Has Modi government proven its incompetence by being unable to rein in Rajput Karni Sena?
Unidentified men, purportedly Karni Sena goons, took to vandalism in different places in Gurgaon to protest the release of Padmaavat. Video clips have emerged of a school bus being set on fire.
Of course, the lesser said the better it is about the Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government in Haryana. It seems police presence hardly means anything, once again reminding everyone of the August 25 Panchkula violence last year.
Video of school bus attacked today in Gurugram by anti-Padmavati cowards. This is the aukat of groups like the Karni Sena: attackers of little kids. May the men responsible for this never be able to walk again. pic.twitter.com/4ZFKvJboKc
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) January 24, 2018
Violence and arson also hit Ahmedabad as Karni Sena men staged protests against the January 25 release of the controversial movie.
Proud day for the #KarniSena “men”??? Why the hell aren’t they in Jail!??? https://t.co/X7gTlRKVvQ
— Raveena Tandon (@TandonRaveena) January 24, 2018
Following the apex court verdict on the release of Padmaavat, the four BJP-ruled states - which had earlier banned the film in theatres - pleaded virtual inability to counter a marginal section of the mob seemingly to cater to electoral politics. Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan governments have washed their hands off the law and order situation in case the release of Padmaavat spurs violence.
Even though following the apex court's prodding they are no longer providing excuses, the four states are still taking a decidedly hostile line. It probably requires the courts to ask if law and order is indeed a state subject, and if they are at all capable of maintaining peace and public order within their boundaries.
The official line emanating is that those in power are not saying anything inflammatory. True from the legal angle, but everybody knows that the fringe has got out of hand. Yesterday (January 23), the PM invited foreign investors to India at the World Economic Forum. Do you think that any sane-minded investor would like to invest in states that cannot ensure minimum acceptable law and order?
Notwithstanding infrastructure losses, social unrest is enough to discourage investments. This may be one of the reasons that northern India keeps losing out to big ticket foreign investments as compared to the southern states. But even among the southern states, God's own country, Kerala, has been slipping consistently in the ease of doing business rankings (among states) due to the CPM-RSS political violence despite Kerala being way ahead of other states in human development index.
The fringe has already caused a lot of troubles in the garb of cow protectors and moral vigilantes. Of course, there is another fringe that calls for a splintered India and works for it actively, but both are equally condemnable. They give a bad name to the society which largely remains inclusive. They put a question mark on the government's capacity to deliver. Above all, the activities of the fringe hurts the sentiments of the silent majority who usually let their feelings out only once in every five years.