Saturday, October 19, 2013
BJP and ASARAM
It is surprising why BJP and Sangh Parivar should be rooting
for a alleged sex offender like Asaram. Prima facie, the case against Baba
Asaram is so horrifying, that one can hardly ignore such sex exploitation;
especially with the mood of the nation becoming most unforgiving after the
Nirbhay tragedy. Day in and day out cases in every city, town, village, are
cropping up with people boldly exposing rapes and molestations against our
women folk. Why all of sudden, Sangh Parivar has made Asaram a test case, to
treat it as a communal matter, by plastering posters in all trains in Gujarat,
with a strong message by the newly anointed BJP member, the famous maverick,
Subramanian Swamy, treating the accusations as something political and
proclaiming it as bogus. When was Swamy ever deterred from approaching the
courts, even though invariably his plaints were bogus and motivated. Let the
law decide the entire matter. After all, Asaram and his supporters have every
chance to defend him and his son and other of this entourage, in the court of
law. Why should Sangh Parivar feel that they should make it a political issue,
when the victims of the accused are so graphic in their characterization of
what Asaram’s dalliance with women folk as purely criminal in intent. People in
general are in deep shock. It is possible that Sangh Parivar, who is desperate
to win the next Lok Sabha election on the basis of religious mobilization and
communalization of the polity, treats the matter of Asaram’s prosecution as Congress
vendetta and its misuse of government institutions as part of illegal political
campaign. That may be true at some level; however all such crimes cannot be
ignored, overlooked, compromised, just to create level playing field between
BJP and Congress. Propaganda by Sangh
Parivar and/or its supporters are taking very dangerous risk, in supporting
people with such gory record as it is possible that facts may prove to be
against Asaram and his conviction may rebound on BJP as disrespectful and
uncaring of women’s civil and human rights and dignity.
Media better not be part of this dirty game that politicians
play. Nation’s integrity and security is at stake.
Ghulam Muhammed, Mumbai
