A strange deafness afflicts the police in many states. This was not the first time that the Supreme Court directed the police to act on their own against hate speeches. The last time the court had expressed itself strongly on this subject was in April; yet the violence in Haryana this month prompted the court to speak again last week. The build-up to the rioting in that state, concentrated in Mewat or Nuh and Gurugram, was dependent mainly on hate speeches against the minority community preceding a procession by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and the Durga Vahini. Videos, notably by two Hindutva vigilantes, who called to their followers to join, contributed too. Yet there was no police action before the procession. One of the vigilantes, accused of murdering members of the minority community yet mysteriously at large, declared that he would join the procession. He did not, but it aggravated the tension in Mewat. The violence escalated with the death of a deputy imam in Gurugram and the burning of the mosque and of shops belonging to the minority community. Representatives of the state government acknowledged that social media and videos contributed greatly to the violence, but acknowledgment after the fact cannot be called a mark of virtue. It is not necessary to look to the courts for instructions; a well-intentioned, non-discriminatory government would have prevented the crisis in any case, especially with Manipur on the recent horizon.

The Supreme Court permitted the VHP and Bajrang Dal’s protest procession in Delhi. No doubt the saffron brotherhood feels that not a peep should be heard from the targets of hatred. But it is clear that Hindutva leaders seize on democratic principles only to abuse them. The procession was preceded by expressions of hatred, once again, with the promise of turning Delhi into Uttar Pradesh. There were reports of vendors and tenants from the minority community being boycotted and driven out in Haryana. Where were the police? The administration unleashed bulldozers, allegedly targeting the minority community; the demolition has now been stopped by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. A prejudiced administration and the free expression of sectarian hatred are markers of the upending of law. The law is for the people. In Haryana, Manipur and elsewhere, the State must decide if it will defend it or be ruled by hatred.