From Madhya Pradesh to Delhi to Jharkhand to Chhattisgarh, agencies of the BJP governments have literally been on the rampage. The fake encounters, the oppression of people fighting for their rights, and the curbs imposed on the media bring back memories of the Emergency days.
“Every generation must keep reflecting on the Emergency period in an unbiased manner so that no future political leader can even wish to commit the same sin.” This was one of the points stressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Ram Nath Goenka (RNG) journalism awards function in New Delhi on November 2. He also spoke about other issues concerning the media, particularly on the need to maintain credibility in journalism. It was the kind of performance that should have won him hands down an award for the most ironic political speech if there was ever such a category of awards.
The timing for bestowing such an award would also have been perfect since the months of October and November have been characterised by unparalleled violations of human and democratic rights by not only the Modi government but also a number of State governments headed by his associates in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). From Delhi to Madhya Pradesh to Chhattisgarh to Jharkhand, agencies of the BJP governments have literally been on the rampage. The abuse of power and the administrative machinery took many forms. From fake encounters to oppression of people fighting for their rights to ill treatment of a deceased military veteran’s family to a ban on a leading television channel, such incidents brought back memories of the Emergency days. While almost all these incidents were attributed to BJP governments, a security-level collaboration between the Andhra Pradesh government, in which the BJP is a minor partner of the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP), and the Odisha government, led by the Biju Janata Dal, resulted in a massive strike on left-wing extremists (LWE), once again giving rise to suspicions that questionable methods of assault were employed.
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