Citizens’ protests against governmental action aren’t a new phenomenon in this country: people take out a march or sit on dharna almost every single day. There have been peaceful agitations that lasted weeks and months before being called off, but the Delhi protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the reactions to it show an alarming trend. Sunday’s firing in the air at Jamia Millia Islamia by two unidentified gunmen is the third in a series of dangerous responses. A juvenile fired on unarmed protesters on January 30, Gandhiji’s martyrdom day, injuring a university student. Two days later, on February 1, a youth Kapil Gujjar fired at protesters at Shaheen Bagh.
It seems the Delhi Assembly polls have cast a long shadow on the anti-CAA protests. While the Aam Aadmi Party has chosen to stay out, the BJP appears hell-bent on making Arvind Kejriwal a party to it, and the election an India-Pakistan affair. Senior BJP leaders, including a senior minister, have no qualms in calling an elected CM a “terrorist”, not once but twice. So it’s not an accident, but follows a pattern.
BJP leaders have chosen to interpret the word “terrorist” in a way politically convenient to them, to paint political opponents in dark shades. The only sane voice that has come from the ruling side is that of defence minister Rajnath Singh, who said the BJP “did not wish to come to power in Delhi riding on hatred, and such a victory would be unacceptable to the party”. The trend appears ominous. Desperation can’t be the inspiration in politics; democracy should be the winner in an election, not the politics of hate and desperation. The ruling party has an added responsibility to ensure this.
