By Md. Ali, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: “I am not speaking here in capacity as a member of Team Anna,” Prashant Bhushan told media, even as he lambasted RSS and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for their communal propaganda in the country.
The senior lawyer was speaking after the premiere of After the Storm, a documentary film on the trauma faced by Muslim youth who are arrested on cooked up terror charges only to be acquitted by the courts after years in jail.
The screening also marked the tenth anniversary of the Gujarat genocide, when more than two thousand innocent Muslims lost their lives and livelihoods in the ‘Hindutva Lab’ in what many term as a State sponsored ethnic cleansing of the minority community.
Starting from Hazare’s open praise for Modi’s ‘development model’ in Gujarat to their apparent silent support to the BJP in the ongoing poll campaigns, Team Anna has conveniently avoided any confrontations with the Hindutva brigade.
That’s why speaking on the question of communalism and communal witch-hunting by the State apparatus mainly targeting Muslims, charging them arbitrarily under several draconian anti-terror laws, Bhushan clearly skirted away from his association with Team Anna which has maintained a deafening silence on issues concerning minorities and marginalized sections.
This attempt by Bhushan to distance away from Team Anna, yet strike a balance between Team Anna and his views on human rights issues, is perhaps a manifestation of the embarrassment and opposition Bhushan had to face post his strong remarks on Kashmir, when his other colleagues including Arvind Kejriwal and Anna Hazare himself, not only distanced themselves from the issue but also went a step ahead to criticize it.
Things got even worse when some members allegedly associated with the BJP and the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena, and were actively seen participating in the anti-corruption campaign, entered his chamber and assaulted him even as a TV crew which was there to interview him recorded the whole incident and aired it on prime time.
Interestingly, known for his involvement in various campaigns for the oppressed and the marginalized, including the displaced people in Narmada Bachao Andolan and many others, Bhushan approval and involvement in the Anna Hazare led anti-corruption campaign had confused many.
However, the way Team Anna had maintained a silence on all important questions, including that of communalism did not go down well with many in the civil society.