Mail Today
6 July 2009
Editorial
Why it is important to punish Varun Gandhi
THE sanction granted by the Uttar Pradesh government for prosecution of Bharatiya Janata Party leader Varun Gandhi under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code — for promoting enmity between religious groups — should occasion no surprise considering that this government had earlier invoked the stringent National Security Act against him. And the move is very much in order. Varun Gandhi, as is well known, not just made hate speeches against a minority community in Pilibhit in the course of campaigning as a Lok Sabha candidate but later turned his arrest for the offences into a victory rally of sorts. His supporters ran amok in Pilibhit, attacking policemen and damaging public property.
Had our laws empowered the Election Commission of India to debar such candidates from contesting elections, Varun Gandhi would not have made it to Parliament this time. But nothing of the sort happened. He got parole from the Supreme Court of India for electoral campaigning and even the order invoking the National Security Act against him was later revoked. The result is that despite committing what were grave offences, he won the elections from Pilibhit and has since been projecting himself as a future leader of the BJP. The very acts that should have kept him in jail have catapulted him to a position of importance in the public space.
It would be a travesty of the legal process if this was not checked. And that is precisely what the two criminal cases filed against him will do if carried to their logical conclusion. With forensic tests establishing that the CDs of the hate speeches indeed contain Varun’s voice, the prosecution should not find it a problem to prove its case. Convicting a pedigreed politician — who could get a three year term in jail — will send out the message that there is a price to pay for hatemongering.
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