A govt willing to breach rule of law is unfit to remain in office

It is shocking that CM Basavaraj Bommai and Ashwath Narayan have promised to counter violence with violence

The recent spate of killings and violence in Karnataka, which are certainly of a communal nature, are disturbing, and are a cause for concern. But of equal, and perhaps greater, concern is the Karnataka government’s response, which is as communal, vicious, and lawless as the thinking behind the killings. It is shocking that Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and IT and Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan have promised to counter killings with killings and violence with violence. That is a wrong and most inappropriate response and will exacerbate an already bad situation. Violence and threats of violence are not new in the state. They could be sensed in the last few months and have been real in some areas of the state. The killing of BJP Yuva Morcha worker Praveen Nettaru in Dakshina Kannada and of Mohammed Fazil in Udupi are the latest in the series of violent incidents. The killing of Nettaru created some restiveness and led to protests from party cadres, and the government is promising what would be the worst possible response to it.

Bommai has said that he would import the ‘Yogi model’ into the state to end the killings and violence. Karnataka is not a lawless and backward state like UP. It has a good tradition of governance and does not have to imitate UP in any respect. The UP model that he admires is not a model of democratic governance or good administration but a system of violence and repression targeted at minorities. It punishes them not for anything they do but for being who they are. Its symbol is the bulldozer, which is used indiscriminately to demolish the houses of those who protest against the government’s policies and are Muslims. There is no law and due process, and the punishment is swift and merciless. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath perfected the technique in the last five years, using it against sections of various descriptions like anti-social elements, protesters, rioters, encroachers, illegal occupants, etc., with Muslims common to all the descriptions.

That is not a model that Karnataka with its record of governance, cosmopolitan society, economic progress, technical and scientific achievements and excellence in other areas can emulate. The Karnataka model is looked up to by other states, and Bengaluru is a high-tech icon with global appeal. Karnataka is a hub of education and is among states that lead the country in the implementation of welfare schemes, social justice policies and reform plans. It has always kept social, political, and communal tensions under control. As a state, it does not have to learn any lessons from UP. It is a pity that after spending a lifetime in Karnataka society and politics, the Chief Minister wants to shun this model and go in for a regressive and lawless model from UP. As a recent convert to the BJP, he may have to impress others in the party — both leaders and cadres — with fervour and commitment of an exaggerated order. All neo-converts take such extreme positions, and it is a sorry spectacle to see the Chief Minister do that for his political survival. No-one knows if it will help him, but it will harm the state.

Ashwath Narayan has gone further and made a threat of encounters, presumably staged encounters of the brutal kind. It is shocking that a minister sworn to abide by, defend and protect the Constitution should make a declaration that the government is ready for encounters and “indiscriminate action”. Who are those who are going to be shot in encounters? Under which law are they going to be killed? Encounters have taken place and are still being staged in the country. But even those who stage them do not admit that they have done the killing. But here is a minister who says his government is ready to kill. The intention may again be to win political brownie points and to impress party workers, but an official, elected or otherwise, loses the moral and political legitimacy to continue in office when s/he advocates lawlessness. Bommai and his minister should think whether Karnataka should be turned into a communal battleground, whether houses are to be demolished with bulldozers on specious grounds and without notice, and whether people are to be shot in the back indiscriminately. That is not the Karnataka that the people of the state would like to live in. Even such talk would damage communal relations within the state and hurt the state’s image.

There has been increased communalisation of society, and elements from both majority and minority communities have had a role in this. But if the government knew how to handle the situation, as Bommai claimed it did, the incidents would not have happened at all. It is the government’s responsibility, first and foremost, to protect the lives and property of citizens. The Bommai government has repeatedly failed in this. The many incidents and the situations that led to the killings had to be handled administratively and politically. Was the administration prepared to deal with them? Wasn’t there any intelligence input about the possibility of untoward incidents? If there was, was it taken seriously and acted on? The administrative failure is compounded by political failure. The government’s policy response was to create and increase polarisation through various issues like the wearing of hijab by students, the controversy over halal meat, the use of loudspeakers at religious places, etc. This was with an eye on the Assembly elections that are only months away, and to refurbish and sharpen the ruling party and government’s political and ideological profile. The immediate fallout was a widening of the communal divide, increase in tensions and the resort to violence and counter-violence. The killings, and the government’s desperation now to adopt extra-judicial, extra-constitutional means to deal with them, have to be seen in that background.