The attack on Swami Agnivesh in Pakur district of Jharkhand by the BJP goons has to be condemned widely. Though the State BJP spokesperson P Shahdeo has denied the involvement of BJP, he has added that such an outburst is not `unlikely', given Agnivesh's track record. This statement itself is enough for any politically sensible person to understand their involvement. The video footages can reveal the truth further .
Swami Agnivesh is one of the first mainstream political
personalities to take a bold stand that nuclear energy is not needed for
India, right from 1980s. He was one of the earliest known personalities
to support the struggle of the people's movement on Narmada dams in
India. His contributions on the issue of bonded labour in India is
internationally recognised. For his contributions, he had received
various awards in India and abroad. One may agree or disagree with the
views of Swami Agnivesh, but his contributions can not be rejected.
The
attack on Swami Agnivesh is certainly a symptom of the growing
intolerance of freedom of expression in India. It is unfortunate that
the ruling powers within the Centre and at the State are only
facilitating and strengthening such mob lynching.
It
is also to be noted that it was only recently that the Supreme Court
had come out heavily against such mob lynching. One Muslim or a Dalit is
being lynched every week in this country. The Supreme Court had stated
that such horrendous `mobocracy' can not be tolerated and allowed to
become a new norm. However, the BJP Government has either conveniently
allowed such practices to continue and did not take any action to
curtail their own `mobocracy'. This is a matter of shame for one of the
largest democracies in the world.
In this context, it is the responsibility of the civil society in this country to condemn the attack on Swami Agnivesh and make all efforts to strengthen the democratic traditions in this country. This is a clear signal for the emergence of fascism in India.
