Violator to victim

As Indias elections come to a close,so does another drama. A month and a half after the UP government charged Varun Gandhi under the National Security Act NSA,the Supreme Court directed it to withdraw these charges. Gandhis virulent diatribe was abhorrent,and,as this newspaper argued,demanded legal consequences. But imposing the NSA on him in effect,increasing the time he spent in jail-without-bail was over-kill. The NSA is designed to deal with offences jeopardising national security; Gandhis speech,though repugnant,was hardly that. Its imposition might well have been motivated by political opportunism,as it has been before. Mayawati might have hoped that grateful Muslims would turn to her as protector; ironically,she was cynically stoking the very same fires that Varun Gandhis speech had initially helped ignite.

The plan backfired. Instead of shame,imprisonment under the NSA allowed Varun Gandhi to aspire to the halo of a wronged martyr. The BJP,instead of being forced to condemn Gandhi,was allowed to make political hay while the NSAs sun shone on Varun. And instead of having to deal with the undeniable,taped,evidence,Varun Gandhis supporters could point to the NSAs misuse and blame all his travails on political vendetta.

Fortunately,a law as stringent as the NSA does have inbuilt review mechanisms: an independent state advisory board and judicial oversight. In this case,these worked. The advisory board dropped the charges against Gandhi,and the Supreme Court yesterday upheld this decision,snubbing the UP governments attempts to continue to finger Gandhi. But the imposition of the NSA on Varun Gandhi,even for a little while,allowed him to change the plot,redefining his role from oppressor to victim. The move did not just resurrect Gandhi,it buried the NSAs already-damaged reputation. At a time when real threats to Indias national security require a strong response,the NSAs misuse only damaged that cause.