities — in the search for know anything about anything, fully play out its role as the ulti­ aws seeking to regulate online activity, especially pliable vote banks. MEETA AHLAWAT the fascist believes. Only the myth­ mate defender of the Constitu­ on social media, will have to be tested against two In contrast, an exhibition of ical “common man” can know tion? The past record of the judici­ Lfundamental rights: free speech and privacy. Reg­ vents over the past few years true “secularism” would be open­ rations essential to a nation that what is right; note the emphasis ary in testing times is not very ulations that abridge these rights tend to operate in have prompted many to revi­ ended, either agnostic or, at the preserves individual liberties. It is on “man”, which includes no wo­ encouraging, if we think of the both positive and negative ways. For instance, statutory Esit the idea of individual free­ other extreme, in a country like In­ for us to protect it from neglect men, or racial and sexual minori­ Emergency. New allegations that norms relating to data protection are seen as essent ial dom. Indeed, not just in India, but dia where faith is so central, multi­ and disrepair. ties. The similarities do not end the former Chief Justice of India to protect citizens from any breach of their informa­ elsewhere too, the idea of indivi­ religious. Most importantly, at its It was B.R. Ambedkar, the key there. Unlike liberal democracies, (CJI) was perhaps being “remote dual freedom is under intense heart, true secularism would be driver of the Constituent Assemb­ based on freedom and equality, controlled” do not invite much tional privacy; but attempts to regulate online cont ent scrutiny. Are governments across driven by universal values of truth, ly, who said: “The assertion by the fascist regimes posit the dominant confidence either. are seen with suspicion. The latter category evokes the world increasingly posing a compassion and equality, which individual of his own opinions and group’s interests as the ultimate, A few other things trouble me doubt whether they violate their freedom of expression threat to liberty? By corollary, are are fundamental values that strad­ beliefs, his own independence and unquestionable truth. The domi­ too: our present CJI, before taking (as enforcement of such rules may involve blocking fascist policies and rhetoric on the dle all religions. interest as over and against group nant group is also always the vic­ office, publicly lectured about in­ websites, disabling accounts, removing content and in­ rise? In 21 Lessons for the 21st Centu- standards… is the beginning of all tim of the situation. They rely on dependent judges and noisy jour­ tercepting communication), and amount to surveil­ Persons with a liberal bent of ry, Yuval Noah Harari captures the reform.” These ideas also find conspiracy theories to justify calls nalists. Just recently, the judicial lance that breaches privacy. Two official documents, mind, who prize individual free­ essence of these values beautiful­ their way into the Constitution. to power. And most tellingly, fas­ system allowed a journalist in Od­ doms like free speech, gender and ly. Truth, not to be confused with Even as the Constitution was be­ cist politicians promise a law and isha to remain in jail for over a one of them a draft proposal, that seek to introduce racial equality, are especially trou­ belief, has no sole custodian. ing written, even as the leaders of order regime designed not to seek month for making certain remarks changes in the way rules for interception and monitor­ bled, for our country appears to Truth is based on observation, evi­ the independence movement out offenders, but to criminalise about the Sun Temple in Konark. ing of computer­based information are applied have be at a juncture where fundamen­ dence, and inference, and is acces­ were negotiating for our freedom, outliers, who are usually ethnic, Our Supreme Court even refused caused a furore. The first was an order authorising 10 tal notions of modern India are un­ sible to all. Compassion comes Hindutva forces present at the religious or sexual minorities. Pro­ to grant him bail, reportedly re­ agencies under the Centre to implement Section 69(1) der existential threat. from an understanding of suffer­ time — the days of the advent of fessor Stanley has the U.S. in marking that if one’s life were in of the Information Technology Act, as amended in ing: a compassionate person does the Hindu Mahasabha, of Veer Sa­ mind, but surely there is some re­ danger, what better place was 2008, which allows interception, monitoring and de­ About secularism not kill not because their faith tells varkar and B.S. Moonje — were sus­ sonance closer home. there than to stay in jail. When the One particular freedom that has them not to, but because they picious of secular ideas. They Today, we live in an India where court is angered about the publica­ cryption of information transmitted through or store d come under fire is the freedom of know that killing causes immense were, instead, great admirers of we are told what we can and can­ tion of information pertaining to in a computer resource. The other is a draft proposing practising one’s own religion. Per­ suffering. And the universal value Hitler and Mussolini, with Moonje not eat, what we can and cannot the working of critical public insti­ changes to the rules framed in 2011 for “intermediaries” sonal freedom is very often asso­ of equality comes from a recogni­ even going to Italy to meet the lat­ watch, what we can and cannot tutions like the Central Bureau of such as Internet and network service providers and ciated with secularism, which, as tion of both truth and compas­ ter, and Savarkar justifying Hitler’s speak about, and who we can or Investigation on grounds of confi­ cyber­cafes. While the order listing 10 agencies does received from the Western canon, sion, empowering people to never treatment of Jews. cannot marry. Dissent, particular­ dentiality, one cannot help but not introduce any new rule for surveillance , the latter is the separation of church from substitute “uniqueness” with “su­ This suspicion continues ly in universities and public spac­ worry. envisages new obligations on service providers. state. Sometimes secularism is al­ periority”. Everyone may be un­ amongst the legatees of the Hindu es, is being curbed. Sloganeering All this has made me less opti­ so seen as a negation of religion ique in their own way, but they are Mahasabha, in their mistrust of and flag raising have become tests mistic about the judiciary doing its A critical change envisaged is that intermediaries completely. Indeed, many reli­ all still equally unique — no one be­ the Indian Constitution, for it is for nationalism. Journalists are bit. Ultimately, it is the people who should help identify the ‘originator’ of offending con­ gious leaders taught that secular ing more specially so than the oth­ this document borrowed from shot dead at point blank range for will protect the Constitution, and tent. Many were alarmed by the possibility for surveil­ people do not believe in gods. But er. Ultimately, we cannot find Western ideals, they believe, that the views they hold and propa­ all of the wisdom it contains about lance and monitoring of personal computers that this in my view, even if you are a tem­ truth, or learn compassion, or ap­ obstructs the idea of the Hindu gate. Not long ago, the police ar­ personal liberties and individual rule throws up. The government has sought feedback ple­going Hindu or a devout Mus­ preciate equality if we have no Rashtra. In today’s India, as a re­ rested five political activists essen­ freedoms. Professor Stanley from social media and technology companies, but it ap­ lim, you can still be secular. freedom to think, to question, to sult, the most liberal document tially for thought crimes and phrases this appropriately when pears that even services that bank on end­to­end en­ Unfortunately, those of us who seek, to find these for ourselves. that we have, the Constitution, is taking up the cause of the tribals. he says, “The ordinary citizen value religious freedom have been These freedoms are, ultimately, at risk. More recently, when actor Nasee­ [must] stand up and loudly con­ cryption may be asked to open up a backdoor to identi­ disillusioned by multiple govern­ the most valuable. Recognising ruddin Shah expressed legitimate front people who engage in... fas­ fy ‘originators’ of offending material. There is just ified ments once too often. The current these freedoms was central to the Fascism on the horizon? concerns about growing vigilan­ cist rhetoric and not be afraid. concern that attempts are on to expand the scope for BJP­led government has no preten­ politics of Mahatma Gandhi. Sadly, In his new book, How Fascism tism, his views were blown out of Those millions of acts of individual surveillance at a time when the government must be sions about its dislike for the secu­ our leaders since have either for­ Works: The Politics of Us and Them, proportion, and misunderstood as bravery, if we can stitch together, looking at ways to implement the Supreme Court’s lar idea. Even those governments gotten or chosen to turn a blind Yale University philosophy profes­ an expression of disloyalty to the will save us.” This is a time for indi­ landmark decision holding that privacy is a fundamen­ that proudly flaunt the label of eye to these ideas completely. sor Jason Stanley identifies 10 cha­ country. Even public institutions vidual acts of bravery. These are tal right. Some of these rules, originally framed in “secularism” have subjected us to racteristics that define fascist pol­ like the central bank have not what will save us from a dangerous 2009, may have to be tested against the privacy case their non­secular realpolitik. Take Constitution as saviour itical movements. For example: been spared. A school of thought future. the politics of Rajiv Gandhi, for in­ What can we do to change this? We “Fascism always promises to re­ appears to have gained promi­ judgment, now that the right has been clearly recog­ stance, often touted as a “secular” need not look to foreign shores or turn us to a mythic past.” Similar­ nence in India which believes that Justice A.P. Shah is a former Chief Justice nised. It is indeed true that the court has favoured strin­ Prime Minister: his government to long­forgotten pasts. We only ly, fascist politicians use propagan­ everything can be solved by vio­ of the High Courts of Delhi and Madras. A gent rules to curb online content that promotes child not only overturned the Shah Ba­ need to open India’s nearly 70­ da, for example, about lence, and that it is always better version of this was delivered as the pornography or paedophilia, foments sectarian vio­ no judgment, but also banned Sal­ year­old liberal manifesto. The anti­corruption campaigns, even to have power concentrated in a opening address at the launch of ‘Why I #21659 lence or activates lynch­mobs. While the exercise to man Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses Constitution contains all the decla­ when they are transparently cor­ few men. am a Liberal’ by Sagarika Ghose in Delhi regulate online content is necessary, it is important that while framing such rules, a balance is struck between legitimate public interest and individual rights. An d it will be salutary if judicial approval is made an essential The optics of the Third Front feature of all interception and monitoring decisions. Distancing and aligning is the new strategy for 2019 Battle for Dhaka force the status quo. They man­ the TRS clearly represents this without eroding their respective aged to tie the process of deepen­ kind of a strategy. He met Prime social bases. Bangladesh goes to the polls amid allegations ing caste representation to a Minister Narendra Modi this week of high-handedness by the government militant Hindu identity, and the (in photo) and declared the possi­ Curious two-step emergence of an aspirational gen­ bility of a post­poll alliance in As part of the theatrics of this emands by the Opposition in Bangladesh for the eration beyond the pale of patron­ 2019, even though he had attacked emergent strategy, the BJP­RSS resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner Ajay Gudavarthy age to a corrosive neoliberal cor­ Mr. Modi and the BJP during the continue to remind the electorate Djust days ahead of the December 30 parliamen­ poratisation. The BJP­RSS Assembly campaign for being of the Telangana of the past, in­ tary election reflect the bitter divisions that have under­ combine has seized the moment of “Hindu­Muslim” in everything. cluding the autocratic rule of the olitics is the art of the possi­ breakdown of patron­client rela­ This strategy of distancing and Nizam culminating with the vio­ mined the credibility of government agencies. The Ban­ ble as much as it is a vision of tions to create an authoritarian aligning also opens up pre­fabri­ lence unleashed by the Razakars, gladesh Nationalist Party, the main constituent of the Pthe future. It needs to speak imagination. It is in this context, SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT cated political spaces for weaker while the AIMIM mobilises sup­ Opposition Jatiya Oikya Front, claims that 9,200 of its to the existing reality and re­signi­ more than ever before, that the and less influential political forma­ port by playing on memories of activists have been arrested since the election schedule fy it to change the terms of dis­ content and contours of Muslim Kumar’s Janata Dal (United) in Bi­ tions, and one such force is that of glory days of the Hyderabad prin­ was announced. The country has seen a spike in polit­ course to create new possibilities. politics becomes very significant har, and various understandings Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Maj­ cely state. This empty rhetoric of ical violence, mainly targeting the Opposition. The go­ If it is too utopian, it fails to be­ in deciding what direction the pol­ across the Northeast. lis­e­Ittehadul Muslimeen (AI­ the Owaisis perfectly fits into what vernment of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina denies the come experiential — and if it is too itical narrative is set to take. On similar lines, the BJP has MIM). Mr. Owaisi has decided to the BJP­RSS wants in order to ex­ allegations and blames the BNP for violence. Last week, pragmatic, it fails to change anyth­ The Sangh Parivar has been at been crafting the strategy of dis­ align himself with the TRS, while pand and grow in Telangana. ing substantially. the forefront of redesigning new tancing itself and taking on parties continuing to distance himself Muslim politics needs new con­ Mahbub Talukdar, an election commissioner, said there strategies, given the immense so­ before the polls to find its from the BJP and the Congress. tent and imagination that can beat was no level playing field between the ruling Awami The Sangh’s narrative cial power it wields. Among other strength, and then aligning with This equidistance from the BJP this majoritarian strategy of dis­ League and the Opposition. In a report published on In this changing landscape of the things, new electoral strategies, them in a post­poll arrangement. and the Congress allows him to tancing and aligning, if it intends December 22, Human Rights Watch said that “arrests political discourse, the Bharatiya unthinkable a few years back, This strategy was on display in the play a distinct Muslim­identity pol­ to break out of this perpetual cycle and other repressive measures... have contributed to a Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtri­ have become not only acceptable Assembly elections in Telangana. itics, while aligning with the TRS of vulnerability and dependence. climate of fear”. Ever since democracy was restored in ya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have but also decisive, to which all oth­ The Telangana Rashtra Samithi that has supported the BJP in all Unfortunately the current experi­ 1990­91, election seasons have been tumultuous. In the managed, in a rhetorical and me­ er political formations are now (TRS) had an undeclared pact with important votes, including in the ment of the Third Front is repre­ taphorical sense, to capture this responding. One such strategy has the BJP, but during the campaign Presidential and the Vice­Presi­ sentative of both the political past when the BNP was in power, it had refused to step essence of politics, while contain­ been to forge unlikely alliances in both took on each other to consoli­ dential elections. The AIMIM will might of majoritarianism and the down after its tenure ended. In 1996, the Awami League ing it within the limits of their re­ order to garner a numerical major­ date the constituencies they were continue to garner Muslim votes willing submission of regional par­ led mass movements for elections, while in 2006 a mil­ gressive/authoritarian vision of ity, including the BJP’s now unra­ appealing to, without cutting into citing the threat of the BJP, and the ties and minority politics. itary­backed caretaker government postponed the elec­ the future. They have appropriat­ velled pact with the Peoples De­ each other’s votes. The Third BJP will consolidate the majority tion, which was finally held in December 2008. Since ed the urge for change and all that mocratic Party in Jammu and Front strategy initiated by Chief Hindu votes. They consider this Ajay Gudavarthy teaches at the Centre for then, Ms. Hasina has held power. was potentially liberating to en­ Kashmir, the coalition with Nitish Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of strategy as mutually beneficial, Political Studies, JNU, New Delhi This time, she is seeking re­election with a formida ­ ble record in government. During the last 10 years t he economy has seen a relatively high growth rate, hitting LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials. 7.8% last fiscal. Bangladesh also improved on social in­ dicators over the past decade. While the Sheikh Hasina Shocking callousness grounds is perhaps a tall AIADMK is ineffective, as poaching charge”, Dec. 27). minorities, it can never Confused party government takes credit for this as well as its tough The story of how a order. was seen in the killing of This can only be stopped if maintain cordial relations If Shiv Sena chief Uddhav stand on Islamist militancy, it faces criticism for its pregnant woman was given R.M. Manoharan, protesters by the police in we implement laws with any nation. Thackeray really meant authoritarian turn. The passing of the Digital Security HIV­infected blood is Chennai Thoothukudi (“AIADMK­BJP rigorously. I hope this will E.S. Chandrasekaran, what he said about the Chennai Bill and the crackdown on student protests in Dhaka heartbreaking (“State govt. electoral alliance in the start with the Randhawa Prime Minister, the party drew flak even from Awami League supporters. On the to give ‘high quality’ The incident raises doubts offing?”, Dec. 27). The case, but given how the should withdraw from the treatment to HIV­infected about whether we can trust people of the State are also blackbuck poaching case Imran Khan’s tweet is NDA alliance (“Uddhav’s other side, the Opposition is trying to channel the re­ woman”, Dec. 27). If a hospitals to even carry out angry with the BJP for the was handled, one doesn’t baffling. Forget Christians jibe at PM leaves RSS sentment towards the government. Khaleda Zia, BNP government hospital is so simple blood transfusions. NEET fiasco, the Mekedatu have much hope. and Hindus, even Ahmadis fuming”, Dec. 27). And if he leader and a former Prime Minister, is disqualified from callous, I would go as far as Merely sacking the staff is dam issue, for allegedly not Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, and Shias are persecuted in did not mean it, he should contesting as she is in prison for corruption, and the to say that this points to a not enough. Were protocols sanctioning funds in the Faridabad Pakistan, an ‘Islamic express remorse. The Shiv Opposition has brought in Kamal Hossain, a jurist who total absence of governance followed? Do we need to wake of disasters like Republic’. Even hypocrisy Sena cannot have its cake was a minister in Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s govern­ in Tamil Nadu. The test blood samples more Cyclone Gaja, and the Khan’s provocation and whataboutery have and eat it too. ment, to lead the alliance. But the Opposition’s tacit al­ government is busy with its often than currently inhuman treatment of With Asia Bibi celebrating their limits. C.G. Kuriakose, damage­control exercise, required? These and more protesting Tamil Nadu Christmas in hiding, and Y. Meena, Kothamangalam liance with the Jamaat­e­Islami, the militant Islamist Hyderabad but its responsibility does questions need to be asked. farmers in Delhi. If these watchdog Open Doors more letters online: party whose registration with the Election Commission not end with terminating This is a very costly lapse two parties ally, they will listing Pakistan as among www.hindu.com/opinion/letters/ was revoked after a 2013 court ruling, has been alar m­ the services of three by the authorities. State­run only face defeat. Not even the world’s worst ing. BNP workers too have been involved in violent inci­ employees of the hospital. hospitals need to do more Rajnikanth can save the BJP. persecutors of Christians, corrections & clarifications: Late correction: In the Oped dents. For the Awami League, the election should have The woman must be to win the trust of the Shalini Gerald, Pakistani Prime Minister page article “Tyranny of the majority” (Dec. 10), the reference to properly compensated. The public. Chennai Imran Khan’s statement on certain amendments to the Constitution moved by Madan Mohan been an opportunity to break with the history of vio­ Malaviya should be corrected to read as Govind Malaviya. lence and seek the mandate based on its performance. Health Minister should step G. Venkatakuppuswamy, minorities shows his lack of down just as Lal Bahadur Bengaluru Poaching crisis political acumen (“Imran’s It is the policy of The Hindu to correct significant errors as soon as possible. Please specify But its increasing tendency to use force against the Op­ the edition (place of publication), date and page. The Readers’ Editor’s office can be Shastri did after a rail The rich and elite seem to distorted logic’’, December contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to position and the violence by its party activists hav e al­ accident in 1956. But Low prospects have a passion for killing 27). Unless the Janus­faced Friday); Fax: +91-44-28552963; E­mail:[email protected]; Mail: Readers’ ready marred the election process. Editor, The Hindu, Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860 Anna Salai, Chennai 600 002, India. expecting politicians today The people of Tamil Nadu wildlife (“Golfer Jyoti country stops being so All communication must carry the full postal address and telephone number. No personal to step down on moral are aware that the ruling Randhawa held on intolerant towards its visits. The Terms of Reference for the Readers’ Editor are on www.thehindu.com CM A CH-CHE YK