Indian judiciary has let down democracy

Aijaz Zaka Syed New Delhi: A Hindu friend of mine refers to India’s ruling party as the Bharat Jalao Party (Burn India Party).  Every time he says it, he says it with greater conviction.  Given the singlemindedness with which the BJP and its leaders have been going about dismantling the republic and its once celebrated democracy, you would agree the nickname is rather apt and well deserved.
The saffron party has once again justified its notoriety during the horrific Delhi carnage last month, seen as the worst communal riots since the 1984 pogrom targeting the Sikhs.  Over the past six years and more, the Hindutva party has been doing everything in its power to systematically destroy the all-embracing and liberal Indian Constitution. It has been taking apart the institutional framework and constitutional safeguards created by the founding fathers to protect the republic and its fabled religious and cultural diversity.  From ideologically infiltrating all arms of the state, including the bureaucracy, police and security forces, to saffronising the intellectual and ideological spheres such as universities, think tanks and of course the media, nothing has escaped the all-pervasive influence of the Parivar.  For far too long, we deluded ourselves that our judiciary — once the envy of the world, like our democracy – has remained vigilant and skirted the allure of power.  How spectacularly naive we all were!