Sir — The scathing observations of the judge, Dharmender Rana, while granting bail to the 22-year-old climate activist, Disha Ravi, arrested by the Delhi police in connection with the toolkit case, are an indictment of the unprofessionalism of the Delhi police, which functions directly under the Union home ministry (“Justice lives”, Feb 25). Rejecting the resistance to Ravi’s bail plea as more ‘ornamental in nature’, the Delhi sessions court found the proof against her to be too scanty and sketchy to warrant further incarceration. It also said that any call for violence was conspicuously absent in the toolkit that Ravi had edited.
Importantly, the judge also made a stinging but significant observation that the offence of sedition cannot be invoked to minister to the wounded vanity of the governments, thereby recognizing the freedom of speech and expression as an inviolable fundamental right. One hopes that the reasoning in this bail order will apply with equal force to many others across the country who are languishing in prisons on questionable charges of sedition.
What is shocking is that while the Delhi police rushed all the way to far-off Bangalore to arrest Ravi and bring her before a Delhi court without obtaining a transit remand from a competent court in Bangalore, the same police force finds itself too helpless to arrest a Punjab-based gangster-turned-activist, Lakha Sidhana, a key accused in the Red Fort violence case, who was recently seen in public, as if daring the police to arrest him. Is the police’s inaction a result of its sheer incompetence or something even worse? The Delhi police commissioner should be held directly accountable and penalized for such blatantly discriminatory behaviour and for his failure to take Sidhana, clearly mocking the police force, into custody.
S.K. Choudhury,
Bangalore
Sir — While passing the bail order for the imprisoned climate activist, Disha Ravi, the additional sessions judge, Dharmender Rana, quashed almost every charge levelled against her — he highlighted Ravi’s absolutely blemish-free record and her firm roots in society. The fact that the court found “not even an iota of evidence” against her is a strong blow to the ruling dispensation at the Centre as well as the Delhi police. Interestingly, the judge not only quoted the Rig Veda and reminded the nation that “this 5,000-year-old civilisation of ours has never been averse to ideas from varied quarters”, but he also imparted a decent lesson on both democracy and the vision of our founding fathers.
The Delhi police had accused Ravi, along with Nikita Jacob and Shantanu Muluk, of collaborating with the allegedly pro-Khalistani group called Poetic Justice Foundation to create a toolkit. Ravi, however, claimed that she had edited only two lines in the document, but she did want to support the farmers in their campaign against the controversial farm laws. She had said, “If highlighting farmers’ protest globally is sedition, I am better [off] in jail.”
As the sessions court rubbished the police’s ‘toolkit case’, it has exposed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s own ‘toolkit’ — after all, charging citizens with sedition without proof is just another instrument of subjugation for the ruling party at the Centre, besides using different law-enforcement agencies to oppress its political opponents and toppling state governments by means of horse-trading. The Delhi police has stooped low to appease its political masters. It is shameful that the police force decided to pick on a young activist to teach other dissenters a lesson. This reveals its blatant incompetence at pursuing the real secessionists. The verdict will surely encourage Ravi and ensure that she rises strong against the government’s wrongdoings. One only hopes that Ravi does not have to face such problems in the future.
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,
Faridabad
Look deeper
Sir — It was good to know that India has supplied free Covid-19 vaccines to several neighbouring countries as a gesture of goodwill and has gained a lot of international recognition in the process (“Take the shot”, Feb 24). But given that new strains of the virus are now surfacing, India needs to be more proactive, both in terms of vaccine development and inoculating its own people at a faster pace. The pandemic does not seem to be going anywhere, and scientists have also warned that this outbreak is not a one-off event. This means that multiple companies need to be involved in research and development to come out with a vaccine which treats the mutant strains. India should consider this a golden opportunity to boost the nation’s research and development sector; we must not let go of this chance.
Bal Govind,
Noida
Sir — The fact that India is sending free vaccines to other countries is laudable. But it must be ensured that all Indians — regardless of their social or economic standing — are able to get the shots. International applause will be of little help if the country’s own citizens are not inoculated.
Sneha Chandra,
Delhi
Caught out
Sir — The two worlds of sport and politics are inextricably intertwined in India. Even without having the faintest political sense, sportsmen enter politics and win votes for political parties. On the other hand, sports arenas are often named after political leaders instead of eminent sports personalities. This time, a new controversy has arisen as the Gujarat government has named the revamped Motera stadium, reportedly the largest cricket stadium in the world, after the prime minister, Narendra Modi — many claim that it was previously known as the Sardar Patel Stadium. Did the ruling dispensation just get caught out while aiming to hit a six?
Sarbajeet Choudhury,
Calcutta
