Protestors at Shaheenbagh have ensured BJP victory in Delhi elections

Justice Markandey Katju-

 

I am sorry to pour cold water on all this brouhaha and hoopla about the ongoing Shaheen Bagh anti CAA protests in Delhi, which some people portray as a kind of revolution, when in fact it is nothing of the sort, but in reality is, in Shakespeare’s words ” A tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing ” ( vide Macbeth ). I am reminded of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption agitation, and the Nirbhaya anti rape stir, which at one time appeared great movements destined to bring great social and political changes in India, but subsequently fizzled out.

Justice Markandey Katju

What is the anti CAA protest about? That it does not give the same rights to Muslim immigrants into India as it does to non Muslim immigrants. But then the real grievance will be of Muslims, who are only 15-16 % of the Indian population, and not of all Indians.

I have pointed out in my article ‘Dark days are ahead for India’ published in dailypioneer.com, dailytimes.com.pk, and indicanews.com, in India most Hindus, and most Muslims, are communal. This is because secularism is a feature of industrial society, it is not a feature of feudal or semi feudal society. India is still semi feudal, as is evident from the rampant casteism and communalism prevalent here. No doubt the Preamble to the Indian Constitution mentions that India is a secular country, but that is only on paper, the ground reality is very different.

When a Muslim is lynched, most Hindus are indifferent, and some even happy. One terrorist and anti-national less!

There was already widespread communalism before the BJP came to power in 2014, but it was largely latent, and only erupted occasionally. After 2014 it has become open, virulent and continuous. Indian society has now become largely polarized on religious lines ( in fact even the NRIs living abroad have become polarized, as I noticed in the Bay Area of California where I am presently staying ).

Since most Hindus, who are 80% of India’s population, are communal, they would be supporters of the CAA since it is anti-Muslim. The Hindus who gather at Shaheen Bagh represent only about 10-15% of the Hindu population. 85-90% Hindus would be supporters of CAA (since it gives citizenship to only the persecuted Hindus and other minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, but denies it to Muslims).

The crowd at Shaheen Bagh appears to have a disproportionately large number of hijab clad Muslim women, and this was commented upon by Modi. So Shaheen Bagh seems a predominantly Muslim show, and this is what enabled the BJP leader Kapil Mishra to comment that the Delhi election has become a battle between India and Pakistan, and that Pakistan had entered Shaheen Bagh.

In my opinion the anti CAA protestors at Shaheen Bagh have unwittingly benefited the BJP, which will win a clear majority in The Delhi Assembly Elections scheduled for 8th February.

 

[Justice Markandey Katju is former Judge, Supreme Court of India, and former Chairman, Press Council of India. The views expressed are his own]

 

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