Murder of the rule of law is what the nation witnessed yesterday live. And the society celebrated it. To be exact we should say that a section of Hindu society is ecstatic about it and not all of Indian society. It is a symptom of a deep disease that has taken root within that section of society. A disease of bloodlust. Is the rest of Indian society worried about it? Are the sick even aware of their sickness?
The murders were committed in Allahabad. No! I must correct myself. It is Prayagraj which is the site of this crime. There is something in the change of name. So let us say, criminal-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead in a police cordon in Prayagraj. The killers casually entered the ring of policemen around Atiq and his brother Ashraf and opened fire with extraordinary ease. The policemen were there and in fact, they retreated, as if to give the killers a better view of their targets. A wider and more secure circle, from which they could not escape their bullets. The policemen allowed the killers to finish their work. Then the shooters surrendered and the of slogan of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ could be heard over the visuals.
Grisly deaths on ‘Live’ TV
People watched the entire episode of the chilling murders on television. Real time. A rare treat. TV newsreaders kept showing this murder again and again and in a frenzied voice, kept analysing each frame. TV channels were very careful about their duty to ensure that all the viewers did not miss the excitement of the murders. The fun of showing ‘live murder’ is something else!
Let aside TV, newspapers like The Hindu while reporting the murder, wrote how Atiq Ahmed was “reduced to dust“. The newspaper was only following what Uttar Pradesh chief minister Ajay Bisht, popularly known as Yogi Adityanath, had promised, “Mafia ko mitti mein mila doonga.” The promise was kept. It is now acceptable even to civilised people.
We are told that the same chief minister has ordered an inquiry into these killings. It is quite another matter that one of his ministers has called it the result of “karma”! Another minister termed it divine justice. Even after this, if someone believes that there is something left to be investigated, one can only say that formalism is good for our conscience.
It was also reported that the members of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s youth wing celebrated it by bursting crackers. A demonstration of collective ecstasy. Just two days ago, Atiq Ahmed’s son was killed by the police in an ‘encounter’. The celebration over that murder was still incomplete when the blood of Atiq Ahmed was spilled. And people were not left disappointed. Remember that after the murder of Atiq’s son, a Hindutva ‘sadhvi’ had written on social media, that the murder was only a ‘jhanki’ as Atiq was still around. And then Atiq was killed.
Atiq Ahmed himself had pleaded in the Supreme Court for security, apprehending his own murder. The court refused to hear him. It said that he was under the protection of the state. Despite the court knowing that there has been a spate of such killings in the state, it did not pay heed to Atiq Ahmed’s fears. They turned out to be true. Will the court continue with its business now, its soul unperturbed?
The slogan of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ was raised after the murder. It is not a coincidence. The exhortation to Ram has become a shield for criminals these days. Especially if the victim of the murder is a Muslim.
Turning the state into a criminal apparatus
Will the readers say that the author is a supporter of the criminal Atiq Ahmed? Quite possible. When we criticised the killing of Atiq Ahmed’s son in the “encounter”, we were asked whether we support the criminals. We were asked why were we not happy with society getting rid of them?
The supporters of criminals can only be criminals. And they are. We are worried about the state, which has been created to protect us and implement rule of law, turning into a criminal apparatus instead And we also are worried about the conspiracy of that state to make a part of the society a partner in its crime. Our concern is that the meaning of the rule of law is disappearing from the minds of the people.
But the matter is bigger than the murder of the rule of law. Why were the killers chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’? Violence done against Muslims is usually associated with the slogan ‘Jai Shri Ram’. So was it only a criminal who was being killed? The question is inconvenient but it is stirring the minds of many people, so it must be asked. Why did the killers identify themselves with this slogan? Were they trying to say that they committed this murder on behalf of those who believe in this slogan?
‘Timing’?
Some friends are questioning the timing of the murders. They say that Atiq Ahmed was murdered to divert attention from the explosive exposé by Satya Pal Malik, on vital issues of negligence (‘laparvahi’), security lapses and refusal to give the jawans planes, forcing them on the road – which has put the government in a bind. So were the murders committed to divert people’s attention away from discussing Malik’s allegations against the government? Even if that was true, one can still see how disgusting the murders were.
The distraction principle has been used many times before. The attacks on Muslims have been called a conspiracy to divert attention from the real national issues of inflation and unemployment. We are told to stick to real issues and not get distracted by the murders.
The question to be asked is, who are the people who would get ‘distracted’ by these murders? Who spends sleepless nights after such murders and for whom are they just a game to distract their attention from real issues?
So should we let these killings slip into the inner recesses of the mind of the nation? And keep ourselves focused on the real issues? This time it is the failure of the government on the front of national security. On other occasions the real issues are unemployment and inflation. But murders continue. All apparently to divert us!
So should we not ask at some point whether these murders themselves are the real issue?
Apoorvanand teaches at Delhi University.
