India is moving in the right direction. The country is currently in a state of political flux, with naysayers loudly bemoaning the threat to secularism, sovereignty and democracy. The ideals of the Constitution, however, are safe and are being upheld.
India is a secular state and this has been maintained through the various policies of the current government – even the legislation on Triple Talaq has been brought in to ensure the empowerment of women. There are special privileges and provisions for the protection of minorities, which are enforced, irrespective of attempts by certain political outfits that try to corner the minorities’, through the fabric of secularism, to create vote banks.
There have been cases of lynching and other forms of attacks against minorities, which are unfortunate. As per the law, it is the responsibility of the state government, which is the authority concerned, to see that such incidents don’t occur and that effective prosecutions are launched when they do happen. The culprits need to be penalised, to ensure that it doesn’t happen again. Law and order is a state subject, the government should give the police a free hand to look into the matter without discrimination. Lynching on any grounds is unacceptable.
Article 370 is another step in the right direction. As the Prime Minister explained, this article has deprived the people of their rights, especially those of women from the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. When Article 370 was in operation, legislations passed by the Centre were not applicable in the former state. In this way, many policies that would have benefited the people never reached them. From now on, if properly implemented, laws applicable to other Indian states will hold good in Jammu and Kashmir, too. With the abrogation of Article 370, people of the former states are now full citizens, just like those in any other part of the country.
The former state’s special status on the grounds of having a Muslim majority is irrelevant. There are various other parts of India (including Kerala), that have a Muslim majority. The law should be the same for everyone. With respect to the former state’s strategic position, the abrogation of Article 370 was the right move, if achieving normalcy in the region is the ultimate aim.
Criticism from the Opposition is not justified. I am sorry to say that many prominent Opposition leaders have been singing Pakistan’s tune. Statements like “Kashmir has become a concentration camp, there is total violence and genocide’, will draw the undue attention of our neighbours like Pakistan, who will revel in them. This is highly improper.
Although the government is not faultless, its administration is far better than that of its predecessors. Some decisions might be bad, but this is where we need a constructive Opposition. The general criticism is that the government has failed on the economic front. Therefore, it is the role of the Opposition to make constructive suggestions to improve the situation, rather than keeping up a volley of criticism.
—The writer BV Acharya is senior lawyer and former Advocate General of Karnataka (As told to Vishaka V. Warrier)
