An Assault on Dissenting Voices

A poet, Surjit Garg, was assaulted in Anandpur Sahib today. He is said to offend both Himdu and Sikh hardliners with his writings. I have never read his compositions. They may be offensive to very many and trash to others; but taking over the right and authority to punish people who do not follow your school of thought is a highly worrying trend. Whether it is regarding cow protection, inter-caste, inter-religious marriages, Valentine celebrations, dress styles of women or political affiliations, we are regressing to a gunda state where the law seems to have become a pillion rider to unconstitutional forces. And mind you, it is the establishment that is setting a precedence. Arun Shourie warned against subversion of freedom of scribes in the Press Club yesterday. It's not only about freedom in a certain quarter of society; this malaise, once it sets in, is bound to spread to all walks. Yesterday at the rally for "Batein Aman KI", I noticed that not one of the speakers would openly condemn the recent crack down on poet Varavara Rao, lawyer Sudha Bhardwaj, activists Arun Farreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Gautam Navlakha. They made veiled references to the arrests and hoped that "you understand what I am saying." I don't. Stand up to be counted now. Scribes and activists are the voice of society. Some may be wrong some times, but still deserve to be dealt with in accordance to law. And draconian laws need to go.