>From cyberspace to the street -- who is more irresponsible? Nisser Dias nisserd...@gmail.com
A section of the general public, activists and some political parties have come together to protest against the high-handedness of the police seeking police custody of marine engineer Devu Chodankar for his Facebook post. It is alleged that the Facebook post was to the effect that Christians in South Goa would lose their identity if Modi became prime minister of India. The comment was posted in March and the police are seeking his arrest two months later upon a complaint from Atul Pai Kane. Such a long delay in acting adds to the suspicion over the intentions of the police. We can endlessly debate over freedom of speech being curtailed by the BJP government and whether the post could possibly result in a flare-up of communal disharmony among communities. But, till date, the Facebook comments have remained in cyberspace and has not yet spilled onto the streets. Chodankar realised his folly withdrew the comment and apologized. End of the matter. But with Atul Pai Kane pursuing his tirade against the marine engineer, it seems that this has brought Chodankar's post into the local media and onto the streets. The threat perception is greater now then before; from cyberspace it has been brought onto the public domain. I really do not know who is a bigger culprit in the issue. But the timing -- rather, the lapse of time -- in the police reacting to it does pass on a message that this government be it at the Centre or the State will not tolerate criticism of its functioning. Devu Chodankar is not an isolated case; infact it can be said that till recently he was not known widely but today he is. In India a much larger section of the population knows Sagarika Ghosh -- an editor of CNN-IBN television and more popular as the wife of Rajdeep Sardessai, Editor-in-Chief of CNN-IBN and a son of Goa. Sagarika has also been issued a memo by the management of TV-18 for tweeting against Modi. This too after Modi won the elections for BJP with a thumping majority. Hence every comment, statement, Facebook post and tweet seems to be going under the microscope and the individuals are being targeted. Is this the beginning of a second Emergency in India? It is rather strange that the main actors seem to be brushing it aside as inconsequential but secretly use others to do their dirty work. Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco has hit the nail on the head by stating that the police are acting as agents of the BJP. It is an open secret that any government in power uses the police to get back at the Opposition or their critics. But what needs to be condemned here is that the police are being used to harass an individual who it is alleged was once their party member. The police reply to the anticipatory bail application is also equally obnoxious, as the men in uniform has said that they want Chodankar's police custody to find out any motive of a larger game-plan to promote communal and social disharmony in the state. These are strong words and it can be implied that the complainant, the police and their political bosses are making a mountain out of a molehill. Surprisingly none of these individuals who are determined to make an example of Devu Chodankar lifted a finger when rabid fundamentalist Muthalik publicly said that his organisation would distribute swords to every Hindu household to protect themselves or attack Muslims. The police had let such a strong statement pass without even registering a suo moto case and that too when the Ram Sene has a proven record of being violent and inciting communal hatred. And one cannot even compare Chodankar to a Muthalik or the Ram Sene. But the police and BJP thinks that Chodankar's Facebook post could lead to communal disharmony. Chodankar's post may have been harsh and individuals should not allow themselves to be carried away with passion. But his withdrawal of the post and apology should have been sufficient to put the matter to rest. And here comes the question whether the government by using the police wants to send a message to all that henceforth it will be zero tolerance to criticism. By targeting an individual from the majority community as the first instance, nobody can point fingers at the government for targeting the minority community in future. So it looks like the BJP government is laying the groundwork for shielding itself from allegations of being communal. Ultimately, what will the complainant and the police achieve now? The elections are over, the hype is complete, BJP has won the election with huge majority so much so that they did not even require allies to form the government. Narendra Modi has been sworn in as the Prime Minister of this country. Premiers of Pakistan and China were present for swearing in ceremony for what is termed as a new beginning. If we can make-up with our sworn enemies from across the borders, what is so difficult for the complainant to withdraw the complaint and the police to drop the charges? Let bygones be bygones. -- The writer is a Margao-based journalist. Send your comments and feedback to goa...@goanet.org with a cc to nisserd...@gmail.com or via SMS +91-9422437029