We need statesmen, not politicians
Sunil Manohar
Sunil Manohar
We can’t make specific and separate laws to deal with those who resort to intimidation and violence to ‘protest’ a film or written work or anything else they disagree with, or because authorities do not take action to their satisfaction. Those who commit politically-motivated hooliganism and vandalism can be dealt with sufficiently under the Indian Penal Code. The unfortunate truth is that the State machinery does not react to such incidents as much as it should, and the implementation of the laws is insufficient. Therefore, they fail to act as a deterrent. (Of course, action has been taken against those who broke or violated laws, preventing many more such incidents.)
Why does political hooliganism happen? When an issue is politicised, parties and politicians have a sense of the way the public is thinking, what issues are sensitive, who has grievances. In the recent attacks on hawkers from other parts of the country, party workers believed this would appeal to prospective voters. The same thing happened earlier with attacks on men from Uttar Pradesh or Bihar who drove autorickshaws or taxis. These parties commit acts of violence because people support their cause. If the MNS does not do it, some other party will.
Simply stopping hooligans using the law is not enough. Politicians must play a part. If one political party incites and encourages violence, but another party is against it, and if the people also detest violence, the game will change.
Most important, citizens must act. Parties play vote bank politics; if you displease the majority, you can never be elected. The minute the majority expresses a dislike, or starts ridiculing politicians, they will retract immediately.
However, a sizeable population likes all this. The dividing line is education and culture. It boils down to educating one another, helping each other grow. To bring about change, we need statesman, not politicians; we need social reformers. Which we don’t have, unfortunately.
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All citizens must do something about threats and violence. Protest, stage demonstrations, make your voice heard. We must express ourselves, because unless we do, nothing is going to happen.
Liberty won’t stay unless we protect it. It should not be that we elect our government and then sit back, sure that it will protect our rights, equality, and freedom. If they’re not protected, we must fight for them. Collectively, we are doing little to protect our rights.
Justice Robert Jackson, of the US Supreme Court, said you can’t pass liberty on to the next generation and expect the next generation to pass it on again; liberty is like electricity, it has to be generated each day so that you can consume it.
Sunil Manohar served as Advocate General of Maharashtra from November 2014 to June 2015
The law must empower the police to take action
Praveen Dixit
Praveen Dixit
Following the tragedy at Elphinstone Road, the MNS spearheaded an agitation against illegal hawkers. According to MNS, the tragedy could have been avoided if action been taken against the hawkers.
MNS workers made representations to the BMC and Railway authorities and warned to take action on their own if nothing was done. When the BMC’s actions did not satisfy them, they attacked hawkers on the date that they had threatened to.
The Congress, led by Sanjay Nirupam, opposed the removal of these hawkers. Mr. Nirupam contends that they have migrated from far-off regions to earn a livelihood, as is their right, and anyone opposing their continuation shall be fought. He has warned that the agitation would spread if any attempt was made either by the authorities or the MNS to disturb the status quo.
Before this agitation, the Thane Municipal Corporation had warned hawkers near the station that they would be removed. When there was no compliance, the municipal commissioner, along with his deputy, went to the spot and evicted a few hawkers. He was manhandled, and his deputy required hospitalisation. But without fearing for their safety, the officers continued with their work assisted by the police.
This issue must not be made about religion or parochialism or politics. Rules have to be followed, and municipal workers, Railway staff and the police have to be permitted to work fearlessly in the interest of citizens and their free movement. The courts also need to support this.
Political parties have every right to pressurise the authorities to ensure the roads remain free of hawkers. If the authorities do not take action, party workers should bring it to their notice as well as that of the public. Officials must also display sensitivity and not pretend that hawkers’ removal will invite an agitation. The hawkers occupy public spaces, and action to keep them free is the corporation officials’ responsibility. The police are supposed to protect them if asked to.
When it comes to the MNS threats of attacks on hawkers, police authorities swung into action wherever it was known. Preventive action was taken including externment of hawkers. Even then, at two places, MNS workers indulged in rioting and damaging property. In both these instances, police arrested the agitators and secured their judicial remand. As a result, the agitation was controlled effectively.
Having said this, we need a strong law to ensure public places remain free for commuters to move freely. In the absence of this, our cities will continue to remain choked.
Praveen Dixit retired in 2016 as Director General of Police, Maharashtra
Teach media students about multiculturalism
Prakash Bal
Prakash Bal
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray is at it again. MNS activists have gone on a rampage against hawkers in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, particularly around railway stations. The pretext: the Elphinstone Road stampede, in which 24 people were killed.
The presence of hawkers is a fact. But they are not the reason for the stampede. Everybody, including Mr. Thackeray, knows the stampede happened because of the Railways’ mismanagement and lethargy. The MNS is targeting hawkers because it was looking for an opportunity to refurbish its image after repeated electoral defeats; Mr. Thackeray realised that he can turn this tragedy into political capital by framing the issue in terms of non-Marathi hawkers and the Marathi manoos.
In this context, we need to consider why and how this culture of vandalism and hooliganism has taken root in Maharashtra politics, and whether the media — newspapers earlier, now television and online — has been objective enough in placing before their readers the facts that have led to such events. Or has it got carried away and allowed itself to be used?
Political violence, in the form of communal riots, violent agitations, strife during industrial strikes, has been a regular socio-political feature in Maharashtra. But it was never instant street-level vandalism and hooliganism. This started with the Shiv Sena’s rise in the mid-60s. The State — whichever party might have been in power — never took a firm stand against this. This had given the Sena, and later after Raj Thackeray left the party and formed his own party, the MNS, a certain legitimacy.
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Regional identity is the reason certain sections of the Marathi population still backs the Shiv Sena and MNS. The party in power always had a fear of losing Marathi votes. This is the main reason for them not acting effectively against such violence.
The identity issue has not spared the media either. Marathi newspapers and television channels have been mostly sympathetic to this identity, offering the occasional criticism against violence. English-language newspapers and TV channels as well as the vernacular media from north India has been mostly critical of this behaviour.
If a robust public opinion has to be created against these types of vandalism and hooliganism, then the media has a role to play. From a long-term perspective, we need a two-pronged strategy: First, curriculums at media courses across the country need to be revised and media students made aware about how the multicultural Indian society evolved. Second, media recruitment policies need to be more rigorous.
This is not happening, and is the reason no journalist has so far asked Raj Thackeray to explain how hawkers can be held responsible for the Elphinstone Road stampede.
Prakash Bal is a senior journalist and political commentator
Let’s have good people in politics
Anjali Damania
Anjali Damania
If I ask you to close your eyes and imagine an Indian politician, you will see a man dressed in spotless white, accompanied by bodyguards, police, and at least 20 other people. Never will you imagine a normally-dressed individual, walking alone.
Post Independence, politics has undergone a sea change. We can’t imagine an election without rallies, public meetings or advertisements. You have probably not attended a political meeting, but you would have seen the large crowds on TV or in the newspaper. Where does the crowd come from? A decent show of strength in a political rally needs a crowd of at least a lakh. The rate per person is ₹400 to ₹500, plus food and transport, and another ₹100 for accessories (flags ₹40, banners ₹40, caps ₹20). Any large rally costs crores. Then there is advertising. A cover-page advertisement in a leading newspaper’s Mumbai edition can cost over ₹70 lakh, and a single hoarding from ₹5 lakh to ₹6 lakh.
Where does this money come from? Aside from corporate funding, a major source — those ‘donors’ will expect a return — a lot is raised from MPs and MLAs. No one cares whether it is clean money. Criminals are foisted on us as lawmakers. What can one expect from them?
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Take Maharashtra. In a recent interview, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who is praised as being the face of clean politics, called some of these unscrupulous people ‘maji gunda,’ meaning ex-criminals. How can we expect change when the same set of people move across party lines? Whether we talk about them, or about cow vigilantes, or parties like the Shiv Sena and MNS, all of them take to vandalism and ransacking to terrorise people. Artists are not allowed to perform, sports events are blocked, and none of it is because these parties actually care: it is only to create a vote bank.
What causes this hooliganism?
The answer is simple. We can’t expect sainthood from politicians, who are criminals. They have cases and first information reports of scams, murder, rape and extortion filed against them. Those in ruling governments threaten action against those in opposition, scaring them with ED, IT, CBI and ACB raids. But investigating agencies are puppets in the hands of whoever is ruling, and those currently ruling also know that the tables turn in a few years. So, action is never taken. And we as citizens remain mute spectators.
Who is to be blamed for the filth in politics? It’s us. We want our children to go in for medicine or engineering; never have we encouraged them to study political science. We are ruled by people who take to hooliganism only because good people don’t get into politics. Change in politics can only happen with a different kind of politician. Maybe this will happen some day. But I have my reservations.
Anjali Damania is a social activist and former member of the Aam Admi Party
