Protest rallies in India aren't uncommon. A call for a debate on any issue invariably sparks off a protest rally - usually a veiled excuse for violence - as well. The violent protest rally outside the AAP office in Ghaziabad then, hardly comes as a surprise given the highly charged political atmosphere in which Prashant Bhushan commented on Kashmir.
Bhushan is no stranger to such attacks for his opinions on Kashmir. He was audaciously attacked in his chambers in 2011 while giving an interview to a television channel over his comments over having a referendum in the state.
The group that attacked him then, claimed responsibility on their Facebook page saying, "We hit Prashant Bhushan hard in his chamber in Supreme Court. If u will try to break my nation, I will break ur heads."
Today's protest at the AAP office was for the same reason but was carried out by a different group. Taking the place of the Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena is the Hindu Raksha Sena, and they seem to not only have more man power than their esteemed predecessors, but also believe in spreading the blame around.
The attack on the AAP office
Pinky Choudhary, the national convenor of the group, had a simple reason for the decision to attack an office where even women and children were reportedly milling around.
"We today staged a protest against AAP's stand on Kashmir. AAP's leader Prashant Bhushan's remark on Kashmir is very sad for Hindus due to which we have staged protest outside party office," he said.
Choudhary has been arrested for his role in the attack, but this may actually be a small price he is paying in the longer run. This may in fact herald the start of a possibly lucrative and healthy political career.
Take his predecessor, who attacked Bhushan. That worthy individual has since moved on to making t-shirts glorifying the BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and may gradually even make a surreptitious entry into mainstream politics.
But this is not an isolated case.
Most Indian political parties have a long history of not shunning candidates with criminal records, and definitely not those who are accused of what are largely considered to be 'wink and nod' minor offences like violent protest. In fact, affidavits submitted by current MLAs and MPs show that as many as 19 percent of them have criminal records.
When it comes to MPs in the Lok Sabha the number is higher, at 30 percent. An Association for Democratic Rights report noted that the probability was high that a candidate with a criminal record has a higher chance of winning polls than a clean candidate. This however only considers elected representatives to higher legislative bodies and does not include those elected to smaller bodies like municipalities and panchayats.
In the instance of the attack on AAP, the Congress could point fingers at the BJP, but their record is not much better. The argument of politically motivated cases falls flat when it is a case of inciting mob violence of the kind witnessed today, but this is often a good enough argument for a party to welcome such a candidate into its fold. The onus will continue to lie on political parties to ensure that they only encourage clean representatives to contest on their tickets and shun those who don't meet the criteria.
The BJP and AAP are already engaged in a war of words that will go little beyond a headline or two. In a contentious national election where probity, performance and clean politics has come to the fore, there will be no better time for political parties to send out a clear message. And it will be up to the national parties, to show that they are capable of doing more than paying lip service to the ideas that have gained popularity thanks to the AAP.
The AAP office will be repaired, the Hindu Raksha Dal will wait for its next target and as it stands, politics will, unfortunately, continue as usual. Unless Pinky Choudhury pays a higher price in his fledgling political career than just a few hours in jail, it will just be business as usual.
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