Contrasting reactions to judicial pronouncements in the neighbouring states of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh tell a story that every right-thinking Indian must be concerned about. Last month, a Muslim judge, Tabassum Khan, in Madhya Pradesh, convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment seven Hindu men involved in lynching a Muslim to death. Scholars with far greater knowledge of the law than this newspaper possesses have scrutinised the judgement and concluded that it is both reasoned and fair.
In days that have followed, Judge Khan has been hounded on social media, threatened with bodily harm ~ and more ~ and castigated in terms that do not deserve to be repeated. In parallel, a Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court, comprising two Hindu judges, has confirmed the death sentences awarded to 38 Muslim members of the Indian Mujahideen in the Ahmedabad blasts case, a pronouncement that has provoked a milder response, either celebratory or of criticizing the system for not having achieved this outcome sooner. While the Madhya Pradesh High Court has taken notice of Judge Khan’s case, and the Supreme Court bar has severely criticised the reaction, the vile abuse and intimidation she has faced describe a cancerous mind-set that is metastasizing so rapidly that it will soon become terminal. The passivity of the state apparatus and the silence of political leaders tell a tale that ought to worry all of us. These reactions are, unfortunately, emerging as a pattern in contemporary India.
Not too long ago, a Judge of the Bombay High Court, who rendered a verdict in a matter involving the Bohra Muslim community, upholding the position of one faction over another, faced death threats to himself and his family. The laws of the land lay down rules for dealing with judgments that we disagree with. Parties are free to seek review before a higher forum. Informed criticism that does not cast aspersions on the judge but points to flaws in her or his reasoning is permitted. Not permitted are abuse or intimidation, and certainly not the cowardly use of threats that hide behind anonymous social media handles. The fact that police can crack down on some online cases of abuse, but not others, itself tells a story ~ of a state that is fast acquiring the jaundiced vision of bigots.
Claims of moral superiority and of a civilizational ethos of tolerance ring hollow in the face of such excesses. They tell us that something is seriously wrong with us, that we are only prepared to accept authority when convenient to us. Having begun with small transgressions such as driving on the wrong side of the road and getting away with these, we have become a people who believe it is acceptable to beat up doctors who fail to cure our patients, or threaten those who render justice on the facts presented to them. If this is the vision of a modern India that we wish to present to the world, we must prepare to accept a harsh prognosis of our condition.