The concerns of the political class that this could become a trend have their roots in past incidents.
On the face of it, it was a slap that momentarily unbalanced 71-year-old Maratha strongman and Union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar. But its impact has the entire political class jittery.
Pawar later described the incident that took place in the high security zone of central Delhi at an auditorium “stupid” and observed that it was for the police to decide on the course of action. But as his supporters turned violent in Maharashtra, he asked the senior party leaders to rush to the state and ensure that the situation remains under control.
“Members of the Sikh community are with us. They too have condemned this attack on Mr Pawar. The central leadership has asked all MPs to take control of the situation in their constituencies. The NCP is very clear on this issue. We do not support violence and we do not want to be seen as violent retaliators,” Sanjay Patil, the chief whip of NCP, told DNA, adding that Pawar was very unhappy with the sudden turn of events and wants NCP cadre to keep the peace.
Harvinder Singh, the 30-year-old transporter, can be described as something of a ‘serial slapper’. He had slapped former Union telecom minister, 86-year old Sukh Ram. That incident took place when Sukh Ram emerged from a courtroom after being sentenced in a telecom scam.
The fact that Singh got away lightly from that incident appears to have emboldened him. He displayed no remorse after the Pawar incident. “I am not doing it for publicity, I would have killed him if I had my kirpan with me,” he spoke agitatedly.
Politicians as a class condemned the incident, even as they said that the people’s anger on corruption and price rise could not be ignored any longer. But there were other major concerns. “The point is that there is no dearth of people like Singh who are angry over various issues. But then it is the overall climate that emboldens them to take this route,” said Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari.
The climate Tiwari referred to was reflected in the comments made by anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare who said, “Just one slap?”, and then laughed. His teammate Kiran Bedi echoed the same sentiment as she warned that the people’s anger could spill on to the streets if a strong Lokpal bill was not passed in this winter session.
BJP’s chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad who strongly condemned the assault on Pawar observed that the government’s failure on price rise had angered the people. Two days ago, senior BJP leader Yashwant Sinha had warned of people’s anger turning violent on the price rise issue. “Whatever Sinha said was not befitting a national political party, but I do not want to make a connection between this incident and his statement,” argued Tiwari. But party colleague Rashid Alvi asserted that the connection could not be missed.
The concerns of the political class that this could become a trend have their roots in past incidents. When a journalist had flung a shoe at Union home minister P Chidambaram, there was series of incidents at different places where politicians were similarly targeted. Politicians also refer to the conflict between their security concerns and the need to mix with the people. “We cannot be very tough in this respect, and introduce deterrent measures for access control. But then there could be serious incident as well, even in this case, the attacker brandished his kirpan only after he had been nabbed by the securitymen. So, the danger is real,” said a Union minister.
However, there is a consensus in the political class that this is a trend that has to be nipped in the bud. “If self-confessed Gandhians like Anna Hazare have this reaction to such a condemnable incident, then it is for the people to decide as to what should they make out of their commitment to the Gandhian principle of non-violence,” said Tiwari.
J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah echoed Tiwari’s views. He tweeted:”I am shocked at Anna’s initial reaction. God help Gandhians if this is how they justify such behavior. “Only one slap?” and then laughter!!! On the police front, the cops booked the assailant under sections 323/353/506/309 of IPC, pertaining to assault, hurt, criminal intimidation and attempt to suicide. He would be produced in court on Friday.
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