Skip to main content

Justice, Lord Vishnu, and the shoe. Who speaks for the Divine?

By Prof. Hemantkumar Shah* 
Rakesh Kishor, who attempted to throw a shoe at India’s Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, claimed in an interview that he did nothing of his own accord—“I only did what the Divine made me do.”
This controversy began when the Supreme Court dismissed a public interest litigation demanding the proper reinstallation of a seven-foot-tall broken idol of Lord Vishnu in Khajuraho. Justice Gavai had remarked at the time, “Go and ask the deity himself…”
But was he wrong to say that? If Lord Vishnu, considered the sustainer of all, cannot protect his own idol, then what exactly does he do? That question seems fair.
Now, if Rakesh Kishor acted on divine instruction, then—
Why didn’t he accept that Justice Gavai’s words too were spoken by divine will? If the Divine can act through Kishor, can it not act through Gavai? Does Kishor believe that the Divine belongs only to him and not to Gavai—because Gavai is Dalit?
If Sanatan Dharma teaches that everything is done by the Divine, then humans do nothing at all. So when the idol of Vishnu was desecrated during Mughal rule, that too must have been orchestrated by the Divine. One must accept what the Divine does, right?
The Archaeological Survey of India has operated under the watch of Narendra Modi’s government for the past eleven years. Why then has it failed to reinstall the broken Vishnu idol properly in all that time? Our Prime Minister claims to be non-biological. So perhaps he will act only when the Divine commands him to. Until then, he can do nothing about the broken idol.
The Divine instructed Kishor to throw a shoe at Justice Gavai, but hasn’t yet instructed the Prime Minister to restore Vishnu’s idol. Why is that? Do they worship different Divines?
In his interview, Kishor said “the Divine made me do it.” He didn’t say Lord Vishnu made him do it. Yet it was Vishnu’s idol that was desecrated. So if Vishnu didn’t act through Kishor, but some other Divine did, isn’t that an insult to Vishnu? Are Vishnu and the Divine separate? Vishnu is embodied, while the Divine is formless. It’s hard to understand what Kishor is claiming.
Kishor has effectively made the Divine the culprit behind the shoe-throwing. The Divine conspired, and Kishor executed. So shouldn’t we catch the Divine? Until the Divine is found, Kishor must be considered a co-conspirator.
And if I say the Divine instructed me to write this—would that be acceptable too?
---
*Senior academic based in Ahmedabad 

Comments

  1. Gavai is a Bouddha. He is not a Dalit. Isn't caste uniquely pinned to Hinduism? After all, that is the sole reason for AMBEDKAR TO HATE Hindus and Hinduism. Ambedkar clearly stated that he did not believe in Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma, Rama and Krishna. Being a devout Ambedkarite follower, it is thus obvious that your Gavai will be biased against Vishnu. Hence, it is safe, to say that your Gavai has lowered the dignity of the office of CJI by speaking against Vishnu.

    Ps..Gavai is no longer a Dalit. So, it would be better to not hide behind those credentials. Also, Buddha did not hate Vishnu unlike his follower Ambedkar.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

NOTE: Hateful, abusive comments won't be published. -- Editor

TRENDING

The Nazia Elahi Khan controversy and the normalisation of hate

By Mohd. Ziyaullah Khan   The registration of two FIRs in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region against BJP Minority Morcha leader and social media influencer Nazia Elahi Khan for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad is not merely another isolated controversy. It is a disturbing reminder of how hate speech and communal provocation have become increasingly normalised in contemporary India.

Congress leader Gohil "misinformed" about the OBC caste status of Modi, contend senior Gujarat academics

Shaktisinh Gohil By A Representative Did senior Gujarat Congress leader Shaktisinh Gohil display his poor understanding of the caste system in Gujarat when he declared that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi does not belong to the other backward class (OBC) but to an upper caste? At least two top senior experts, known for their proficiency in sociology and history of Gujarat, have wondered “how could Gohil go so wrong” on Modi’s caste status. Gohil, who all-India Congress spokesperson, has created a ripple by “disclosing” that Modi included his caste, modh ghanchi, into the OBC list three months after he came to power through a government resolution dated January 1, 2002.

RTI at 21: Study flags data gaps, rising backlogs, appeal pendency across Union government

  By Jag Jivan   As the Right to Information (RTI) Act completed 21 years since its enactment on June 21, 2005, a detailed analysis of the Central Information Commission's (CIC) Annual Report for 2024-25 has raised questions about reporting accuracy, transparency practices and the overall implementation of the law across Union government institutions.