Hope Justice Gowri never hears my case

I have been wondering how I would feel if I were to get entangled in a case that is assigned to Justice L C Victoria Gowri for hearing Doubts would gnaw me about getting justice I would spend sleepless nights recalling the comments she made against Christians and Muslims before she was appointed as an Additional Judge in the Madras High CourtI would prepare a list of those who swept aside their political beliefs to become ideologically neutral At the ballooning of my hope a voice inside me would ask Is hate an ideology Can the hatred a person feels for a community turn into love for its members as soon as he or she is appointed to a judicial postInstead of accusing me of harbouring prejudices recall the statements Gowri made She said both Christian and Muslim groups ldquoare equally dangerous in the context of conversion especially Love Jihadrdquo She said she had no problems with a Hindu girl marrying a Muslim boy but added a caveat ldquoButhellipif I find my girl in the Syrian terrorist camp I have objection sic and that is what I define as Love JihadrdquoGowrirsquos ldquoSyrian terrorist camprdquo is a reference to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria ISIS which triggered a bloody civil war in Syria How many Indian girls found their way to the ISIS camp I wonder Less than a dozen I conclude after an Internet search But this figure still had Gowri justify the theory of Love JihadMilords please never assign my case to GowriAlso Read Uddhav may be down but Shinde has a long way to the topYet at the same time I would rejoice I was not born a Christian for her animus against this community runs alarmingly deep I would remember how after watching a Bharatnatyam performance Gowri said ldquoI was so shockedhellip we found it very awkward and ugly especially when the children danced the poses of Lord Nataraja to mean Jesus Christrdquo Accusing Christians of having a ldquometiculous wellplanned educated way of alluring peoplerdquo to convert to Christianity she said ldquoWhere there is a temple there must be many Churches sic is their aggressive mottordquoOh JesusGowrirsquos venomous remarks prompted 21 lawyers of the Madras High Court to petition the Supreme Court against her appointment But Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice B R Gavai dismissed the petition saying ldquoit was accepted that a number of persons who have had political backgrounds have been elevated as judges of the high court and the Supreme CourthelliprdquoGavai referred to his own political backgroundmdashhis father had founded the Republican Party of India Gavai a breakaway faction of the Republican Party of India RPI which came into existence in 1957 around 10 months after the death of Dr B R Ambedkar who had publicly announced his intention to form such a partyOn one of those sleepless nights a consequence of Gowri hearing my case I would try to analyse Gavai Seniorrsquos ideology All RPI factions are ideologically opposed to discriminatory Brahminical practices and strive to achieve the equality of all humans Those with such ldquopolitical backgroundsrdquo do not demonise communities Rather they challenge segments of social groups politically more powerful than themI would remember Gavai mentioning late Justice V R Krishna Iyer who was a minister in Keralarsquos first Communist government while hearing the lawyersrsquo petition Was the iconic judge a diehard Communist Remembering his years as a successful lawyer Krishna Iyer said ldquoGently I became a public figure of sorts without party affiliation Communists like P Krishna Pillai were often visiting me Gandhians and bitter type of Congressmen who were not for power or office used to visit me frequentlyrdquoThey visited him because they knew Krishna Iyer would represent gratis the ldquooppressed and the suppressedrdquo including the Communists who had revolted against the ruler of Travancorersquos dillydallying over acceding to India In 1948 Iyer was arrested on the charge of using the courts for political propaganda A laughable proposition indeed He was let off a month laterI would also recall other judges with political backgroundsmdashV M Tarkunde Rajinder Sachar P B Sawant etc Yet their politics like Iyerrsquos was never directed against religious communities Vigorous upholders of human rights they sided with the marginalisedThere were members of mainstream parties who too were appointed as judgesmdashAftab Alam CPI Bahrul Islam and K N Singh Congress M Rama Jois and G M Lodha BJP S Ratnavel Pandian DMKMaybe I am wrong to suspect Gowri of being biased against Muslims and Christians That she was once the national secretary of the BJPrsquos womenrsquos wing does not worry me I worry because of that question Can hate be an ideologyIn an interview to Al Jazeera Niza Yanay author of The Ideology of Hatred The Psychic Power of Discourse points out ldquoWhy do so many Jewish citizens of Israel who have never been hurt by Palestinians openly admit to intense hatredrdquo Hatred Yanay says has become a ldquopolitical apparatus that creates a community through the horror of the strange and the differentrdquo Precisely what the BJP has been doing in India exactly what Gowri did That is why I hope my case never goes to GowriThe writer is a senior journalistSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper