Dr. Vedik's case - display of double standards by BJP

A recent meeting between Dr. Ved Pratap Vedik (known to be close to Baba Ramdev, BJP, and RSS) and 26/11 terrorist attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed created a lot of controversy and uproar in Indian media and political circles. This event was heavily politicized just because of the involvement of these organizations. As a reporter Dr. Vedik has the right to meet anyone and conduct an interview, this view was expressed by almost everyone involved in this discussion. But he should tell for which newspaper or magazine or channel he conducted this interview? Where did he publish it so that people can know the contents of that interview? Is he an active journalist, if yes, associated with which journal? He was part of some delegation when he visited Pakistan, I assume that this delegation must have got the Indian government's permission to visit Pakistan as Pakistan is not like any other country where any Indian can go and visit without going through a rigorous review process. Did he inform anyone from the delegation about his plans to conduct this interview? It will be also interesting to know who sponsored his trip to the residence of Hafiz? This guy Hafiz Saeed is an internationally wanted terrorist, and he is accused of carrying out some major terrorist attacks on India which killed hundreds of people. If Dr. Vedik was aware of all these facts then he also must have been aware of the repercussions of this meeting in India, so what was his purpose behind interviewing this terrorist? Why did he publish a photo of his meeting before publishing the interview? He needs to give satisfactory answers to all these questions.

Another interesting thing was the response of the Indian government headed by the BJP. For some reason, they responded by defending Dr. Vedik's actions indirectly. This is the same party that reacted very aggressively when Kashmiri leader Yasin Malik shared the stage with the same terrorist in 2013. They demanded strong action against him (like revoking his passport and arresting him), but they didn't say the same things about Dr. Vedik. Dr. Vedik also gave one interview to some Pakistani media in which he talked about the possibility of granting independence to Kashmir. I have no problems with his personal views about Kashmir or any other issue and he has the right to express his thoughts, he should be able to share his views without worrying about any intimidation from the government or anyone else. But it seems the BJP and its supporters don't believe in the existence of freedom of expression when it doesn't suit them, and I am saying this based on their reactions to such statements in the past. Many times in the past they tried to vandalize homes and public buildings or even attack people who made controversial statements related to Kashmir or said anything that didn't align with their stand on any sensitive issue. Their silence in this case was a pleasant surprise. It is not that I would have liked their violent reactions but I am surprised to see that they base their reaction on who is making the statement but not the content of the statement. So, it seems to them the person who is making the statement is more important not the content of the statement. If the person is from their party or a supporter of their party or someone close to their associates (which Dr. Vedik is) then it is fine if they say anything but the same courtesy is not offered to other individuals (the example of Mr. Prashant Bhushan must be very fresh in people's memory). 

This is a blatant display of double standards by the BJP. If they believe in freedom of expression, it is really great news and I congratulate them for this. But they should show it in their behavior towards everyone irrespective of their party affiliations or political ideologies not only for selected individuals otherwise it is called double standards or hypocrisy. Surprisingly they are doing this when they have no pressure of coalition politics (this excuse was used by Congress on many occasions). The BJP has an absolute majority on its own in the parliament. It is easy to be harsh and critical about people from the opposition party or other people not related to you but when a person from your own group does something serious and you keep mum or try to justify their actions then it is hypocrisy. So far, the BJP's attitude is the same as Congress which used to justify each and every action of their leaders in the past. I hope the BJP realizes its mistake as they have a long way to go, these are just the initial days of their new government so I hope that they will take necessary corrective measures not to repeat these types of mistakes. If not, then we all know what happened to Congress same thing will happen to them sooner or later.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]