The politics of extremism and hatred has scored a self-goal in Jammu and Kashmir. Unfortunate incidents have followed one after the other in quick succession, leaving the ethos of the country, referred to by the President on Wednesday, in tatters. The assault on independent MLA Engineer Rashid in the Legislative Assembly for having thrown a beef party on the premises of the legislators' hostel in Srinagar is a tragic milestone in the ugly politics of intolerance. It is highly condemnable, though both the incidents should not have taken place.
The legislature is a forum for debate. It is not an arena to display muscular power to establish supremacy of any ideology or party. The sanctity of the House has been mauled and it should be restored by cooling the tempers and not by playing to communal politics. The BJP MLAs who assaulted Rashid might have been catering to their hardcore Hindu constituency in Jammu, but as the lawmakers from the ruling alliance they have sent a frightening message to the country. By hosting an ill-advised beef party, Engineer Rashid did gratuitously hurt the sentiments of the minority community in the state. He was upholding the Muslims’ right to eat beef. But that gave the BJP legislators no licence to retaliate the way they did. There are softer ways of conveying disagreement.
The ugliness displayed in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly on Thursday reinforces President Pranab Mukherjee's sage appeal to uphold “the core of our civilisational values”. Hate-mongers cannot be allowed to aggravate communal tension. This trajectory of lawlessness and intolerance has divided the Jammu and Kashmir state more than ever before. The PDP-BJP government cannot escape responsibility for the rising tenor of communal and divisive expressions ever since the state High Court delivered a verdict upholding the beef ban law and emphasising on its strict implementation. Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed has to live up to his promise of becoming a bridge between the communities and regions. His intervention in the Assembly debate was rather disappointing.