For daring to suggest that Kashmir be allowed to settle its matters through a referendum,Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan was beaten up by a few angry young men,in his chamber at the court. The men who assaulted him (despite the presence of TV cameras) included the president and vice-president of the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena,and a representative of the Sri Ram Sene. After the incident,one of them triumphantly tweeted,We hit Prashant Bhushan hard in his chamber in Supreme Court. If you will try to break my nation,I will break your heads. A bunch of Sri Ram Sene activists also attacked those who rallied in support of Bhushan at Delhis Patiala House court. This is not a clash of ideas about the nation; it is pure,arrogant thuggishness. Because they may not have been capable of rational disputation,they fall back on dumb rage,they vandalise and hurt. This is the same group that beat up Syed Ali Shah Geelani,that routinely attacks human rights activists. These people are not misguided patriots,they are career hoodlums. The Kranti Sena describes its mission like this: A team of guys who are crazy for nation,who can do anything for nation. A task force against traitors,anti-nationals and corrupts (sic). A team of people who are ready to take any action to teach anti-nationals and traitors. The subtext is that the law of the land is subordinate to their crazy love of the land that constitutional values and basic civic order matter not when it comes to tough action against what they decide is anti-national treachery. These attacks recur because they think they can get away with them. We have not affirmed the value of free speech strongly enough,we have not internalised the concept that words and ideas can only be fought with other words and ideas. Too often,our institutions and politics have tended to accommodate the most offended,rather than make an example of them. This time,outrage has been unanimous from Home Minister P. Chidambaram to the BJPs Prakash Javadekar,from the CPM to the RSS and various civil society organisations. However,that will be incomplete unless the full force of the law is allowed to operate.
