Independence Day special: Freedom from law, propriety, reason

Weeks after the Hindon water level receded, The Times of India reported on August 14 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/noida/hindon-ebbs-illegal-constructions-resume/articleshow/102707177.cms, normalcy has returned to the villages on its floodplains in Noida. “Back from shelter homes, most villagers have started to strengthen the foundation of their houses with debris. In Chhajarsi, a few have also started to rebuild their houses near the banks after they were damaged.”

Evidently, they began celebrating Independence Day before August 15—independence from the law. And what are local authorities and cops doing?

Atul Kumar, additional DM (finance), told the TOI reporter that the administration is in the process of preparing a damage assessment report.

“Lekhpals [junior officials] have been directed to visit the floodplains and report if there are illegal constructions. The administration will inform the Noida Authority, which will take action against illegal constructions,” he said.

Inform about what? Isn’t the crime self-evident? Illegal re-colonization of a riverbed is being committed in broad daylight—and a senior official is waiting for reports to be prepared to record the crime! Only after that, action would be taken.

If Gabbar Singh attacks a village, officials like Kumar will first wait for plunder, rape, and murder to take place; then they will get all the lawless actions recorded; and only after that they do anything. Welcome to Uttar Pradesh. This is the ‘double engine sarkar.’

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and state officials have more important things to do, like launching the ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ campaign. Tricolors are proliferating as the country is getting ravaged by lawlessness. More and more people are declaring freedom from the encumbrances of the law—the poor, the rich, middle classes, everyone. Encroachment is my birthright, and I shall have it—this is the motto of most people.

Politicians have also declared freedom from propriety, democratic norms, decency, and reason. The Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have convinced itself that it is destined to rule the country till the end of time, so it is arrogating all powers to the Centre. Laws, rules, regulations, conventions—everything is being changed to empower the government. Its partisans, including Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and former chief justice Ranjan Gogoi, keep campaigning for unrestrained Parliamentary authority. They even rubbish the basic structure doctrine, which was not challenged even by the Congress, against whose government it was targeted.

Another recent instance of the empowerment of government was the removal of the Chief Justice from the panel that selects the Chief Election Commissioner. There are many more instances of the Centre’s executive authority becoming more overbearing. The abuse of agencies like the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation is one example; another is the curtailing of the scope of the Right to Information Act. The mainstream media has already been tamed; it’s now called Godi media, and rightly so.

Unfortunately, there is no one in the political arena who is interested in restoring democratic principles, civil liberties, and individual freedom. I have pointed out earlier that the Congress-led Opposition has not committed anything substantive to bring in meaningful change. All their efforts are focused only on removing Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For example, they have not said anything about reining in the ED and the CBI; the reason is that they, when in power, intend to use the same agencies against the BJP leaders they don’t like. They are fighting for vengeance, not justice.

While the political is depressing, society and culture show few signs of vibrancy and enlightenment. Prosperity has not resulted in refinement but crudity and crassness. Old pathologies like caste and religious mumbo-jumbo are growing at a frightening pace. Caste and community pride is blighting large sections of society. Religious rituals are multiplying and unscrupulous cult leaders are mushrooming all over.

Even as Indians declare their freedom from the law, decency, and reason, celebrations of Independence become louder and shriller.