MyVoice: Views of our readers 9th October 2020

Will the protests be silenced?

Will the fate of the public resistance now in evidence, be it in the case of the Hathras cruelty or the farm-related agitations, see a repeat of what transpired after the clampdown on the anti-CAA protestors, or will this new democratic opposition to bad laws and human cruelties find a more extensive life and strength?

Protests run by citizens tend to be selflessly pegged to human rights issues; while it is good that organised political forces are engaging with the current challenges, one never knows when sectarian and political interests may dictate either withdrawal or intensification. I have great hope that they will carry on protesting but cannot say whether they will see these matters to the end.

It also remains to be seen how the justice system may view these familiar tactics on behalf of the powers-that-be. Can we as citizens now hope that the courts will think hard before consigning people arraigned in FIRs to custody if the averments made therein seem patently cooked up with the object of chilling the opposition once again into silence?

Raghuram G, Hyderabad

BJP in denial mode

The BJP seems to be in denial mode on the rape and murder of a Dalit girl in UP's Hathras village. Remember what happened in Kathua, where a minor shepherd girl was raped and murdered, and Unnao, where the 17-year old victim survived? There too, BJP leaders denied rape and BJP workers on the ground led demonstrations asserting the accused were innocent, that those who cried rape had malign designs.

There too, the victims' families were threatened. Indeed, in Unnao, the girl's father was accused of brutalising her himself, beaten by the then BJP MLA's men and taken into custody by the local police, who allowed him no treatment, so he died a few days later. The girl was supposed to have witness protection, but was severely injured in a car accident on her way to court. She survived but two of her relatives were killed in that accident. Another gang rape victim from Unnao itself, was set on fire while attending the court hearing of her own case by the accused. She died in hospital. Now, her nephew is reportedly missing.

What I don't understand is why the case went to the Supreme Court, or why the Court did not defer to the Allahabad high court, which showed the integrity to take suo motu notice of the ghastly event. In the desert that the rule of law has become, the Allahabad high court has been a rare example in calling the administration to account on blatant violation of human rights.

Perhaps the Supreme Court will suggest the Allahabad court monitor the CBI probe, which the Adityanath administration now also seeks, at the same time, oddly enough, that it has extended the SIT mission by another ten days. After Kathua, Unnao and Hathras, we cannot avoid the glaring question of why our ruling party is so tolerant of party representatives who seek to defend alleged rapists and murderers or those that have been complicit.

Durga Sreevani, Hyderabad