24-year-old IT professional’s murder in Pune, allegedly by members of a Hindu extremist group, over the reported deprecating depiction of Maratha king Shivaji and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray on some social media sites and subsequent acts of defacement pose a threat not only to India’s social cohesion but also to the ability of the new government at the Centre to get on with its promised task of creating prosperity for all.
The Narendra Modi government permits the state government to handles the law and order issue but must send out a clear, strong political message that it sees such activity, done in the name of Hindu pride, as being anti-national and will not abide it.
As per the reports, the murdered Muslim youth’s fault was being identifiably Muslim — he sported a skull cap and a beard and that he had nothing to do with the antisocial pictures on social media. Text messages have been reported as boasting that the “the first wicket has fallen”.
What offer some solace, purely in terms of the law, was the police arresting some members of the extremist outfit accountable for the murder. Of course, law and order being a state subject, the issue is, first and foremost, the responsibility of the Maharashtra government.
And the latter should hunt down and prosecute both those seeking to stir up communal passions and those committing crimes against individuals and communities cold-bloodedly.
But, simultaneously, the new Modi government must remain aware that elements exist who would seek to portray his electoral win as free rein for violent assertion of Hindu might. This perception is the biggest threat to the Modi government, as it seeks to prioritize governance and growth over anything else.
If our body politic is to be such easy prey to something like morphed pictures posted in disguise or allegedly by members of one community, or blamed on one community, then we deceive ourselves and our destiny. Taking a firm stand in opposition to all that would go to Modi’s credit. And send out a clear, welcome message.