There is no place for hate-mongering when it comes to politicians going to the hustings in India. Politicians of opposing parties may not be able to stand each other at a personal level, but the least they are expected to do while canvassing for votes is not to stoke communal and religious sentiments regardless of how many of their poll promises pander to the votebanks they may have nurtured over the years.
There is a reason for the need of restraint in this regard in India. Our history reveals what a high price we have paid as a society because of communal riots, not just during and after Partition, but several decades before that. Evolved societies have a way of dealing intelligently with outrageous claims and statements of radicals and extreme ideologues who seem to surface only during election time. That’s not the case in India.
Given the huge price our nation has paid for divisions along communal lines, it is reprehensible that politicians of leading parties are openly airing their bigoted opinions and prejudices in public for the sake of votes. Both Amit Shah of the BJP and Mohammad Azam Khan of the SP — who have made speeches that are more than likely to promote enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, etc. — must be dealt with in accordance with the law.
It is risible that SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav should come to the defence of his colleague on the grounds that he is a leader of a secular party. The gentleman’s language, however, belies his label. Mr Khan crossed all boundaries of basic decency when he said that three of the Gandhi family — Sanjay, Indira and Rajiv — had unnatural deaths because of their actions against a particular community. Such statements are beyond the pale.
The Election Commission may be empowered to deal with hate speeches, but it cannot do away with the menace altogether. It has stepped in to nip Mr Shah and Mr Khan by banning their rallies in communally sensitive Uttar Pradesh, which recently suffered communal violence. It has also reined in the likes of Imran Masood who made personal attacks on Narendra Modi and even threatened him.
A workable solution to this problem must be found before the next round of elections. While EC’s steps to curb the menace must receive the support of all parties, they themselves have to get together to evolve a common code of don’ts. Without that this devious stroking of communal passions won’t ever stop.
