Rising Impact of RW Politics: Shoe Flung at CJI Gavai!

Recently, advocate Rakesh Kishore hurled his shoe at Chief Justice of India B.R Gavai. The background was that while giving his verdict on a PIL (public interest litigation) filed by the advocate asking for restoration of Lord Vishnu idol’s head, in one of the temples in Khajuraho, Justice Gavai stated that this matter was not a PIL but a personal publicity move. The petitioner should have gone to the Archaeological Survey of India or should have asked the deity to restore its head.

This comment infuriated Kishore. As per him, the Lord appeared in his dream and asked him to take action. As for him, this was the motivation to do the act of throwing his shoe at the CJI, who happens to be the second Dalit and first Buddhist to occupy the highest legal office of the country. The attack of this sort is also very reflective of the plight of Dalits under the current dispensation.

At the same time Justice Gavai’s mother was invited as chief guest in a city in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. She declined the invitation, saying that she is an Ambedkarite and would not be able to attend this programme. One recalls here that RSS’s agenda of Hindu Rashtra is unfolding at a rapid pace and only ideologically blinded people may not be able to discern this. The likes of Justice Gavai’s mother must be remembering Babasaheb opposing the demand of Pakistan on the ground that this may pave the way for Hindu Raj, which will be a calamity for the country. (Ambedkar, revised edition of book, Pakistan or Partition of India)

At the same time a social media influencer, Ajeet Bharti, also wrote something derogatory against the CJI. When the media was abuzz that action may be taken against him, he said: “The government is ours; the system is ours.” Bharti posted in Hindi, late evening on October 7. Just before that, he wrote another X post: “If the entire system were against me, I wouldn't be out and about, having coffee, roasted almonds, and cashews. The entire system is with me, that is, your system — the system of our ideas. Disagreements will continue to happen, but we are all one, having been, and will remain. I am grateful to all of you. Jai Sri Ram!”

Read Also: How the RSS’, Golwalkar, HMS’ Savarkar glorified caste: Devanur Mahadevan

Justice Gavai told court officials to ignore the incident and go ahead with further work, not making it a point of distraction. With a magnanimous heart, he said that no action should be taken against Kishore. Meanwhile, police action was to call him to the police station and after a chit chat they returned his shoe.

Now FIRs are being filed against Kishore at different places. As far as Bharti is concerned, he was also called to the police station, treated to a warm cup of tea and was allowed to let go! Imagine if such an atrocious act of throwing a shoe at CJI was done by someone with a Muslim name! By now all the NSA (National Security Act) and other such clauses would have been slapped against him.

As far as the CJI’s comments on appealing to the deity, much ruckus has been created on the social media, terming it as an “insult” of Sanatan. Even Kishore shouted: “Sanatan ka Aapman: Nahin Sahega Hindustan, (Insult of Sanatan will not be tolerated by India)! Incidentally, the slogan began with ‘Say with Pride we are Hindus’ (Garv se Kaho hum Hindu hain) but now instead of ‘Hindu’ the word ‘sanatan’ is being used as the flagbearer of Right-Wing politics.

One of the main reasons for formation of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the major vehicle of Hindutva nationalism and Hindu Rashtra, was to confront the rising awareness amongst Dalits about their exploitation by the landlord-clergy alliance.

The RSS always upheld caste (varna) as its anchor, the values of Manu Smriti being articulated by its earlier ideologues. Today, its articulation has become cleverer, where on the one hand, they say that all castes are equal, while on the other, as far as policies are concerned, they ensure that atrocities on Dalits and their social marginalisation are implemented far and wide.

This marginalisation and intimidation of Dalits have become more intense after 2014, when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to full majority on its own. The rise in anti-Dalit crimes is not being seen for the first time, but ever since the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government came to power in 2014, the incidences have climbed significantly. [Crimes against Dalits and Adivasis increased by 27.3% and 20.3%, respectively, in 2018.]

As per data provided by scholar Anand Teltumbde: “The assault on Gavai thus mirrors the broader social pattern where caste violence persists amid formal equality. Over 55,000 cases of atrocities against Dalits are registered each year; on average, four Dalits are murdered and a dozen Dalit women are raped every day.”

This incident was not taken seriously by the State; we have seen the attitude of the police. Prime Minister Modi woke up to the negative electoral impact of this on Dalit voters and the maximum he did was to come out with a bland tweet. 

On the one hand, it is the affirmative action given by our Constitution that people like Gavai have risen to such heights in the Indian judicial system. On the other hand, social attitudes toward Dalits and women have not changed in tune with the democratic norms.

The yeoman efforts of Ambedkar were backed by Gandhi's marathon efforts to fight against untouchability in the society. Social norms started changing to some extent. But the roots of those prejudices and biases against Dalits were not removed completely.

Ambedkar and Gandhi emphasised on inter-caste marriages to root out the rigidities and atrocities wrought by the caste system. The past three-four decades have seen not only a widening gulf between religions, but parallel to this, the caste system is also getting a boost due to rising sectarianism. One sectarianism strengthens the other one. That is at the core of what the ilk of Rakesh Kishore are manifesting and the likes of Ajeet Bharti tell us -- that due to the RW party being in power, these elements get an assurance about going scot free. They do enjoy close to absolute impunity.

The writer is a human rights activist, who taught at IIT Bombay. The views are personal.