Release of dabang neta: Rule of law can't be allowed to be slave to political rhetoric

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat* 
When we look to politicians for solutions and politics as the 'final solution' for every evil then we are disappointed most of the time. In politics, we knowingly or unknowingly become part of the propaganda tool of the ruling elite which exists everywhere across different castes. We often provide issues and talk about them in binaries which suit our elites. The minorities among the marginalised who have no political space and representation rarely get heard by these majoritarian parties whose agenda remain power communities. Every political party in today's time is following the 'successful' formula of 'democracy' which is keeping the 'powerful' 'jaatis' with them leaving aside the marginalised one. The BJP started this but yes they cobbled together all other communities too through a diverse narrative.
The release of Anand Mohan Singh, the convict of the murder of the IAS officer from Telangana Mr G Krishnaiah, by the Bihar government is highly immoral and unconstitutional. It is said that the Bihar leaders want to 'strengthen' their Yadav-Kurmi-Rajput-Muslim alliance before the elections. They know well if powerful communities come together, the marginalised would automatically fall in line.
Two states of great examples of misplaced priorities at the moment. Both claim to be the lead of the Social Justice Movement. Tamilnadu and Bihar. The Tamilnadu government recently passed a bill which increased the working hours of the workers from 8 to 12 in the factories and other workplaces. This is highly dangerous and against the poor. The violence against Dalits in Tamilnadu and the cases of discrimination are on the rise and not much notice is being taken care off but still M K Stalin has his feet on the ground. He has withheld the factory bill after much protest from all. This is the power of democracy when leaders listen to public criticism. DMK needs to pay heed to public criticism particularly on the issue of discrimination against Dalits. The party has got a lot of good will and its governance model despite all criticism, is still talked about and better than many other states.
In Bihar, the condition of Dalits is the worst. They have to be tagged in the rhetoric of social justice. Land Reforms rarely happened both in Tamilnadu and Bihar. Compared with Uttar Pradesh, the Dalits have their own political formation and do not depend on other powerful castes. They can negotiate things on their own. That is why, I always mentioned that in the Indian democratic set up, we need social justice parties who can do inclusive politics too. Social justice is not a cover up to your own atrocities in the name of anti brahmanism. Social justice is improving ourselves and democratising our value system.
If Bihar's Rajput need Aanand Mohan Singh as their 'leader' then it is the state of the isolation of the community and I have nothing to say. Unfortunately, in today's time every community is looking for a Dabang neta. Uttar Pradesh's Rajput already has one such. After the order of Bihar government a lot of narratives are being peddled in the media. Some say that over 27 people have been released by the government order which has Raj Ballabh Yadav, the rapist MLA of RJD, who got life sentence as well as many other leaders from Yadav, Muslim and Bhumihar background. There is another story going around that which says that the murder happened on the day of protest against another don of the area Chhuttan Shukla, a Bhumihar who was murdered in a police encounter. The protest was big and a majority of the protesters were the Bhumiharrs. Reporters are suggesting that everyone knew who fired at Krishnaiah but none spoke. Most of them feel that Anand Mohan Singh was emerging as a powerful leader of the Rajputs and he was targeted as most of the accused were released except him. Even the FIR against him was not accused of murder but of instigating a crowd to murder. The thing is whether Anand Mohan is a Bahubali or mafia, the shoddy character of our police investigations as well as the narratives become important in this regard. We dont find such remissions for Dalits, Adivasis or Muslims. We dont see the government showing large heartedness. towards those who are languishing in jails for years without getting fair trial or in the absence of lawyers fighting for their cases. It is unfortunate that political parties use the caste arithmetics and then build those narratives.to create victimised feelings among the caste. G Krishnaih's murder was the complete collapse of law and order in the area which was never properly investigated. Social justice issue is not merely anti brahmanism but should be seen from the perspective and proof of inclusive politics and involvement of Dalits and adivasis in the political structure. Social justice can not be a ladder for the powerful communities to use anti-brahmanical rhetoric but remain more oppressive and exclusive towards the Dalits and Adivasis.
It is the duty of the political parties to create an atmosphere where leaders with common ideological concerns join hand. One way, M K Stalin remains far superior to his north Indian colleagues. At least, in terms of symbols and theories, he has so far worked better than the former Lohiasts and JP wallahs. Periyar's cultural revolution is far superior to others. The recent announcement of installing the life size statue of former Prime Minister V P Singh in Chennai, by M K Stalin is an acknowledgement of the great role played by Singh to strengthen the anti caste movement and providing space to the marginalised in power structure. DMK, DK and other political parties in Tamilnadu acknowledged that role which needs to be applauded. Alas, Nitish Kumar, who was a Minister in VPs cabinet, rarely had time to pay his respect or remember him. Akhilesh Yadav and Samajwadi party does not need V P Singh and dont think it necessary to remember VP and his contribution. Most of the former Janata Parivar fellows dont have time for him. Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders can remember Atal Bihari Vajpayee but a big no to remember VP though Rahul is himself following the Mandal path.
M K Stalin that way has proved a far superior politician than his north Indian counterparts of 'social justice'. Perhaps V P is the only leader who is neither remembered by the social justice parties nor by the 'secular parties'. The brahmanical liberals hate taking his names and consider him one of the worst 'human beings'. The corporate funded anti corruption parties and netas never ever think of VP's struggle against corporate. VP is not in demand as Rajputs will not vote in his name. He did not have a constituency of his own as he is neither Rajput neta nor that of any other 'community'. In today's time, your 'community' power is the real power and your idealism brings nothing to you.
While Tamil Nadu will still need VP Singh, the north Indian social justice parties will only need Anand Mohan Singh and Amar Singh kind of people to build their 'fortunes'. It is another reality that it is not merely Anand Mohan but many others like him getting patronage by the state right from Bihar to other states. The only rule of law these days works for the Muslim criminals, otherwise all others get released honorably and people are defining these acts as per their caste identities. Thus, we might be criticising the Nitish government act here but what ultimately matters is the community response in Bihar. Rule of law can not be allowed to be a slave to political rhetoric. Will the Supreme court act where such releases have been made by the state violating all norms of constitutional morality.? Let us see whether the Supreme Court will act on it and take some action to protect the rights of G Krishnaiah's family who are asking for justice.
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*Human rights defender. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vbrawat, Twitter @freetohumanity, Skype @vbrawat