MUTINY

The Hindu Right Wingers are making their presence felt all over India for all wrong reasons. Hoisting of Pakistani flag in Bijapur, Karnataka to incite communal violence tops the list of narrow minded yet shrewd attempts of the Hindu right wing thugs. Proclaiming the lofty pseudo Hindu ideals, the VHP, RSS, Bajrangdal, Sangh Parivar, ShriRamSena and numerous extremists organizations are on the rise, creating communal tension, public nuisance to the extent of even attacking individuals. How do these organizations thrive? The unholy nexus with Police and Media gives the much needed protection and publicity.

The Media, especially the local ones have never missed an atrocity commited by the extremist right wingers. OB vans have become omens of the contemporary age. If you sight an OB van in front of your office or institution expect an attack by the right wing thugs at the earliest. The Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena (MNS) activists attacked the principal of DAV college and poured ink on him. According to MNS activists, it was the concern regarding the implementation of safety measures in School Bus, that prompted them to do so. But what right has the MNS activists to take law into their hands? Are we living in a military ruled state?

Check out the photograph of MNS activists attacking the principal.

The camera men can be clearly seen covering the event? How did he get to know about this? How could the media be present just in time? Do the media have the responsibility to inform the police if they have the prior info? The media has gone to the extent that anything and everything could be done to get those footages which could be beamed as exclusive and breaking news.

What confuses an ordinary citizen of India is the inaction of police. They either become onlookers or peacemakers during these incidents when these extremist organizations are culprits in the first sight. Take the recent incident of the Bangalore Slut walk. The organizers were denied permission to conduct it owing to ‘security reasons.’ Are only high profile protests by people like Anna Hazare allowed in this country? Even though, the official explanation by the police doesn’t specifically say that the Hindu organizations were behind it, off the camera, they always tell the truth. Check out the excrepts from The Hindu newspaper report:

Additional Commissioner (Law and Order) Suneel Kumar told The Hindu that permission had to be cancelled after “some groups” raised objections. But “we were under no pressure. We just decided to stop the event owing to security concerns.”

However, two Deputy Commissioners independently told The Hindu that a women’s group based in the Malleshwaram area, affiliated to the Sangh Parivar, had informed the police and the ‘Slutwalkers’ that the event is “against the culture of India.”

From the indication it is clear as daylight that the police respectfully obliged to the directives from the hindu right wing groups and denied permission for the event. Who should be stopped the citizens who wanted to protest or the thugs who dictate based on fundamentalist pseudo Hindu agenda? Why can’t the police arrest the right wingers instead? The nexus between police and these organizations are beyond doubt.

The Deal

It is money that sustains the nexus between the Hindu right wingers, media and police. The logic is simple. A right wing groups takes up an incident in an institution especially schools. Even though they have no business to interfere in the affairs, they start organizing protests outside the school, attack principal and teachers and give press statements which the media dutifully carries. The Police arrive late and would be seen pacifying the protesting members of the right wing organizations. Police will be posted in the institution for security. His food, alcohol and giving salary for the day’s work is the responsibility of the institution, which will be demanded. Lose of reputation is something which no institution likes. The institution would surely offer money to solve the issue. Money has to be first paid at the Police station for their labour! The next step is the arrival of Hindu right wingers with an offer for ‘donation’ for some of their needs. The donation too has to be given without any questions. When news starts disappearing, representatives from media comes to the institution, stating that if you had good contact with media this would not have happened. The only way out to start a good relation is by giving ad of the institution in that particular media. Choose a package which the media guys offer regarding the advertisement and pay the money, the whole issue will disappear from media completely. Thus it is a win-win situation for Hindu right wingers, police and media.

India cannot afford to tolerate these extremist fundamentalist groups. They have to be banned or must be dealt strictly. Police and Media have to play a proactive role rather than making use of these organizations to gain easy money. The erudite scholars and youth must not dance to the tunes of the thugs. They have to respond so that the religious, cultural and social fabric of India remain intact.

(The author is on twitter as @jeffshawn)