V is for Varun Gandhi, venom of hate speech

HELPLESS LAW: Unless proven that hate-speech in the CD is the truth, EC cannot bar Varun on suspicion alone.

                

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Jawaharlal 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.