Sense and Sensibility: Didn’t Rajnath Need to Pause and Think?

Could Rajnath Singh have dealt with issues of Masarat Alam and India’s Daughter, better?

A week that began with the imbroglio over Hurriyat hardliner Masarat Alam’s release, gave way to further unrest with the nation expressing outrage over the knee-jerk ban on the BBC documentary ‘India’s Daughter’.

In both these episodes there is one common thread - the Home Ministry’s top boss, Rajnath Singh’s apparent inability to handle either situation with care and nuance. 

Alam’s Release: State or Central Matter?

As Masarat Alam’s release created a storm, it was found that the process had been initiated by the previous National Conference (NC)-Congress government in September 2014, with governor NN Vohra finally giving it the go-ahead in February 2014.

Senior political experts told The Quint that even though Alam’s release was a matter to be handled entirely by the state government under the Public Safety Act of 1978, it is mysterious that that the MHA’s trusted lieutenants were not in the know that such a key individual was about to be released. Team Rajnath also seemed unclear about the legalities involved, or even the number and the status of the cases against Masarat Alam.

To clean up the mess, the MHA is now looking at revamping the Public Safety Act. It has stated that if there are cases pending against persons, then the trial needs to be expedited instead of using the Act and placing people under detention indefinitely.

While a belligerent Rajnath Singh kicked up a storm in Parliament, casting aspersions on newly appointed Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, it is in fact Singh’s ministry which came across as haplessly ‘in the dark’.

‘India’s Daughter’ - The Knee-Jerk Ban

The MHA’s decision to ban India’s Daughters could also have been dealt with more sensitively. A ban that was triggered by outrage and some sense of embarrassment, could have been deferred had the MHA taken time to absorb the contents of the documentary and arrived at an informed decision. But that was not to be.

Instead, they decided to take action against Filmmaker Leslee Udwin. As of today, Udwin is back in England and the MHA and Delhi Police are clutching at straws.

Now, Rajnath Singh wants to investigate the matter without any direct access to the crew.

Though Udwin has been urging the Central government to lift the knee-jerk ban on the film, it seems it is now here to stay. Which, ironically, now matters little as the documentary has in fact been seen by millions in India and abroad.