(Kuradi Chandrasekhara Kalkura)
Supreme Court recently ordered the release of Journalist arrested in U.P on bail. “Yes, this sort of tweets should not be made. But to arrest him? Liberty guaranteed under Fundamental Rights is Sacrosanct. Whatever it is, he, Kanojia, has to be released on bail immediately… We are not appreciative of the manner of the tweets. But we are bothered about arrest and incarceration. We live in a country where there is a Constitution. Proceed against him in accordance with the law. But should he be behind bars?” (The Hindu June, 12,2019). Thus lamented the Supreme Court.
Press reported: “The 26 years old Journalist, Prashant Kanojia was arrested after a complaint by a sub-inspector in Lucknow’s Hazratganj Police Station on Friday night, alleging that he tried to malign the Chief Minister’s image. Kanojia has shared a video on Twitter and Facebook where a woman is seen speaking to reporters of various media organizations outside Yogi Adithyanath’s Office, claiming that she had sent him a marriage proposal.”
Maligning is bad; revenging is worse. “Peer Mohammad was accused of ‘maligning the image’ of Mr. Adithyanath through an ‘objectionable post’ on Twitter”. He is the “fourth person arrested for a post on Yogi Aditya Nath.” (The Hindu, June,11,2019). Ever so many such ‘maligning’ opinions have been expressed through SMS, What-hap, Twitter, Mail, Facebook, etc. on Gandhi – Nehru family for the last few years.
It all started with the alleged romance with Edwina Mountbatten by Jawaharlal Nehru. There was another connecting Begum Abdullah of Jammu and Kashmir with Nehru. An unimaginable one, linking a Muslim ancestry for the Nehru Family has been in circulation. Most scurrilous one is Gandhiji dancing with Queen Elizabeth, II.
Elizabeth was born on 21, April 1926. By that time Mahatma was a grandfather. She became the Heir Presumptive only in 1937 when her paternal Uncle King Edward VII abdicated the throne and her father George VI became the King. If the King were to beget a male child, Elizebeth would not have become the Queen.
She had anointed the Queen in 1953. Gandhiji visited England for the last time in 1931-’32 to participate in the Second Round Table conference. He died in 1948. Queen visited India in 1961. Where was the possibility of their meeting each other, leave alone dancing together.
Such baseless, wild allegations are offensive against the Motherhood; Mathruthva (మాతృత్వం). The age-old legal dictum is well known: “Maternity is a fact; paternity is a matter of faith.” Do we suspect the fidelity of our mothers? Any mother is a mother. Calling anyone, ‘bastard’, directly or indirectly is outrageous.
Cooked up materials against the stalwarts of the National Movement, mostly the Nehru -Gandhi family, are the evil designs of the Right-wing, Hindutva forces. Should we approve of them?
It may not be wrong to say that now the Yogi is paid in his own coin. This is not to defend the defaming posting. The top brass in the present ruling alignment may not be aware of what is being published for the last five or six years to ‘malign’ the Gandhi – Nehru family.
Will it be wrong to presume that such heinous actions are intended to gain Political advantage? However, the middle order leadership is definitely behind it.
Further right from the Prime Minister, down to the worker at the grass root level, everyone is calling them by names. If the rulers were to be cautious, things would not have come to this pass, to the root of a front-line champion of the Hindutva.
The Congress during 2014 General Election wanted to rake up the Modi’s marriage with Yasoda Ben. The issue did not find favor with the people. In fairness, Congress gave it up.
Insulting Chaiwalah tag to Modi by Mani Sankar Ayer and the consequent ‘Chai pe Charcha’ episodes caused immeasurable damage to the Congress in 2014.
At least, now that a promising national leader is being ‘maligned’, and who knows how many more are in store, the Centre and the states must take care with a vigilant eye to curb further damages to the dead or alive of all political ilk.