People may raise questions about the democratic ideals of India because it does not entirely follow the Western concepts. But no one can question the tolerant nature of Indian society. For years India has remained a confluence of various races, cultures and traditions. No one can claim to be the sole proprietor of Indian nationalism. The said nationalism is a gift of tolerance which embraced each and everyone with open hands. But quite sadly that tolerant nature of Indian society is quickly fading away. The manner in which violence engulfed almost the entire country during the Bharat Bandh call given by various Dalit organisations on April 2, proves that fact. The issue was not a big one, on March 20, the Supreme Court in a judgement made some changes in the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Observing that liberty cannot be denied to any innocent individual, the highest court struck down the provision of immediate arrest of any person as soon as any complaint is filed. The Supreme Court in its order said that a person can only be arrested on charges of atrocities against the Dalits after preliminary investigation. At the same time the court also opened the door for the accused to attempt and get anticipatory bail.
But the changes in the said Act made Dalits furious. Some believed that the Supreme Court diluted the Act and became apprehensive of their safety and security. As attacks on the Dalits are on the rise for the last couple of years, they assumed that more attacks would be made in the near future with the dilution of the Act. Their fear was not unfounded. If anyone goes by the statistics in 2016 also many from Scheduled Cast and Scheduled Tribes were attacked no less than 47, 338 times. What is more worrying that only 25.80 per cent of offenders were punished. Clearly, the poor ratio of crime and punishment has made the lives of Dalits more vulnerable. So the Dalits wanted to lodge their protests against the Supreme Court order. They were angry as the present day government took an ostrich like attitude to the entire episode. But the central government did not clear its stand on the judgement till the Dalits took to streets. The central government filed a review petition on the judgement on the same day the Dalits called Bharat Bandh.
There is no denying that the Centre delayed in formulating its views in the said case. A timely intervention by the Centre could well have saved 11 lives and crores worth of public properties. But at the same time, no one can justify the violence witnessed on Indian streets that day. The Dalits have every right to protest. But it should have been peaceful. They should not forget that silence speaks volumes while noise says nothing. A silent protest would have attracted more support than the violent one the Dalits staged. The Dalits should not forget that changes in the Act were not done by any administrative order. It was done by the Supreme Court. So, instead of fighting on the streets, they should have fought it legally. The manner both the sides reacted only shows lack of knowledge and understanding of Indian values and ethos. Clearly, tolerance which is the essence of Indian society was not shown by any side that day.
