The Constitution that ‘We, the People of India’ gave to
ourselves over half-a-century ago abolished untouchability (Article 17) and its
practice in any form was made punishable in accordance with law. In 1955, the
Protection of Civil Rights Act was introduced in order to give life to the
Constitutional mandate. Three decades later, when it became more than obvious
that this law had failed miserably in checking the indignities of caste, a fresh
and more stringent piece of legislation, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, was brought into existence.
Today, more than five decades after the constitutional
directive, the obnoxious age-old practice continues unchecked, its extreme form
manifesting itself as atrocities against Dalits. The perpetrators of this
outrage may act more brazenly in rural and semi-urban areas, but even urban
India is by no means free from the scourge. Every day, two Dalits are murdered,
two Dalit homes are burnt, two Dalit women are raped and two Dalits are
assaulted. How are such widespread rights abuse possible despite the enactment
of laws specifically aimed at addressing this malaise? Our cover story this
month uncovers the root cause of the problem: in state after state, rampant
caste-bias on the part of the police and prosecutors ensures that most cases of
atrocities are dismissed by the lower and even the high courts on technical
grounds. In innumerable cases, judges have passed severe strictures against the
errant police while ordering acquittal of the accused. But this is of little use
for while the perpetrators of caste crimes roam free, policemen guilty of
misconduct get promoted. Among other things, a more proactive role by the
judiciary is the need of the hour.
We pride ourselves on being the world’s largest democracy. If
anything, we should be ashamed of the huge mismatch between our Constitution and
our conduct, between the justice and equality that the former promises and our
polity that remains heavily loaded against the weak and the vulnerable:
minorities, Dalits, women, the poor and the underprivileged. Though the cover
story this month highlights the problem of unpunished caste crimes in Gujarat
and Andhra Pradesh, other states are no less guilty. In the coming issues of
CC, we will highlight the gravity of the problem in other states.
Since the 70s, the Saudi monarchy is known to have invested
considerable funds in certain Muslim organisations and institutions across the
globe, including India. Such largesse however is not in the service of Islam but
is self-serving. ‘Wahhabism’, a puritanical, rigid, insular and intolerant
version of Islam has been at the service of the Saudi royal family since its
rise to prominence. Faced with threats to itself –Arab Nationalism, the
anti-monarchy ‘Islamic Revolution’ in Iran, growing democratic aspirations among
Muslim masses – in a bid to perpetuate themselves, Saudi rulers have sought to
strengthen Muslim organisations and institutions across the globe whose
worldview is close to that of Wahhabi thinking. In India this has meant the
growing clout of sects like the Ahl-e-Hadith and the Deobandis at the cost of
other Muslims who take pride in India’s syncretic tradition. As our special
report points out, "some Ahl-i Hadith scholars insist on the need for Muslims to
have as little to do with the Hindus as possible, for fear of the ‘deleterious’
consequences this might have for the Muslims’ own commitment to and practice of
Islam". To say the least, this is bad news for anyone concerned with bridging
the growing Hindu-Muslim divide.
To those under the misconception that in the modern world the
mixing of religion with politics and power is basically an Islamic
preoccupation, we would specially recommend the article in this issue on the
implications to America and the rest of the world of the inter-mixing of
evangelism and politics. What should worry us more than anything else is the
fact that at the head of this ‘Holy Nexus’ is none other than President Born
Again Bush.
"My faith frees me. Frees me to put the problem of the moment in
proper perspective. Frees me to make decisions that others might not like. Frees
me to try to do the right thing", evangelist Bush had said many years ago while
he was still a governor. Read this article specially if you are not too pleased
with all the "right things" Dubya has done since.
EDITORIAL