Page 14 - EW September 2022

Editorial

RHETORIC & ACTION SHADOW tion. On the contrary, they are more
focused on rewriting history from the
hindutva perspective and mixing my-
he p rim e m inister’s 75th Inde- on developing national unity and thology with history.
pendence Day address to the strength, and all citizens discharging Likewise, the third goal of develop-
Tnation from the ramparts of their duties with honesty. Elaborating, ing pride in the country’s history and
Delhi’s historic Red Fort on August 15, the prime minister exhorted citizens cultural legacy suggests a coded mes-
was a departure from usual speeches to collaborate with government to sage to the Hindu majoritarian ruling
delivered on this day to mark the end stamp out corruption and nepotism, party to propagate hindutva ideology
of almost two centuries of British rule and empower women to attain the and nostrums. Ironically, the prime
over India. Unlike earlier speeches panch pran goals. minister’s advice to the public to em-
that boasted the tremendous prog- However, there’s a ring of deja vu power and respect women coincided
ress the country has made since 2014 about this roadmap. Every prime min- with the remission of life sentences
when the BJP was swept to power in ister has presented similar develop- awarded by a special CBI court to 11
New Delhi and rolling out new devel- ment prescriptions to little avail. Be- convicted criminals involved in the
opment programmes, this year prime cause while it’s easy to proclaim lofty heinous 2002 gang-rape of Bilkis
minister Modi presented the nation politically correct resolutions, trans- Bano and murder of her 14 relatives
with a roadmap to transform India lating them into effective programmes in the prime minister’s bailiwick state
into a fully developed and prosperous is an altogether different proposition. of Gujarat.
country within the next 25 years when For instance, the first of the five Undeniably, it is the prime minis-
India will celebrate its centenary, i.e, goals to transform India into a devel- ter’s duty and obligation to set lofty
100 years as a free, self-governing and oped country within the next 25 years goals for development and progress
globally respected nation-state. requires careful drawing up of priori- on national occasions such as Inde-
The panch pran (five worthy) ties and detailed projects planning. pendence and Republic days. But
goals set for the nation to be achieved Whereas your editors say that India lofty vision needs to be implemented
by 2047 are: to resolutely march for- rising is impossible without thorough through actionable ground-level pro-
ward to transform from a developing overhaul and upgradation of the edu- grammes. Mere high-sounding rheto-
to developed nation; shedding all infe- cation system from KG-Ph D, BJP gov- ric contradicted by official acts of com-
riority complex and mind-set of servi- ernments at the Centre and in states mission and omission, disseminates
tude; developing pride in the country’s pay scant attention towards greater cynicism and demoralisation within
history and cultural legacy; focusing provision for and reforming educa- the citizenry.

JUSTICE NOT SEEN TO BE DONE the recommendation of the Sentences
Review Board which opined that the
convicts had served jail terms of more
he alacrity with which the BJp riots broke out across the state. Ac- than 14 years during which they had
government of Gujarat state ac- cording to official data, in the months exhibited good conduct, itself a con-
Tcepted a report of the Sentences that followed 1,044 people were killed testable conclusion.
Review Board (SRB) packed with and 2,500 injured. Of the dead, 790 However, this justification is un-
state government officials including were Muslim and 254 Hindu. tenable because under law, remission
two BJP MLAs (members of legisla- On February 28, Bilkis Bano and of sentence for convicts incarcerated
tive assembly), to release 11 convicted her family of 18 including women and for over 14 years is not automatic. In
criminals serving life sentences for children fearing loot and arson fled a 2012 judgement, the Supreme Court
gang-rape of survivor Bilkis Bano, and her village in Dahod district for a relief ruled that state governments are
the daylight murder of her three-year- camp in Godhra. En route, on March obliged to carefully weigh the nature
old daughter and 14 relatives during 3, they were attacked by a rampaging of crime and its impact on society and
communal riots that swept the state mob of 25-30 including the 11 convicts investigate every convict’s conduct
in 2002, has shocked the conscience who gang-raped her, murdered — yes during imprisonment prior to grant-
of right-thinking members of society murdered — her three-and-half-year- ing pardon. In Bilkis Bano’s case, the
countrywide. old daughter and 14 of their party. nature of the crime was horrific as
The backdrop of this brazen release Despite every official discourage- acknowledged by revised remission
of unforgiveable convicts is wide- ment and life threats, Bilkis Bano guidelines issued in 2014.
spread communal riots that broke fought her case all the way up to the The release of all 11 convicts si-
out in Gujarat in 2002, after a train Supreme Court which ordered the ac- multaneously is clear proof of non-
compartment with 58 Hindu devo- cused to be tried by a special CBI court application of mind by SRB and the
tees returning to Ahmedabad from constituted in the neighbouring state BJP Gujarat state government. In the
the holy city of Ayodhya was alleg- of Maharashtra. In January 2008, the circumstances, the Supreme Court
edly set on fire by a mob of Muslim special court found 11 guilty and sen- should immediately nullify the release
zealots when it halted in the town of tenced them to life imprisonment. order of the Gujarat government. A
Godhra on February 27. All the devo- On August 15, 2022 the life sen- well known maxim of law is that jus-
tees were charred to death. Following tences of the convicts were abrogated tice must not only be done, but also
this atrocity, widespread anti-Muslim by the Gujarat state government on seen to be done.

14 EDUCATIONWORLD SEPTEMBER 2022