As a human being, I hold multiple identities simultaneously. I am a retired naval officer, an out-of-work executive, a henpecked husband, and a doting father. I am from X course of NDA, Y Squadron and belong to Nagpur etc. I can think of numerous affiliations to derive my specific identity BUT all my roles and identities are subservient to a core, basic, irrefutable one – I am an INDIAN – foremost and always. And it pains me to see fellow countrymen squabble over and parade their narrower identities for personal or political interests.
Prof Sabherwal was murdered on Sep 06 in the city of Ujjain. The country was shocked into witnessing the sordid crime live on their TV sets home. After a lot of hue and cry, the assailants were arrested and charged with murder. Today, they walk free after the Nagpur High Court acquitted them for want of proper evidence and poor case preparation by the prosecution.
As an Indian and a rational human being, killing is an anathema to me. The killing of a professor over narrow political causes is thus an even more distasteful, dastardly, and blasphemous act. On a national TV debate regarding the issue, we had a strident defender of the accused stating that the Professor was not killed but died of natural causes, spewing venom and espousing her parochial view of politics. Despite the prophecy of kalyug , I still regard teaching as a noble profession and a Guru as a demigod. The fact that this defender of the killers was a woman Professor shows the abysmal state of our quest for narrow personal and political gains. And we have the Chief Minister of the state where this heinous crime was committed lauding the release of the accused in media!
The Professor’s case for some reason has not sparked the furor and debate akin to say, Jessica Lal. Neither has the media taken up the case with the same fervor. Is it because espousing this cause will not increase the TRP anymore? Perhaps the Jessica Lal case was about the privileged vs the non-privileged whereas this case is against the workers of the ruling party in the state! Are we to assume that the “Indian- ness” of the people of the state is subservient to their narrow political views?
Whatever may be the case, it seems that no one killed Prof Sabherwal after all. Or is it that each one of us is guilty of his murder by accepting a system that condones it?
(Written by Nadeem Sani)