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No human virtue sits above justice. And a government that is not interested in delivering justice to its citizens is a curse upon the nation. It’s unfortunate that the leader of the opposition, not the prime minister of India, has been constantly rubbing this message into the indisposed and insensitive system. That should help us measure the depth of the enduring political crisis.

What Rahul Gandhi did by forcing the police to register an FIR in the pellet-gun case must not be seen in terms of personal triumph or defeat. The opposition leader’s peaceful struggle achieved a far bigger success. It’s restoration of the rule of law; a task originally assigned to the government and the judiciary. By resorting to the exceptional method of protest as he staged an impromptu dharna at the police station, Gandhi risked his image, drawing senseless allegations of creating anarchy from the government spokespersons and the mainstream media.

The establishment has demonstrated stunning ignorance because anarchy is rejection of the state’s moral and legal right to decide for citizens. Rahul Gandhi was only reinforcing the state’s responsibility, reminding them of their legal duty to initiate action for justice to an aggrieved citizen. His action was motivated by constitutionalism. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders and the media said the Supreme Court had already constituted a committee to look into the incident and hence there was no need for an FIR. This is not hypocrisy; this is deceit.

Did the BJP, or the media, demand investigation into the pellet-gun firing after the incident, when the entire opposition had shut down Parliament seeking answers from Union home minister Amit Shah?  They said Gandhi was doing a drama. Isn’t the nexus of silence between the government and the mainstream media much uglier than any drama staged for justice?

This country has seen FIRs being registered on outrageously frivolous grounds. Gandhi is the greatest victim of this ploy; he was thrown out of Parliament because of a legal verdict following a frivolous FIR that he insulted backward castes in one of his speeches. Former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan faced FIRs for murgi-&-bakri chori (hen and goat theft). A woman in Indore filed an FIR against a neighbour’s murga (rooster) because it created noise early in the morning. Is the demand for an FIR for destroying a youth’s life whose only crime was that he went to a protest so unreasonable?

Aren’t heinous crimes against innocent citizens the concern of the prime minister and the home minister? Why should Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi jolt the system for delivering justice when a young girl is raped and killed in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh? Why should cases folded-up abruptly because the accused joined the BJP not shock the home minister? Why should allurements and coercion triggering splits in parties not become the prime minister’s worry? Why should........

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