Silence of the Lambs

Recent events make one wonder if there is any criterion by which the human rights activists choose events to highlight before the public .Is there an ‘atrocity intensity scale’ by which they decide to take up one event and ignore the other? Is there a grading system in place? If there is, how would one rate, on a scale from one to ten, say, girls being beheaded by militants or a dubious ‘encounter’ where minorities are killed by police ?

Three years back, we heard a chorus of allegations over an encounter at the Anzal plaza where two Pakistanis were killed by the Delhi police. We had Kuldip Nayar, Prabhul Bidwai and the NHCR accusing the police over the ‘ fake encounter’. A week back , there was another massacre in New Delhi. Dozens of Hindus were killed. And Kuldip is here, so is Prabhul. But where is the chorus? Where is V R Krishna Iyer ? It would not be an exaggeration to say that there is a distinct lack of enthusiasm to the killings of Hindus from the Left liberal human rights establishment. Or am I missing something?

Couple of years back, there was another crime. Three teenagers were beheaded in Kashmir. Yes, beheaded by some militant group, for not wearing the Islamic head dress . Did anyone hear from Kuldip , or Prabhul ? We did not see any ‘secular’ outfit holding a demonstration in front of the Kashmir assembly, did we ?. Now recall what happened in Lucknow University last year when some students campaigned against tight jeans and mini skirts? There were demonstrations all over the place – from Lucknow to Delhi.  Kuldip Nayar , Arundhati Roy , Brinda Karat , Vivan Sundaram the SAHMAT , the CPM ,NDTV , the whole secular circus was out on the street protesting against ‘imposition of a dress code’ , against â€˜ Talibanisation’ of the ‘fascist forces’ .And now ? Sixty people are massacred, among them, children, right in the capital New Delhi…and what do we get from our ‘human rights wallahs’ ? Silence. The biggest lies are told in silence.

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