Click to play videoJawaharlal Nehru laid the foundations of a secular and inclusive India. His great-grandson, Varun Gandhi, is accused of making a violent speech against Muslims.
Varun, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh, seems like a religious fanatic from the speech. “If somebody lifts a hand against Hindus, or thinks they are weak, there is nobody behind them, then I swear on the (Bhagvad) Gita that I will cut off that hand,” he allegedly said.
And that was just one of several vitriolic statements he allegedly made. The Election Commission has served a notice on Varun and asked him to prove his claim that the CD showing him speaking against Muslims has been doctored.
“I never made any communal statements. I went to an area in which I felt Hindus were being targeted, so I spoke in favour of the Hindu community. It is a very sad day in the Indian politics when anyone who speaks for Hindus is branded communal,” Varun told CNN-IBN in an interview on Wednesday.
The outrage at Varun’s speech was sharper because of his famous surname but he is not the first politician who has tried to improve his career by spreading hate and threatening communities.
Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray and his estranged nephew Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray made their careers by giving controversial speeches or writing fiery edits.
Hindu leaders Ashok Singhal, Uma Bharati and Sadhvi Ritambara have been booked for controversial speeches but were never found guilty. Haji Yakoob Qureshi, once a minister in Uttar Pradesh, offered a reward on the head of the Danish cartoonist artist who had sketched the Prophet.
Should Varun Gandhi and leaders who spread hatred be barred from contesting elections? Is the law unable to bar such leaders? CNN-IBN’s Editor-in-Chief Rajdeep Sardesai asked a panel of legal experts, politicians and social commentators.
The politicians on the show were former BJP MP and general secretary of the Jana Sangh Prafull Goradia and Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari.
Senior lawyer and former attorney general Soli Sorabjee and Rahul Narvekar, legal advisor to the Shiv Sena commented on the legal aspects of the controversy.
Sadia Dehlvi, columnist and activist, and Suhel Seth, columnist and managing partner of Counselage, were the other guests on the show.
“There is no ambiguity about it: he (Varun Gandhi) must be barred from contesting polls. Anybody who tries to polarise society has no right to be in public life,” said Tewari, who denied that the Congress was soft on the BJP leader because he was a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
Goradia disagreed. “If you bar him then you should be barring all those Kashmiri Hurriyat (Conference) people who constantly talk of sedition. What about Mr Antulay? He is the first person who should be barred and all those who supported his statement,” said Goradia.
He was referring to Union Minister A R Antulay who created a furore in Parliament by alleging that there was a conspiracy behind the death of a senior police officer, who was killed by terrorists during the Mumbai terrorist attacks.
“If you are prepared to bar all these persons, then bar him,” said Goradia, who even faulted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for saying “Muslims first” and recommending reservation for them.
The point is not Manmohan Singh, the Congress or the BJP--the point is Varun Gandhi, said Suhel Seth. “We need demonstrable punishment for people who vitiate the polling process whether on religion, caste, creed or by giving money.
“The moment you talk about Muslims and Hindus you will raise one antennae or the other. Move away, talk about development and have demonstrable punishment both for the political party as well as the political representative,” said Seth.
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Free speech and law
Punishing Varun Gandhi by barring him from elections will be legally impossible right now. That can be done only when a court finds him guilty. Is that a flaw in our system?
Not at all, said Sorabjee. “The Election Commission has put the machinery in action. He has been issued a show-cause notice and a case has been registered against him. You can’t bar a person on mere suspicion,” he said.
Varun has the right to speak his mind, said Narvekar. “Free speech is right of every individual. In so far as Varun Gandhi is concerned what from that he said is wrong? All he said was that he is against external forces that are acting against the interests of this country. It is not the BJP or the Shiv Sena which are polarising people but it is the Congress by giving advantages to minorities only for votes,” he said.
Varun has a right to speak but the law bars him from spreading hate, said Tewari. “Article 19 of the Constitution clearly says free speech but with reasonable restrictions. Any party or individual who try to vitiate the atmosphere has no right to be in the political mainstream,” he said.
Spill hate, spin votes?
Varun is just the latest in a long list of politicians who have found that hateful and controversial speeches and campaigning ensures attention and votes. The Congress won a landslide victory in Parliament in 1984 after a campaign which allegedly targeted Sikhs.
Narendra Modi in Gujarat and Bal Thackeray in Maharashtra have run similar campaigns too. Is hate mongering the hidden agenda in all election campaigns? Do politicians think they can get away with hate speeches?
People are out of sync if they think they can get away, said Dehlvi. “People realise that we cannot build anything on hate. People are concerned about security. We are in an economic crisis and people are just worried about living a peaceful life. The BJP’s Mandir idea worked 10-15 years ago--now it is a failed idea,” said Dehlvi.
Hate, like pornography, sells but it cannot become a replacement or relevant, said Seth. “If he (Varun) had something nice and calm we wouldn’t been having this discussion. Pornography sells but no one would replace education textbooks with pornography.
“Narendra Modi has moved from hate to development because hate is not an enduring benefit,” said Seth.
The Congress didn’t run a hate campaign in 1984, said Tewari. “In 1984 if the Congress got 415 seats it was primarily because it was a national tribute to Mrs Indira Gandhi as well as a vote for change. If it had been a hate or negative campaign we would have picked up some seats in Punjab. We lost all 13 seats in Punjab,” he said.
Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray is the only famous politician to have been found guilty of a hate speech. That was years ago and Thackeray’s sentence was commuted. Is it all history for the Shiv Sena now?
“Unfortunately in this country whoever speaks about the sorrows of Hindus is supposed to be communal. That is why Shiv Sena is looked as communal, which is absolutely untrue. There is a fine line that divides fair and free speech from hate speech,” said Narvekar.
Varun Gandhi has the right to free speech but not to spread hate and slander communities. How can the country stop politicians from using hate as a political tool?
Sorabjee suggested two solutions: zero-tolerance for hate speeches and amendment to laws. “There can be an injunction against a person for spreading communal hatred and causing disharmony, because ordinary people suffer from this vituperative venom which is being spread,” he said.
Goradia and Narvekar agreed that there should be zero-tolerance to hate politics but demanded that minority appeasement be stopped. Is that logic sound?
No, said Tewari. “The test of any democracy is not how you treat your majority but how you treat your minority. A minority by its very character suffers from insecurities which you need to address and walk the extra mile to involve them. That is not appeasement (but) involving them in the development process,” he said.
Seth called for changing the “political idiom” of the country. “The people who are running parties are out of sync with the realities and idealism of the youth. If there is a mismatch between youthful idealism and what they see as progress you will only foster negative energy and this what the politics of today is. It is about negativity,” he said.
Hate and intolerance can’t be the basis of India. “The only thing we have to hold sacred as a collective society is the Indian constitution,” Dehlvi.
Ditto, said Sorabjee. “Enforce the provisions of the Constitution and think first I am an Indian. Even if there is appeasement, is to be met by dividing a community. This (hate) gets into the bloodstream of the people and the damage it can do cannot be cured by invalidating an election or sending Varun Gandhi to jail.”
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