Shameful, Ankit Saxena's father had to request media to not communalise his son's killing

The murder of a young photographer, Ankit Saxena, is a terrible reminder of how "sexual governance", a concept introduced by feminists Uma Chakravarti and Pratiksha Baxi, holds sway in the society. Families, communities and the state feel they have the right to govern women's bodies. However, the killing of the 23-year-old also tells us that "love" defies the violent identities that people take on or live with.

This "love" shared between the man and the woman offers a glimmer of hope in the tragedy.

According to some reports, Ankit was a supporter of the Bajrang Dal and participated in rallies organised by the outfit.

His immediate and extended family members appear remarkably secular and even in the face of this terrible personal loss, have been critical of the media trying to give a communal colour to the incident and urged people not to communalise the incident.

This generosity of spirit is truly heart-warming. In these times where the entire country is turning into a communal tinderbox, this is also amazing.

What is even more unusual is the fact that this relationship existed despite Ankit's ideological leanings, though we are told he was not an active member of Bajrang Dal. What is amazing in this case is that the idea of love contradicts that ideology or exists despite it.

In Hindi cinema, the idea of inter-faith marriage has long been a trope. Indeed, love crossing lines of class, caste, creed and religion was the staple for decades since the emergence of Hindi cinema. Of course, almost always the boy is Hindu and the girl Muslim (as in this case too) and the idea of love and marriage is predicated on an implicit renunciation of religion for the idea of modern, secular love.

Indeed, according to popular imagination, it is only Muslims who force non-Muslims to marry as was seen in the recent Hadiya case. Hadiya was born Hindu and her marrying a Muslim led to an uproar. Allegations of love jihad followed. Commentators have pointed out that had the boy been Muslim, the situation could have been much worse.

Hidden behind the secular love narrative are implicit ideas of Hindu majoritarianism and also the same sexual governance that drives not just parents but couples also. Feminists in Delhi learnt this the hard way when after weeks and months of offering support and shelter to one such couple, they found that the first request the man made of the woman was to stop wearing jeans.

Even love is constrained by patriarchal moorings. But what is more interesting in this case is the psychic excess of it that is stronger than even divisive communal ideology.

Father's message

Ankit's father, Yashpal Saxena, has come down heavily on the media and politicians seeking to communalise the murder.

While there is no doubt that the murder is communal, the father's taking a stand to call out communalism even in the face of the loss of his son must be cherished.

Criminal law is based more often than not on the idea of vengeance and retribution. The most recent example of it is the demand of death penalty from Jyoti Singh's parents for her rapists and murderers. Not for Yashpal Saxena though. He states his anti-communal and secular position clearly.

He also criticises the media for trying to sensationalise the murder. He asked people to join them if they so wished with love in their hearts, nothing else.

Yashpal Saxena’s love is the true love of this story. It is not just love for his son but love for humankind. It is not a love that excuses violence or gives assent to it by embracing it in some fuzzy idea of agape. It is a love that demands justice even as it does not seek counter-violence and vengeance. But it does not mix justice with hatred and lustful desire for revenge.

Yashpal has also highlighted the rot in the media, which is shamelessly only bothered about TRPs and is not ready to leave people alone even in their moments of grief. It is tragic that Yashpal had to point it out in this hour of personal crisis.

He has denied he has hatred for any community or any individual. It is a voice we must learn to hear and hold alive within us. If Yashpal Saxena can do it, we can too.

Also read: Ankit Saxena murder case: Do not ignore Shehzadi