national concern
Ishrat Repeats in Bhopal ?
Culpability of operatives doesn ’ t give BJP government the license to act as a bully . If the state has been callous in its moral judgment , the central government is no better
By DANFES
The legal and moral loopholes in the Bhopal encounter case are glaring enough without the BJP ministers at the Centre and state adding to the problem . Since the time eight SIMI fugitives were gunned down by MP Police ’ s anti-terror unit on Monday , political parties have jumped onto the fray with gusto , their super sensitive olfactory receptors pointing towards a great opportunity at polarizing the electorate ahead of crucial upcoming Assembly polls .
Two or more can play this game and none of our political parties are even remotely scrupulous . But by virtue of being in power at the Centre and in the state where the encounter killings took place , the BJP should have shown some faith in jurisprudence and a little more maturity in handling the tough questions that would inevitably be raised in the event of such a questionable turn of events . But through their callous rhetoric and blatant attempt at cashing in on the controversy , the BJP comes out the worse .
Even senior party leaders and functionaries appear to have lost sight of the point that culpability of the SIMI fugitives ( who were anyway under-trials and not convicts ) does not provide administration the license to cross the boundary that demarcates the lawful from the outlawed . If the state metes out vigilante justice , why have the courts at all ? If the Indian state could give 26 / 11 culprit Ajmal Kasab a fair trial with full legal recourse , why would it be any different for the SIMI operatives , assuming that the encounter wasn ’ t a fair one ?
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The Dayafter November 16-30 , 2016