The public it was who lost[ the point]

It was a carnival! Friends who had not met each other for years, connected; there were vans with banners, people dressed up in glittering costumes in a chariot; trucks parading as floats, huge posters, a special newspaper, pamphlets, even sunshades with slogans.75000 people in black coats marched together, celebrating a small win after months of struggle. Yet the spirit was amazing! Lawyers had been out of work for months, but the carnage and mayhem created by the police, united lawyers like never before. Never, in all the various struggles I have seen for over 20 years, have I witnessed such unity. Seniors and juniors alike, across all caste, class and party lines, united to fight an indifferent and callous government, a brutish police force, a gagged and partisan media, and the worst- a reluctant and biased judiciary. The victory- suspension of top police officials for a very serious and heinous crime was hard fought and extracted with great difficulty.

The speeches reflected the bitterness of the struggle:- “ I asked the journalists, have you ever seen a bigger crowd in any protest rally, they said they had not, but we will not see this in the papers!” Claps and cheers. Representatives from different Bar Associations, NGO representatives, all spoke and reiterated with one voice-“ Nowhere has such a massive crowd and such unity during a struggle been seen.” “ This is a warning to lawyers elsewhere and judges- take note or the politicians and police will get you next!”

The next morning, I picked up the papers and saw, that the Saravana Bhavan murder case had hogged the headlines, while the procession got a few lines in one paper and another chose to lament on traffic jams. Wake up, India, I whispered, while I hung my head in shame. Don’t be misled by the media- a few eggs cannot lead to bloodshedding by the state- if that happens, then it is known as breakdown of democracy and rise of a police state.

A Time of reckoning

I left the High Court early on Feb 19 and so was left out of the shocking events which unfolded there. In the morning, I chanced to comment to my friends outside the Acting Chief Justice’s Court that Subramaniam Swamy had brought an entire battalion to field off more eggs and we laughed, thinking that it was just political flourishing. We were all excited, the first day of real work after weeks. My work for the day over, I went home early and so was spared the horror. My husband, coming out of the court filing section, where he had gone to check out a case, appearing in the list the next day, suddenly saw stones flying and armed policemen chasing advocates. He did not know what was happening but quickly walked through a shortcut into the chambers and out of the campus. Meanwhile, a junior came running that the cops were chasing and beating advocates in the civil court. My husband, unwilling to leave the scene, went to a friend’s office close by where he was told a High Court Judge had been injured and that cops were breaking cars and court property and were beating advocates to a pulp within the High Court itself! This was something we had never seen in all the twenty-two years of my practice. I remembered the battalion outside the Chief’s court and knew the police had planned it all, probably bringing the stones and set fire tio the police station themselves. News kept trickling in all evening, cops even entered lawyers offices in the streets near NSC Bose Road and tried to beat advocates! My husband was in contact with some public spirited lawyers who had enterd the court, escaped being hit and were closeted in the ACJ’s chamber, wanting the HC to take action against the unprecedented and alarming police brutality.
The next day, wherever I went, I got shocked and worried reactions from members of the public- if lawyers and judges were not spared, where was the hope for ordinary citizens. Politicians , however, reacted differently- The Chief Minister asked the ACJ to cooperate and was willing to meet him in an ambulance! Not a word of apology for the mayhem unleashed by the police. The High Court, after all the representations by concerned lawyers, ordered a CBI enquiry and sent teams out to assess the damage. This exercise continued the next day and some advocates, including my husband, moved a contempt application against the police after the High Court clarified that they had not given the police permission to enter. The papers had a field day with conflicting reports. While TOI clearly put the onus on the police, Saturday’s reports tried to “balance” Friday’s report with a completely government-centric version. The Hindu went one better and covered only the police version- reporting the “alleged” damage by the police when TV footage clearly showed the police throwing stones and breaking cars. TOI on Sunday carried an exclusive by the CJI asking lawyers not to go on strike! He refused to comment on the police excesses, citing lack of information. Now, the High Court is dragging its heels, the Sri Krishna Report is biased and one thing is clear from the incident- all the authorities are as one in protecting the government.