THE POLITICS OF INVERTED BINOCULARS

IN UP, you won’t see a criminal even if you use binoculars.” In India, you won’t find a criminal making such a claim, but you will find politicians doing it.

- TJS GEORGE

Hence, the amazing assertion made by India’s amazing Home Minister. Are Indians as dumb as he thinks? No one needs binoculars to see how hooligans often rule the roost in UP. This has been the case for quite some time. Who can forget Raja Bhaiya, described by BJP leader Kalyan Singh himself as Kunda Ka Goonda? Legend has it that those who opposed him were thrown into a lake in his estate; permanent residents of the lake were crocodiles.

Amit Shah must be using special binoculars that shut out what he does not want to see. It is astonishing that the Home Minister of India thinks that Indians are stupid enough to swallow what the Government says.

There is a sinister side to this game. The way the Home Ministry uses the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) brings this out. A casual look is enough to see that the rule is: What is unacceptable to the Home Minister is unlawful. The abandon with which this Act is used against people the Government dislikes can be seen from a simple statistic: Cases taken up under the UAPA have seen only 2 per cent conviction rate. That means the vast majority of UAPA cases are politically motivated, filed outside the scope of law.