Civil Liberties In Peril

Numerous developments since the return of the Modi-led government illustrate the steady erosion of civil liberties and the unfettered march of the Sangh Parivar against the spirit of the Constitution.

- Venkitesh Ramakrishnan and Purnima Tripathi

On the morning of October 2, the Uttar Pradesh Assembly started a 36-hour marathon special session with the professed objective of marking the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi in a unique manner. The session, in the words of Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit, was convened with the objective of upholding the ideals and values represented by the Father of the Nation. Among the matters that were to be considered were the progress of the country’s most populous State in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and in ensuring sustainable development.

There was much speechifying at the session about Mahatma Gandhi’s commitment to the cause of civil liberties and social justice, including by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. But the context in which the session was held as well as a number of developments in its run-up and immediate aftermath made the event ludicrous, distressing political spectacle.

In essence, the event and the developments around it turned out to be a symbol of the devious and duplicitous political practice mounted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership for a considerable period of time, which has acquired greater momentum right from the early days of the second term of the Narendra Modi-led government.

This two-faced political practice revolves around paying lip service to grand and noble ideas and leaders while serially exterminating civil liberties and systematically dismantling constitutional institutions. The October 2 spectacle in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and its context exemplified the operational dynamics of this double-faced political machine.