Ghulam Muhammed

It is surprising why BJP and Sangh Parivar should be rooting for a alleged sex offender like Asaram. Prima facie, the case against Baba Asaram is so horrifying, that one can hardly ignore such sex exploitation; especially with the mood of the nation becoming most unforgiving after the Nirbhay tragedy. Day in and day out cases in every city, town, village, are cropping up with people boldly exposing rapes and molestations against our women folk. Why all of sudden, Sangh Parivar has made Asaram a test case, to treat it as a communal matter, by plastering posters in all trains in Gujarat, with a strong message by the newly anointed BJP member, the famous maverick, Subramanian Swamy, treating the accusations as something political and proclaiming it as bogus. When was Swamy ever deterred from approaching the courts, even though invariably his plaints were bogus and motivated.

Let the law decide the entire matter. After all, Asaram and his supporters have every chance to defend him and his son and other of this entourage, in the court of law. Why should Sangh Parivar feel that they should make it a political issue, when the victims of the accused are so graphic in their characterization of what Asaram’s dalliance with women folk as purely criminal in intent. People in general are in deep shock.

It is possible that Sangh Parivar, who is desperate to win the next Lok Sabha election on the basis of religious mobilization and communalization of the polity, treats the matter of Asaram’s prosecution as Congress vendetta and its misuse of government institutions as part of illegal political campaign. That may be true at some level; however all such crimes cannot be ignored, overlooked, compromised, just to create level playing field between BJP and Congress. Propaganda by Sangh Parivar and/or its supporters are taking very dangerous risk, in supporting people with such gory record as it is possible that facts may prove to be against Asaram and his conviction may rebound on BJP as disrespectful and uncaring of women’s civil and human rights and dignity.

Media better not be part of this dirty game that politicians play. Nation’s integrity and security is at stake.