Whose law is it, anyway?

Narendra Modi's reaction to the denial and withdrawal of US visas was predictable — and, like all that he says, it was arrant nonsexnse...

Narendra Modi’s reaction to the denial and withdrawal of US visas was predictable — and, like all that he says, it was arrant nonsexnse. Ever Pavlovian, he spouted the “five crore Gujaratis” line, whose utter irrelevance even within Gujarat he cannot see. When he called the action of the US a “threat to (the) sovereignty… of the country”, he evidently forgot that the US too is a sovereign state which has the absolute right to permit or deny entry to its territories.

The statements of others of the BJP have been just as absurd. Yashwant Sinha objected to “the application of a US domestic law to the visit of a high political personality”. Which law would Sinha have the US apply to persons who request visas to visit it? The Hindu Marriage Act, perhaps? When he was minister for external affairs, did he apply Pakistani laws to prominent Pakistanis who wished to visit India?

Another former minister for external affairs, Jaswant Singh, objected that the US had invoked a new religious freedom statute for the first time in relation to India. Would Singh have liked the US to invoke that statute in relation to two dozen other countries before considering, perhaps after a decade, Modi’s application for a visa? When he said that the action of the US was “international interference” in Indian affairs, presumably he was pointing to the contrast with the NDA government’s dignified silence when Iraq requested the US for assistance in the destruction of its weapons of mass destruction, because by itself it was incapable of dealing with that which did not exist. Or did Singh mean that the Bush administration was trying to coerce the Indian judiciary?

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The Hindu Right, not excluding those of the species who have been ministers, diplomats and air force officers, always argues in the manner typical of chavanni lawyers across the land. The real issue is either not spoken of at all, or else it is buried under so much irrelevant garbage that it can be reached only after an endless cleaning of the stable floor.

The Congress, quite simply, is play-acting. As a party it has castigated Modi since March 2002 for having made mince-meat of the Constitution. Now the government which it leads must criticise the US for having acted against him because he was elected under that same Constitution. We all know that its noises and appeals will have no effect, that they are only for public consumption. But could the public not have been shown a little shame or embarrassment as well?

Police personnel seen to control the situation during a massive protest over the statehood demand and the inclusion of Ladakh under the Sixth Schedule, in Leh on Wednesday. (ANI Video Grab)

Statehood protest takes violent turn in Ladakh, BJP office set ablaze in Leh

India29 min ago

Protests in Ladakh turned violent as students and youth organisations demanded statehood and Sixth Schedule status. Two elderly protesters fainted, prompting a shutdown call. A BJP office and security vehicle were set on fire. Activist Sonam Wangchuk urged for a peaceful approach. The demand for Sixth Schedule status is due to Ladakh's tribal-majority population and direct central administration.

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