One thing we can say with certainty in our country is that judiciary which is independent still commands the respect and meets the aspirations of the masses. No wonder then that the statement made by the Chief Justice of India TS Thakur during a media interaction at his residence on Sunday that the debate on growing intolerance in the country has a political angle and that as long as the rule of law prevails there is no need for anyone to fear no matter what community he belongs to, needs to be respected.
Though he stopped short of elaborating on the political angle linked to intolerance, it is evident that the comments have a pointer to the sudden spurt on the endless deliberation on intolerance all of a sudden during the NDA rule, though people have been subjected to different forms of persecutions since independence.
As expressly said by him what is important is the prevalence of the rule of law, for as long as that prevails we can take recourse to legal action for redressing any injustices perpetrated on us.
It would be fitting to elaborate here that if at all during the 68 years of independent India, the citizens of the country had any feeling of insecurity, it was during the 21 months after emergency was declared on 25 June 1975.
Let all those who make noise on the growing intolerance in the country take note that emergency, which is reckoned as the darkest period in the history of free India, was declared by the Congress Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
It wouldn’t be out of place to mention here that Salman Rushdie was one among the 200 writers who wrote to British Prime Minister David Cameroon to raise the issue of intolerance with Narendra Modi during his visit to UK. Rushdie should have recollected that his book ‘Satanic Verses’ was banned by the Congress Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Neither did the hapless Bangladeshi woman writer Taslima Nasreen and author of the novel ‘Lajja’ who was hounded in her country with death threats had a smooth sailing in India while seeking asylum when Sonia Gandhi was the Congress President under UPA.
