Words, mischief

When Union Minority Affairs Minister A.R. Antulay suggested that Hemant Karkare8217;s death may be connected to the Malegaon investigation, he set off a political storm. The two Houses of Parliament crackled with calls for his resignation by the opposition parties, led predictably by the BJP. Online polls are throwing up a diversity of verdicts on the sagacity of Antulay8217;s remarks. But through the initial hours and days, the Congress broadcast its dilemma through silence, and obfuscation. External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee sought to fend off pressure to respond by saying the government would do so in Parliament. Party spokespersons distanced the party from its minister by saying he had uttered the remarks in his personal capacity, and that they had been blown out of proportion.

No matter what Antulay8217;s eventual fate as a member of Manmohan Singh8217;s cabinet, one assertion cannot be allowed to go uncontested. When remarks like his are introduced into the public domain, when they are uttered by a minister in whatever capacity, they cannot be waved away as 8220;personal views8221;. As an analysis in this newspaper on Friday highlighted, what Antulay was doing was feed into fears among many Muslims about the credibility of police investigations. Questioning the facts of an encounter is a valid exercise in a democracy. To recognise and act upon apprehensions held by sufficiently large sections of the population too is politically valid, advisable in fact. But to do it in a manner that nourishes those apprehensions, to fatten perceived vote banks and sharpen polarisation, is extremely dangerous. That is the mischief in Antulay8217;s intervention; and this is precisely why the government 8212; perhaps even the Congress as a party 8212; must not take the easy way out and avoid a nuanced clarification on the issue.

The Congress leads a government in Maharashtra and, with Karkare8217;s death, it is its call to show that the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad will be allowed to get on with the Malegaon investigations unhindered and uninfluenced by politics. But more than that it is a reminder that our politics must conduct a mature conversation on terrorism, and how the despicable acts of a few cannot taint entire communities.