The Chief Justice of India, Tirath Singh Thakur, on Sunday brushed aside the debate on intolerance and said it may have political dimensions but as long as there is a rule of law in this country, the judiciary is capable of protecting the rights of all people guaranteed under the Constitution.
“This {intolerance} is a political issue. I am heading an institution which protects constitutional rights of all citizens and some times also non-citizens. So long as rule of law is there and the judiciary is functioning, no one should feel threatened. We are capable of protecting the rights of all citizens cutting across caste, creed, religion,” the 43rd CJI told the media during an interaction at his residence here.
The CJI said, “In so far as we are concerned, we have no such impediments. We have no such bias and we have no such reluctance. I do not want to comment anything on how politicians use this. But, we are committed to uphold the rule of law and protect right of all citizens. There is no fear to any section of society.”
He made it clear that he was not referring to any particular incident, and said this country has been home to all religions and will remain so in future too.
Justice Thakur said that “people persecuted in other societies, have come here and thrived. We have Parsis and their contributions are immense. We have legal luminaries and industrialists. We have people upholding rule of law like Fali S. Nariman, Nani Palkhivala and you know their contributions.”
Pointing out that our existence is based on philosophy of tolerance, the CJI said “The holy book Bhagwad Gita was originally written in Sanskrit, but I can’t understand Sanskrit. I read Gita in Urdu, which was translated by a Muslim. All religions despite having different paths lead to one Almighty. So Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism, all lead to the same God. We cannot divide the country on the basis of religion as the two nation theory has already been rejected.
Asked as to why the Supreme Court or the high courts did not take suo motu cognisance of recent murders of some writers, Justice Thakur said, “an order of the Supreme Court or the High Court cannot stop the crime. Crime has been part of human life. Till the time there are humans, there will be confrontation. That keeps going on. Some frailty and animal instincts are there in human minds, but there should be spirit of tolerance in an inclusive society and mutual respect and faith in each other’s religions. That should be promoted and only then we can progress.” only then.”
