Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has recently been booked for sedition. As you know, there are two ways to register a case.
First, any person approaches police though in this case generally police refrain from registering FIR on flimsy ground, especially, against personalities living outside jurisdiction of the police station.
The second way is that a person directly files a private complaint in the court and the court either registers the case or orders police to take action in this regard. So, a lawyer, who is naturally more aware of law, filed the complaint in court and got FIR registered against Rahul Gandhi.
Now, this case may not go too far, but such things do affect image. The world knows that sedition case has been registered against Rahul Gandhi. If you want to harass a person, it is quite easy if you have an organisation. The modus operandi is:
Get cases registered against him across India, in different cities. MF Husain faced the situation and as he was a rich man, he could afford to leave India and settled in Middle East. But for most pople, it's not easy thing [there are exceptions like Raj Thackeary though].
How easily a lawyer approaches a court and whether it was cognisable crime or not, the FIR was registered! It all started in the eighties. The right-wing in India has been steadily working to gain foothold in each sector--administration, media, among lawyers et al.
Either it is the recent incident of lawyers' attack on Kanhaiya or the manner in which lawyers thrashed a group of protesters in Allahabad, it shows how the project has worked over the years [for the right-wing].
1. Congress kept its eyes closed or it was a silent assent. It played 'soft Hindutva' as it feared that 'Hindu vote' would go away. But in this competition Congress would always be a loser. It can't compete with BJP in 'Hindutva' and 'Hindu Nationalism'. Can it?
2. For Congress, what would have been prudent was to be strict on law-and-order and tackle the growing communalisation, through legislations and crackdown on right-wing radicals, groups. But it failed miserably in dealing with the Saffronisation.
3. BJP kept raising issues regarding Kashmir and Afzal. Congress kept falling in the trap. Even after hanging Afzal, it seems that Congress is pro-Afzal and BJP is nationalist despite alliance with PDP. That's what happens when you follow others instead of doing your politics.
4. When Congress was in power, it remained soft on right-wing radicals who were found involved in terrorism. It also failed to ban Bajrang Dal or similar outfits despite the fact that the VHP and Dal activists take law in their hands throughout India.
5. Had it taken these measures and got its members in jail, that would have deterred these organisation and there would be fear among people in joining these outfits. But Congress has always allowed them to function freely.
6. These groups--from Shiv Sena [that was involved in Mumbai riots] and Bajrang Dal-VHP kept on getting powerful and realised that this was the way to strengthen themselves. Students, teachers, lawyers, everyone joined them to get 'more power' in society.
The result is 'Saffronisation'. Congress is reaping what it sowed. And it fails to learn.
