Why yet another Rizwanul post: Justice and the Idea of India

A million posts have been written but I am forced to write again on the Rizwanul case. Though we must let people speak their mind and I respect the right to freedom of expression of every individual but the comments on my earlier posts, especially the ones that had communal overtones, have prompted me to write again on this subject.

Casteist and communal biases are nothing new in the society. But debate over Shariah and Manu's laws must not cloud our vision. It is about whether the powerful elite and a coterie of moneyed and well-connected people will rule this nation and sabotage the system or whether the ordinary Indian citizens, who is legally correct, will still not be able to live his normal life and dare to dream just because he is not part of this Elite.

It is not about casteism, communalism alone. Religion was just a factor in the beginning of the case. If we manage to pressurise the system and force the government to take action (things are moving after all), we succeed to a great extent in delivering the message to bureaucracy and officials that not everything can be hushed up.

It is a test case. And it is cases like these which instill sense of fear amongst officials before they cross their 'lakshman rekha'. Action on Prasun Mukherjee may range from simple transfer to suspension or even indictment at a later stage but more important is that the policemen who take similar action against other ordinary Indians, will stop for a while and think the next time a powerful man will call them on phone and flaunt his connections to buy justice.

Keep the campaign alive. Police often 'leak' and 'plant' stories like past love affairs of Rizwanul. Even if he had several affairs in the past. It is immaterial. What we all know is that this case has become rallying point for masses to illustrate that in a society in transition where we often don't care about a person lying on pavement which we pass by and remain captivated to the glitter of a growing India, there is still concern and yes, conscience.

But it is mass movements like this that unsettle the ruling class and the elite. The Todis must know it. The people of West Bengal have proved that the conscience of Bengal is alive. This case has proved it. People tolerate but only up to a certain limit. That's what we stand for at Hindustaniat.

Ashok Todi's 200 crore Vs Justice for Rizwanur

When Kolkata police commissioner issued the statement a day after Rizwanur Rahman's body was found, that 'the way Calcutta police have acted, it will continue to do so in future', wasnit it the arrogance of power and money backed with the nexus of politicians and corrupt bureaucrats, which made him say that?

Ashok Todi owns Rs 200 crore Lux Hosiery, and that was enough reason for police to act on his false report and charge Rizwanur with abduction of his daughter even though he had married her legally. In the eyes of police and justice Rizwanur should have been the complainant and the victim but they treated him as mere dirt.

That's how the ordinary Indian citizen gets treated. And the police were only doing what they have done for decades. Rizwanur's body was found near the track and the police called it suicide though it has been proved wrong. The cops quite often turn a complainant into an accused (of abduction in this case) and harass the victim.

And this is not just in the case of a Hindu-Muslim marriage. But all cases of inter-caste marriages and other offences. The poor and the less-connected have no rights in this country. The Todis are well-connected and know everybody from Prasun Mukherjee to Ganguly and the Burrabazar businessman has no dearth of money.

But public opinion, still counts.

At least, in Bengal. I am sure if this had happened in some other state, the case would have been buried long back. The public agitations would have lost steam. Hoping that the guilty cops are brought to books. At least, many of the young couples in love, who are harassed and extorted by cops, may escape this ordeal, and the cops may have second thoughts before taking a similar action.

The photo of Ashok Todi is there right on top of the post.

I have already written a post on the 'So-called Marwari values in Bengal' on the same issue.

'Any Marwari family would act like Ashok Todi did in Rizwanur-Priyanka case': Kolkata businessman on TV

The frank admission of a Marwari businessman on NDTV that any Marwari family would have reacted in the same fashion as Ashok Todi did after his daughter married outside his community and religion, is shocking and shameful.

This businessman, Kathuria (who is he by the way, I don't know the initials), said that this is what every person in Marwari households would do because that's the way you are brought up. An adult girl can't marry outside her community if she falls in love. And even after she has married, every possible effort will be made to ensure that she is brought back, even at the cost of such harassment that she loses her husband.

Your frank confession is laudable but Mr Kathuriya, this is surely not Hindustaniat. It could not be Marwariat either. [The programme was telecast on NDTV 24x7 on Sunday night, October 6, with Barkha Dutt anchoring the show]

How could the whole community of millions from a region in Rajasthan that is spread across the nation and has succeeded in business and other fields, be so myopic and biased entirely? If there is any truth in it, then it is really disgusting.

When Kathuria said that these are Marwadi values, his words clearly meant that education can't bring any enlightenment. It is just a tool in accordance with the needs of the present society to earn more and more money. And for him and for those of his ilk that there is no other value except money.

But these are not Indian values. And this is not the tradition of Bengal either. What are are these 'values', which the businessmen believes in, if there is no place for love, truth and justice, rather it is obscene greed and hypocrisy. The reaction of those present in the show was that of shock. A Marwari woman stood up and came down heavily on his thoughts about the so-called 'values'.

The Police Commissioner Prasun Mukherjee may get suspended for a while only to get reinstated or get promoted after the case is hushed up and media loses interest and public campaign loses steam. And Ashok Todi may think that he can win over the world with his money but people like him have earned lasting notoriety and disrespect in our eyes.

Shame on these hypocrites who connived to stop a couple in love from living peacefully even after their marriage. I am surprised when many say that it was a Hindu girl going to a Muslim household.

For godsake don't count heads. Hindu girls will keep marrying Muslims and so will Muslim girls marrying Hindus. It is the fight for justice. Forget Hindu-Muslim issue, it is about what kind of Hindustan we want to live in--a republic where money buys every thing and where laws have no meaning.

Of course life will go on, people will forget. But, we must do whatever little we can do to keep the spirit of Hindustaniat alive. At least on this blog in bold letters, the following lines will remain forever and nobody can erase them.

Not a big deal though but small steps, gestures and refusal to accept what you are doing to our society. This is what many of us are doing on blogs, sites and by participating in candle light vigils and signing the petitions.