New Delhi, Jan 8 The opposition leaders believe the Narendra Modi government’s image has taken a serious beating in view of the series of revolts; and perhaps more than anyone else the BJP leadership also seems to understand this.
The refrain from the protestors is on the line that – ‘We cannot be silent anymore’ as the Modi government is allegedly trying to alter the manner the country is being governed and dilute the 'pluralistic character' of India.
“Initially the harsh measures against voice of dissent and against Muslims were seen in UP since 2017 after Yogi Adityanath-led government took charge; and now they are extending this to Delhi,” says a Trinamool Congress leader.
Lethal tactics were being allegedly used against protesters, especially Muslims and civil society activists to suppress any kind of dissent against the CAA or otherwise.
Predictably, these have put BJP leaders on defensive and lately they have started likening the Leftist forces and pro-Left leanings student bodies to ‘Pakistan army’ – trying to thrive with investing heavily on violence and also peddling of fake news.
"The Left always banks on the fact that their targets have to abide by law and cannot retaliate to mob violence. In many ways, they are like the Pak Army - hiding behind fakery - whilst heavily invested in violence," tweeted BJP MP in Rajya Sabha, Rajeev Chandrashekhar.
The BJP leaders argue that there is a "distinct pattern" as most opposition parties including Congress and Trinamool Congress are trying to "emulate and ape" the Leftist style of politics.
Some of them even say, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi - unlike the Congress tradition of past - is "banking heavily" on his advisors and intellectual friends who have known Left leanings.
Similarly, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee has always tried to be a more communist than most Leftists.
Trinamool leaders have - of course -denied such charge. Instead leaders such as Dinesh Trivedi has said: "JNU has a tradition of being a good institute....Only terrorists attack wearing masks, so we are demanding a neutral investigation in January 5 incident".
However, BJP leaders' argument is not convincing to their rivals and according to their detractors, most opposition leaders have only slammed the Modi regime.
For instance in connection with JNU violence and police action or alleged 'inaction', CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Wednesday has said the Delhi police have become "a puppet of the Modi government".
"Delhi Police comes directly under Amit Shah. Its behaviour, approach & attitude so far is enough evidence of it being a puppet of Modi govt. A pre-judged police inquiry has no credibility. This needs a court monitored independent inquiry and include conduct of the central government," he tweeted.
Opposition BSP and Samajwadi Party leaders have spoken on these lines about UP police in the past.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has also said while protests have been visible across India, the violence during anti-CAA protest has been more intense in Uttar Pradesh, the home of about 19 per cent Muslims amongst the 20 crore population.
The opposition parties including from Samajwadi and Left have tried to suggest that extremely polarised politics is being pushed around in a state where pro-Hindutva BJP has installed a 'Hindu monk' Yogi Adityanath as the Chief Minister since 2017.
BJP’s arch rivals in Bengal – Trinamool Congress leaders have said more than once that Adityanath's ascension in power and the style of functioning actually ended the ambiguity about the pro-Hindutva agenda of the BJP.
“The Adityanath-Modi (Yogi-Modi) duo is the ideal synthesis of majority politics and development and Amit Shah’s role is like icing on the cake,” said Trinamool leader Idris Ali.
In the context of Yogi’s role, the opposition camp cites media reports that on December 27, 2019 a missive from the Twitter account of Chief Minister Adityanath's office has said - “Every crazy person is thinking that they have made a big mistake by challenging Yogi ji’s power after looking at the fierce actions taken by the CM Shri Yogi Adityanathji’s government against rioters".
In fact, to strengthen their argument, opposition leaders say a large number of youths and several from Muslim community have been already arrested in UP.
But for violence in the JNU campus, a section of BJP leaders see a disturbing trend.
“...I would like to find out what exactly happened in JNU, because trouble has been brewing on the campus for a while,” tweeted Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.
An alumni of JNU itself and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has added a totally new dimension to the debate when he told an esteemed audience during a book release function - "I can certainly tell you when I studied in JNU, we did not see any Tukde tukde gang".
Dr Jaishankar has an MA in Political Science and an M Phil and Ph D in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), where he specialised in nuclear diplomacy.
In the political circle it is often given out that the BJP-led dispensation has been in constant confrontation with the influential students' union in JNU which are known for their well established lineage to the communists' philosophy.
Another alumnus of JNU, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also tweeted saying: "Horrifying images from JNU — the place I know and remember was one for fierce debates and opinions but never violence. I unequivocally condemn the events of today. This Govt, regardless of what has been said the past few weeks, wants universities to be safe spaces for all students."
Meanwhile, the UP violence also has Popular Front of India (PFI) angle and the BJP leaders openly say it is a matter of concern that the outfit has emerged a ‘great unifying’ factor for pro-Muslim and pro-Leftist forces in at least 16 states and major 'sensitive cities and towns'.
In fact, PFI also works in tandem with an influential National Development Fund (NDF) based in Kerala.
Opposition leaders allege that the Home Ministry under Mr Shah is planning to ban PFI – which also has a political wing named the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), which is registered with the Election Commission.
Notably, it is not the first time UP government under Yogi Adityanath has been accused of violence.
The Human Rights Watch has expressed concern over custodial violence and extrajudicial killings by the UP police in 2018.
It has been alleged that over 60 people died in 'alleged extrajudicial' killings between March 2017 and August 2018.
No comments:
Post a Comment