[Reader-list] To Ban or Not to Ban, that is the question

[inder salim]

To Ban or not to Ban, that is the question…

Right now, there is a  clear majority of those who want to ban SIMI (
The Muslim right wing's  poltical… )  in comparison to those who want
a simultaneous ban on Bajrang Dal/VHP ( the Hindu Right wing's
political…). There are some who don't want to see them compared at
all, and there are some who don't want a ban at all.  I personally
want a ban on both, since the one is banned  and not the other.   And
since, an absolute no ban demand on political outfits by Shuddha has
opened my ( inner ) sceptic eye in me, I want to listen a little more
on it, If the learned List members share their respective convictions
on the subject.

 I quote history, "Early in 1925, Hitler visited the Prime Minister of
Bavaria and managed to convince him to lift the ban, on the promise of
good behavior, and after promising that the Nazis would work within
the rules of the democratic constitution. He then wrote a long
editorial for the Völkischer Beobachter called "A New Beginning"
published February 26, 1925".

This is a classic case where banning  was frustrating Nazis, but this
may be not have happened always. Certainly RSS in India gained more
ground after ban.

On the surface, both SIMI and RSS don't bring themselves directly in
the act. They entrust a job to themselves which moulds a basic member
into a soldier like thing, who is ready is fight.  In case of SIMI it
looks there is a ready-made situation ( unfortunately designed by
world politics )  out there, which employs these soldiers to commit
the crime, in collaboration with any group, mafia even, and commit the
act.  But in case of RSS group, they wait just for the right
opportunities to strike. So, it takes just an Advani to bring these
soldiers together to bring down a mosque, and a  Bal  Thakrey to
organize Riots in Mumbia, a Modi to castrate the entire minority in
Gujarat. etc.  The situation in fact is quite Friz Lang's M for Murder
like film, in which there is a working nexus between criminals and
police, against a psy-killer ( murdering children ).  Here, the
psy-killer can be found anywhere, floating freely in police between
SIMI and RSS.  They can go up the tomb without realizing that thre are
some other guys who are pulling the pillar of the mosque, and there
are some others who tie explosives round their wait. ( this is just a
case to make a contrast, otherwise there are many other numerous
instances where criminals become gurus, and gurus become criminals,
not only in politics, but market even ).

Ban is a funny tool in the hands of authorities. These days our Health
Minister is after Cigarette smoking.  Earlier he banned smoking in
cinema, which he believes influences the younger generation to ruin
their lungs, and now he has banned smoking in all public places.  I
don't feel  the ban works effectively in Cinema, but to ban smoking in
public places is certainly a effective tool. Particularly in buses and
Metros. That is that, but banning Books is certainly not working at
all. Banning art and other expressions of thought is really a
dangerous thing to do. The society is so much structured that banning
mental faculties from expressions of thought will make us really
barren and dry. Although paradoxes remain, but one thing is clear that
banning is not a universal word and functions differently in different
cases. For example, the ban on Sati practice is obviously a huge
protection against the heinous crimes committed  against hapless
women. Needless to say that there are lot of Hindu Male believers who
think Sati a spiritual practice, almost designed by Gods themselves,
like Manu Simriti.

To cut it short, I would like to come back to the point… where we
actually are supposed to notice ' the crime' in order to fix the
person for the machinery of Law to take over ? So to ban or no ban ?

 I will come back to history.   A very interesting case,  how Fascism
in Italy gained ground in 1925, but only after there was a big murder.
Those who are interested may read the following.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/murder_of_matteotti.htm
Giacomo Matteotti verbal attacks on Mussolini lead to his murder.
Matteotti was one of the brave people in Italy who dared to speak out
against Mussolini. Matteotti was a socialist (he was head of the
Italian Socialist Party) and therefore shared none of the views of the
post-March on Rome Mussolini. Matteotti was not afraid to speak his
mind – but this bravery was to cost him his life.
On June 10th 1924, Matteotti disappeared. On August 18th his body was
found in a grave just outside of Rome. A carpenter's file had been
driven into his chest.
Matteotti's death created outrage in Italy and it nearly cost
Mussolini his political career. Ironically, it also gave him the
opportunities to expand his power in Italy – the very thing that
Matteotti had warned people about.
In the early months of 1924, Mussolini had created the ceka. Its task
was to frighten people at elections so that they voted for the
Fascists. Two members of the ceka were Albino Volpi and Amerigo
Dumini. Both were professional gangsters and both were employed by
Mussolini. They received daily pay from Mussolini's press office.
Historians such as Denis Mack Smith believe that these men were
employed with the one specific task of getting rid of Matteotti.
On May 30th 1924, Matteotti made an passionate speech in Rome
condemning Mussolini's leadership of Italy. He declared that the 1924
election was a fraud and that the Fascists had won it using violence
and a system corrupted by the Acerbo Law. He was clearly seen as a
threat to Mussolini and his speeches had the potential of undermining
Mussolini's position.
On June 10th, Matteotti disappeared. People in the street where he
lived had noticed that his house was being watched and they
specifically noticed a Lancia car parked in the street which did not
belong to anyone in that street. One man had taken the registration
number of the car and after Matteotti had disappeared, he gave this
number to the police. The police quickly traced the car and found
blood on the back seat. This was in an era before DNA testing and the
finding of blood itself did not specifically link the car to
Matteotti.
However, Mussolini must have felt so vulnerable that he ordered the
arrest of Dumini and the men who were part of his 'gang'. Between June
15th and June 22nd, Dumini was questioned by the police. During this
time some of the evidence relating to the case disappeared - as did
many members of the ceka who went into hiding. Who disposed of the
evidence and who tipped off the members of the ceka?
On August 18th 1924, Matteotti's body was found in a shallow grave
just outside of Rome. Now Dumini was charged with murder and sent to
prison.
There is no evidence to link Mussolini to the murder. It is possible
that he did order it but that cannot be proved. It could also be the
case that Dumini was simply being over loyal to his boss and decided
himself that Matteotti was a threat to Mussolini's power and had to be
eliminated. His murder could have been a demonstration of Dumini's
loyalty to Mussolini who always denied any knowledge about the
circumstances of the murder

However, people in Italy did not believe this and 1924 is the year
that was Mussolini's most testing in terms of maintaining his grip on
Italy. Mussolini resorted to promising that any violent men in the
Fascist Party would be kicked out and he sacked three Fascist
ministers from his cabinet. This caused problems in the Fascist
movement itself. There were those who saw Mussolini as being too soft
and giving in to the population too easily - so it appeared as if
Mussolini was losing public support and support from within the
Fascist Party. Fifty senior officers in his private army - the MVSN -
stormed into his office in Rome and demanded that he rule as a
dictator or they would overthrow him and put someone tougher in power.
Mussolini decided to become tougher.

Warmly
Inder salim




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