New India, Old Beginnings! When NHRC Sings Paens To Manusmriti & Executive Rediscovers Urban Naxalism | Subhash Gatade

India is a land of many contradictions.

It is no surprise then when the prime human rights body sings paens to Manusmriti and the executive rediscoveres bogey of Urban Naxal supposedly to curb ’unlawful activity’

I Manusmriti Still Fascinates ??

It was the period when India was celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
Countless programs were being held.

Little did anyone notice then how NHRC ( National Human Rights Commission) had joined its own voice in these celebrations. The best possible method it found was share its vision about Indian situation and its sources of inspiration.

It came out with a document where it shared a glimpse of how it viewed Human Rights.

“Ancient Indian literature, including texts like the Vedas, Upanishads, and various Dharma Shastras (texts on ethics and duties), contains references and and teachings that resonate with the principles of human rights†, .. “The Manusmriti, while reflecting the social norms of its time, also outlines principles of justice, including punishment proportionate to the crime†. [2]

Little did the leading lights of the Commission headed by Justice ( retd) Arun Kumar Mishra remembered the fact ( or they deliberately disremembered it) what Dr Ambedkar, the great social reformer, who was a Chairman of the Drafting committee of the Constitution had said about this religious scripture. How he had led a historic Satyagrah - termed Mahad Satyagrah - (1927) where he had led thousands of people to burn the Manusmriti for it anti human content..(25 th December 1927) underlining in the resolutions held there how it undermined the shudra caste, thwarted their progress, and made their social, political, and economic slavery permanent [3]

It is the firm opinion of this conference that Manusmruti, taking into consideration its verses (statements) which undermined the shudra caste, thwarted their progress, and made their social, political, and economic slavery permanent, and by comparing them with the principles enunciated in the above part of the manifesto of birthrights of the Hindus, is not worthy of becoming a religious or a sacred book. And in order to give expression to this opinion this conference is performing the cremation rites of such a religious book which has been divisive of people and destroyer of humanity...
Proposed by: Gangadhar Nilkanth Sahasrabuddhe Seconded by: P.N. Rajbhoj Supported by: Thorat [4]

This was not the first instance ( or the last one) where the inadvertent or deliberate invisiblising of the real content of Manusmriti which was considered "[d]ivisive of people and destroyer of humanity..." by the Conference held under the leadership of Dr Ambedkar.

It would not be incorrect to say that the decade of Modi rule (2014-2024) has been a significant period where such attempts of normlisation or sanitisation of Manusmriti have continued unabated. Such interventions are visible at the juridical level or institutional level, also at the level of cultural celebrations or even courses in the University to textbooks for students.

Merely a year back the Gujarat High Court had reached national headlines when it had talked of girls getting married at 17 years while deliberating on the plea of abortion filed by a minor girl’s father. The said judge had not immediately ordered for termination of this pregnancy but had rather advised the hapless father to read Manusmrii afresh to update himself on the thinking. Justice Samir J Dave observed,

“In the older times, it was normal for girls to get married by 14-15 years of age and to have a child before the age of 17...You will not read it, but do read Manusmruti once for this.â€

Or, here was another judge of the Delhi high court who had openly praised Manusmriti for ’giving respect to women’ [5]

Her words were worth quoting :

“I really think we are a blessed lot of women in India and the reason for that is our scriptures have always given a very respectable position for women and as Manusmriti itself says that if you don’t respect and honour women, all the pooja path that you may do has no meaning. So I think our ancestors and Vedic scriptures knew very well how to respect women,â€

May be the ’pearl of wisdom’ by the Human Rights Body or obeservations by judges, it is becoming increasingly clear the new found legitimacy to Manusmriti is a fact now.

In fact, a study done by a researcher / author tell that there is greater trend today towards ’acceptance and validation of Manusmriti by the higher echelons of the Indian judiciary’ [6] It has slowly caught on and it has acquired tremendous pace with ’rise of virulent Hindutva’ [7]

As both SCC Online and indiankanoon.org indicate, between 1950 and 2019, the Manusmriti has been thus used for the by the Supreme Court and several High Courts a total of 38 times, 26 of those (nearly 70%) being between 2009 and 2019, a period coinciding with the rise of virulent Hindutva across the subcontinent. Between 1989 and 2019, the Supreme Court has used Manusmriti in making their decisions in a total of 7 times. [8]

Look at Banaras Hindu University, which had undertaken a research project only last year to study the ápplicability’ of Manusmriti under its PhD Programme. [9]

The university’s Department of Dharmashastra and Mimansa, whose curriculum already includes studying the Manusmriti among ancient Indian scriptures, proposed (2023) researching the “applicability†of Manusmriti in Indian society. It had made plans to use the funds received under the Centre’s Institutes of Eminence scheme, which provides research and development grants of up to Rs 1,000 crore each to ten select public-funded institutions.

The BHU’s proposal seemed anachronous—and not just because it involves spending money on an esoteric subject, while public universities face a severe fund crunch forcing them to cut down even on essential expenses. [10]

In fact, much on the lines of Banaras Hindu University, plans were afoot even in Delhi University to initiate a course on Manusmriti for Law Students, the academic council had even ratified the proposal where ’two readings on Manusmriti — ’Manusmriti with the Manubhasya of Medhatithi’ by G N Jha and ’Commentary of Manu Smriti - Smritichandrika’ by T Kristnasawmi Iyer — were proposed to be introduced for the students.’ but looking at the building resistance against this move, the Vice Chancellor of the University used his emergency powers to dump the proposal. [11]

NHRC’s sudden fascination for Manusmriti, or various higher courts extolling Manusmriti resonates with what legal scholar Dr Mohan Gopal had observed about the composition of top judiciary. [12] In his speech organised by Live Law he had elaborated that ’The Number of Theocratic Judges Who Find Source Of Law In Religion Than Constitution has Increased:

"An increase in traditionalist/ theocratic judges - as it happened in Modi led NDA regime is essentially part of two- part strategy to achieve the goal of establishing Hindu Rashtra by 2047, not by overthrowing the Constitution but by interpretation by the SC as a Hindu Document" [13]

First step involves appointing judges who are ready to look beyond and the second phase which will now begin where judges will identify the source and it began with the Hijab judgement ...

..We can slowly reach a stage where we can say that India is a Hindu Theocracy under the same constitution- as reinterpreted by the SC , so the idea is to hijack the judiciary and establish a Hindu Theocracy [14]

The outcome of this battle to maintain the judiciary’s independence and save it from interference by the executive will have long-term consequences on democracy in India. [15]

Human Rights Activist and Chairperson of Amnesty International takes up the discussion further around this speech by Dr Mohan Gopal [16]

He raises the point of how oligarchy here is opposed to rules India finds opposition in the Constitution which stresses values like equality, secularism, dignity and so on and this is unlike Pakistan, where both are aligned.
Secondly, he adds how there is absence of diversity in the Judiciary here and which has facilitated its capture.

Before we conclude, it is interesting to see that the trajectories of the biggest and the strongest democracy of the world have interesting commonalities.
In fact when there are growing concern here about slow dominance of theocratic judges, one can see US judiciary is also facing similar changes. Not some time back Louisina decided to force public schools to display Ten Commandment in public schools :

Louisiana’s decision to force public schools to display the Ten Commandments is the latest fallout from a spate of controversial rulings from the rightwing supermajority of the US supreme court which has opened up a Pandora’s box that is fueling efforts to turn America into a theocratic state. [17]

It is heartning to know that ACLU ( American Civil Liberties Union) with due help from other organisations has approached the Supreme Court to cancel this ordinance emphasising that its is nothing but ’religious coercion’’ [18]

While one can hail the activities of ACLU, here in India, the task to defend civil liberties and democratic rights is increasingly becoming more challenging with enactment of new laws or attempts at introducing bills which allegedly give wide scope for abuse.

A tweet by noted lawyer Indira Jaising she wrote on X (formerly Twitter).- underlined the unfolding reality in simple terms :

"“I am reminded of Pandit Nehru ‘s speech “ At the stroke of midnight India will awake to freedom†. At the stroke of midnight night 1st July 2024 India will awake to police raj,†[19]

II

:’the more things change, the more they stay the same…
(‘“plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose)
— Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, a great French writer

The Return of Urban Naxal?

Indira Jaisingh’s concern was over the three new criminal laws coming into operation the next morning.

And she was not alone, other leading lawyers and human rights activists and even conscious people are equally concerned about it [20]

Widespread concerns had already been shared about these laws which enable ‘[b]road criminalization of legitimate, non-violent dissent and opposition against the Governments’...’put in the hands of the Government of the day unguided, arbitrary and virtually unlimited power to selectively arrest, detain, prosecute and convict practically anyone they choose, including by branding them as terrorists and as anti-national.’ [21]

History will never forget the easy passage of these controversial laws because despite their controversial provisions they were not at all sent to the select committee for revision and were passed - in the Parliament without an iota of dicussion - when 140 members of the Parliament had been suspended by the Speaker in an unprecedented move.

The ’police raj’ metaphor was an indication that the powers that be only understand the lanugage of force and neither believe in dialogue nor communication with anyone - barring a select coterie of their friends.
But perhaps more was in the offing.

Post elections, Eknath Shinde, Chief Minister of Maharashtra in one of speeches had talked of Urban Naxals ‘penetrating NGOs and help creating ‘..false narratives against the government’ [22]

Little anyone had premonition that within a month of this speech the government will come out with a bill supposedly to curb the ’menace’ of Urban Naxalism. [23]

Named the ‘Maharashtra Special Public Security Act 2024’, the bill is aimed at "curbing the menace of Naxalism and its sympathisers in urban areas." and has " provision of punishment for seven years and a Rs 7 lakh fine if someone commits or abets or attempts to commit or plans to commit any unlawful activity through such an unlawful organisation."; it also mandates " three years’ imprisonment and the imposition of a Rs 3 lakh fine, if a member of any unlawful organisation takes part in the meetings or activities or manages or assists in the management or promotes meetings or contributes to the purpose of unlawful organisations."

It also grants the state the authority to declare an organisation as “unlawful†— a decision which can be reviewed by an advisory board set up by the state government. Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha have already enacted Public Security Acts for the effective prevention of unlawful activities.

What is shocking that "all the offences under this act shall be cognizable and non-bailable"" and even if "any individual who is not part of the unlawful organisation contributes or receives or solicits for the organisation, they will be punished with two years’ imprisonment and fined Rs 2 lakh."

Looking at the vague provisions of the bill it is susceptible to misuse and a threat to free speech. As per journalists ’even the provisions could be invoked against journalists reporting on natural disasters, a health epidemic or even the collapse of a bridge.’ [24]

One can see this as an echo of the past when there were reports about Maharashtra officials thinking of promulgation of such strict law to curb them [25]

It appears that the old order continues - despite reduced strength of the ruling dispensation.

Leading Human rights lawyer Colin Gonsalves wrote an article in leading national daily [26] explaining the vague provisions in the bill which can enable his ’’[r]ight to freedom of speech and expression be crushed by this Bill." He further adds,"

"The Bill is crudely drafted to crush freedom of speech and expression. It is meant to make impossible vigorous non-violent struggle against oppression. All the provisions of the Bill are already contained in the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the National Security Act and the Public Safety Acts. Why, then, is it necessary? The answer is because the state requires a statute that has nothing to do with terrorism but will strike terror in the hearts of human rights activists and cripple their work."

In the end he also exposes the term ’urban naxal’ which is being increasingly used. "

"Not a single judge in the country has ever called an accused an “urban Naxal†. Finding Leftist literature in a house was held to be not incriminating by the Supreme Court in Vernon’s case. Yet it finds mention in the Bill. Mere participation is not criminal, said the Supreme Court in Shoma Sen’s case. Yet even innocent participation will invite a three-year jail term." [27]

Perhaps Maharashtra government’s decision to table a bill to ’curb naxalism’ so expeditiously tunes in with what was being said in the election speeches or interviews of PM Modi, or his associates, e.g. who had termed the very idea of Congress to survey the state of India’s wealth distribution, or its pitch for caste census

“[a]s an example of an “urban Naxal†and ‘Maoist†mindset.†[28]

Amit Shah - Modi’s closest confidante - has also not been far behind in raising this bogey. [29]

For the peddlers of this bogey it hardly matters that Kiran Reddy of the BJP - the then home minister for state - a junior of home minister Amit Shah had categorically stated on the floor of the august house that this term ‘Urban Naxal’ does not exist in the vocabulary of the Ministry of Home Affairs. [30]

Anyone could see that this was just a formal response for public consumption and it does not stops the government or its cheerleaders to criminalise or stigmatise voices who have refused to be silenced against the depradations of this ruthless regime.

The ruling dispensation is clear that since naxals are seen as violent gangs who claim to work for people but effectively spread anarchy, this bogey of Urban Naxal facilitates it to criminalise anyone who refuses to play ball.
It is an interesting coincidence that home ministry’s formal acceptance that the word Urban Naxal does not exists in its vocabulary, sounds similar with the way it responded that it does not have any information on the ‘tukde tukde gang’ - a term which essentially implies the dismembering of India, an attack on its territorial integrity. has been similarly widely used since last 8-9 years to terrorise, criminalise critical voices.

It is now part of history how right from PM Modi, his closest Amit Shah to the troll army gang, everybody had joined the chorus to castigate this ‘omnipresent’ ‘tukde tukde gang’ [31] Prime Minister Modi himself seemed to allude to the term during a pre-election rally in May 2019, when he said,

“Desh ko tukde-tukde karne wale ke sath Congress khadi hai...â€

When the home ministry was asked via RTI application about ‘banning this gang’ under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and who its members are and the ministry admitted that it has no information on any such gang. [32]

What explains the continued usage of these terms ?

For the Hindutva Supremacists - who wants to usher India into a Hindu Rashtra and ensure that their vision of majoritarian nationalism should continue their dominance for decades to come, it is important to silence, subjugate or crush all the ‘others’ . Remember, Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar, the second Supremo of RSS - their ideological fountainhead had made it absolutely clear how it considers all these others - Muslims, Christians and Communists a Internal Enemies and how it wants to deal with them.

Looking at the fact that both these terms have wider purchase even among articulate sections of society they feel that they may not exist in official jargons or statues but can still be pushed as part of their political-ideological weapon.

In fact, ten years at the helm of affairs of this biggest democracy in the world has demonstrated to them that the broad masses of the people do not feel perturbed if the government is seen going against ‘anti nationals’, ‘naxals’ or people engaged in ‘sedition’, ‘waging war against the state’, ‘overthrowing democracy’ etc. The ruling dispensation knows very well that armed with draconian provisions of various anti terror laws, where trials cannot even start for years and obtaining bail itself is next to impossible, such people - who are ready to disagree and dissent - can be kept languishing in jail for years together.

Any concerned citizen can look dispassionately at the Bhima Koregaon Case [33] or the way the accused in the NE Delhi riots have been languishing in jail - and are not even getting bail - and infer where things have reached.

In fact, Sushant Singh brings out a much neglected aspect in the Bhima Koregaon Case’ in his recent writeup

“The Bhima-Koregaon case, in which 16 intellectuals and activists were charged under harsh anti-terror laws, was based on the loud narrative created by media outlets for months around a supposed letter that indicated a plot to assassinate Modi. Surprisingly, that letter has never featured in any of the police charges filed in the case so far. “ [34]

The ruling dispensation’s behaviour can be better understood if one can take a fresh look at how national security adviser, Ajit Doval, shared his vision of ‘future frontiers of war’ to the newly-recruited IPS officers in Hyderabad:
“Quintessence of democracy does not lie in the ballot box. It lies in the laws which are made by the people who are elected through these ballot boxes. You are the ones who are the enforcers of the law… Laws are only as good as they are executed and implemented and the service that people can get out of it.â€

“People are most important. The new frontiers of war — what we call the fourth-generation warfare — is the civil society. War itself has ceased to become an effective instrument for achieving your political or military objectives. They are too expensive and unaffordable.â€

Perhaps it is now easy to comprehend how the regime treats truthseekers, [35] or how it has suddenly deemed it necessary to give sanction to prosecute Arundhati Roy and a Kashmir based academic for a speech they made 14 years back [36]

Or why this bogey of Urban Naxals is being rediscovered and refurbished.

It very well understands that people in search of jobs, better and peaceful life - devoid of hate and ill feelings towards others - and peeved over the government’s incresing dalliance with big crony capitalists will rise up again in peaceful manner taking inspiration from our Constitution itself which once promised them life of dignity, equality and justice.