Punish hatemongers dharm sansad bulli bai police probes must have demonstrable effects on communal bullies

Punish hatemongers dharm sansad bulli bai police probes must have demonstrable effects on communal bullies

Uttarakhand’s SIT mandated to investigate the hate speech-ridden Dharm Sansad at Haridwar and parallel probes by Mumbai and Delhi police into cyber harassment of Muslim women through an app called ‘Bulli Bai’ are qualified reasons for optimism. But these are just the first steps. Remember that an obnoxious app called ‘Sulli Deals’ featured on the same GitHub platform last year. The Delhi police probe went nowhere. Such policing failures clearly emboldened Bulli Bai creators. Delhi police should be hugely embarrassed, and those behind the app must be unmasked and arrested with chargesheets filed promptly; speedy trial should follow.

In the Dharm Sansad case, the local police registered an FIR only after Muslims lodged complaints. But hate speech offences can and should lead to suo motu investigations. A number of Indian Penal Code sections exist to deal with those who threaten violence on other communities and harass women. But only if there is intent to investigate and prosecute these law-breakers will these laws serve their purpose as a deterrent.

Ignoring violent anti-minority statements and actions by terming them as products of fringe movements is just a dodge. So-called fringe groups can do a lot of damage, and sometimes they are not that much on the fringe. Mob actions in the name of the majority religion have been on the rise – from preventing namaz in Gurgaon to attacks on churches around the country to violence against traders from minority communities. None of these has seen quick, firm police response. Neither have we heard condemnation from governing politicians. And the result is that such mobs get the sense that the law doesn’t apply to them. India’s police agencies are so heavily under the thumb of their political masters that only government signals, severe judicial strictures or, once in a while, a storm of public criticism can force cops to act in such cases.

Now that police forces in three states have initiated probes, there’s a chance finally that a larger message can be sent to hatemongers and internet’s communal bullies. Missing this chance will not only further embolden real world and virtual world mobs, it will also do more damage to India’s reputation, which has taken a lot of recent knocks as far as safety and treatment of minorities are concerned. For India to become one of those countries where majoritarianism becomes an above-the-law brute force will be a real tragedy.