Vigilante state?

Ref: ‘Buddhi-Jeevi’ off the hook, new pariah is Andolan

Jeevi’( February 9). The Prime Minister’s call for the need to be watchful about Andolan Jeevis is partly a subtle appeal to vigilantism. The government has started a new programme under which volunteers can identify, flag and report ‘anti-national’ activities. Without proper legal framework, this may lead to volunteers flagging any person as anti-national without any accountability. The BJP wants India to become a vigilante state, it appears. The term ‘andolanjeevi’ was first used by the RSS for the Congress during the Independence struggle, when every campaign of the Congress was ridiculed and discarded by the British and RSS.