Paresh Rawal's tweet about Arundhati Roy is a slap in the face of human rights
Driving a jeep with a man or a woman pinned to the bonnet — almost like a moth or a mannequin — is no badge of honour, least of all for a man in fatigues.
Further, driving this jeep all over a territory where you want your writ to run — a modern-day "Ashwamedha" — is no way to establish your imperial authority. Even dacoits don't do that. (The reference here is to the Vedic ritual in which a horse accosted by the king's warriors was released in a territory the monarch wished to control.)
There is surely something wrong with us as a people if we don't feel outraged at the suggestion of a court jester that a Booker prize winner be tied to a jeep and turned into a roadside exhibit. Are we a nation of gladiators?
We can surely do without such violent nationalism where lynching is a gold standard by which our patriotism will be measured. And to suggest — as is being drummed into us on social media — that only faint-hearted citizens squirm at such patriotic games.
So, suddenly what is in question is not just your patriotism — which you may or may not wear up your sleeve — but also your ability to endure third person torture.
Most of us agree the Army on any given day is doing a great job in the Valley, given the challenging circumstances. But by using human shields we have taken yet another step in a direction from where it will be difficult for us to retreat; we have just crossed a threshold where human lives do not matter any more — be they of civilians or militants.
But jingoists are convinced that if you indeed think like this, you are surely trying to weaken the resolve of the Indian Army — it is akin to telling them to fight the war with their hands tied behind the back. This is being drilled and drummed into us — all right-minded law-abiding citizens who pay their taxes and stand to attention when the national anthem is played.
We need to ask ourselves why stones have replaced Stinger missiles, why in their homeland Kashmiris have turned rooftops into boulder dumps, kindergarten schools into little quarries and hospitals into minefields.
We need to tell ourselves that somewhere all this has less to do with Pakistan and more to do with our dissatisfaction with the successive regimes and their mechanism of conflict resolution.
We need to tell ourselves that all this smacks of civil dissonance which must be addressed because the stone-throwers of today may become bombers of tomorrow. Or are we waiting for the day when even toddlers will throw pebbles at armymen? Will we catch hold of a five-year-old and pin him to a bonnet of a jeep like a scarecrow, just to set a wonderful example for other children?
Do we ever give rioters, black marketeers and looters the same treatment? Sadly, we don't, they are seldom caught, and even if they are, they generally get to ride the jeep, often with a VIP beacon — they are never pinned to the bonnet.
If we are going to have such benchmarks of patriotism, soon bravehearts will be flocking to Army centres in jeeps, ropes in hand. There would be a mad scramble when the beast on four wheels hits the road, each "patriot" clambering atop the vehicle wanting to be seen with the "trophy".
Human rights are not a privilege of a special class of people. All of us have these rights by virtue of being human. Sure, some civil rights do get curtailed and must be curtailed by the state when exigencies demand. But this cannot be done surely by dragging people in the streets or hanging them by the nearest lamp post.
Every society must set its limits of tolerance and draw the red lines, if need be, but do not allow humans to be demeaned and humiliated to an extent that we start questioning our traditional civilisational ethos.
Yes, there is no denying that some stones do emanate from the direction of a mosque or a madrassa, which indeed complicates matters. The Centre's stated position, too, has been that if a police post manned by 10 police personnel is attacked by 2,000 stone pelters, it is an attack, and has to be thwarted. The use of force will not be in question here, nor its degree. All these questions must be examined, but please keep sensitivities in mind. These are your boys and girls. I refer here only to the stone-throwers, not the bombers.
So, the question is: Do the people in the Valley live with constant strife, as Israel has done for the entire span of its nationhood?
It is high time we accept that Kashmir has known just short uneasy periods of equilibrium ever since it became an integral part of India. But for how long can a democratic and liberal government continue to take a hardline in the Valley?
This is the cost we are paying for integrating the Valley politically into the Indian Union, but not emotionally. That is the most troubling aspect.