Let not the scales of justice be overturned
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A massive protest is now raging in Israel. It follows a bill that gives the government the authority in the appointment of judges to Supreme Court which is being considered by the Knesset. As many as 90,000 people of the sparsely populated country taking part in the protest evidences how widespread and powerful the popular struggle is. It is against the planned move to usurp the independence of the judiciary and turn it into an arm of the state. What will become of the protest of democracy-loving people is not yet known considering the fact that a coalition of extreme right-wing parties led by Benjamin Netanyahu captured the Zionist nation’s power last December. Any outfit of fascist nature will have no qualms about suppressing popular uprisings. The world has seen enough from what Hitler did in Germany and Mussolini in Italy. The Jews, who themselves were the number one victims of fascism, pursue the same path in the Zionist state they unjustly established.
The new developments in the Jewish state is most relevant to India today. The Hindutva forces in power represent the extreme racism of those who rule Israel. After coming to power through the loopholes of democracy as well as using the generous leeway it offers, the Sangh Parivar government has not even for once in its eight years in power stood by the essence of democracy, demands of the Constitution, impartiality of judiciary nor expressed faith in free media. The constitutional institutions are being Hindutvaised one after the other as part of its agenda, to be exact. There is a vigilance with which it does not include a single person from the religious minority of 15 percent in the cabinet. But it zealously appointed to key positions those who feud with the community. There is a well-thought-out programme to induct committed RSS workers in Raj Bhavans and thus overthrow the Opposition governments in states.
Efforts to bring under the government control everything from the Election Commission to UPSC, Reserve Bank, Niti Aayog, UGC to the Board of Control for Cricket in India is successfully underway. And the machinations to 'nationalize' judiciary are also coming to light. In the thick of trying to strip the Collegium of its power to appoint judges comes the appointment of Advocate Victoria Gowri, who is the head of BJP’s women’s wing, as Additional Judge in Madras High Court. It suggests that the goal has been achieved through the current collegium itself. Before this controversy settled, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer, who retired from the Supreme Court just 40 days ago, was appointed as Andhra Pradesh governor .Justice Nazeer was on the bench that ratified the law that meted out jail terms and fines to Muslim men who violated the triple Talaq law. He was also on the bench of judges that validated the Modi government's demonetization drive. It appears credible that he won governorship after being one of the signatories to the 'historical verdict' that unilaterally handed over the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. Remember while serving as a judge Abdul Nazeer shared the stage of the RSS-backed lawyers' body and opined that India should follow Manusmriti. He was fortunate to enter judiciary while practicing law in Karnataka. Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who headed the Supreme Court bench that pronounced the Ram Temple verdict, was earlier gifted a Rajya Sabha seat. The ED and other investigative agencies target those who do not give in to such temptations. Judges who work with a sense of justice, without yielding to temptation or provocation, have fortunately not become extinct yet. But their numbers are diminishing. The only defence to keep the judiciary as an independent institution is the vigilance of a democratic civil society.