By Mahendra Mishra
It is no longer just about saving the Constitution—it is about saving the country itself. Over the past ten years, this government has inflicted wounds so deep that they are now festering and bursting open. The incident involving Justice Shekhar Yadav of the Allahabad High Court is just one manifestation of this. A person seated at the altar of justice—tasked with ensuring equality and fair treatment for every citizen—is openly hurling abuse at a community. Using words so vile that even an uneducated person would hesitate to utter them in public, he blatantly labels Muslims as “bigots.”
What’s more, this individual is fearlessly declaring what even the government has not dared to explicitly state yet: that this country will run under the leadership and direction of the Hindu majority. Instead of questioning the government on critical issues, as a judge should, he has aligned himself with its agenda and gone a step further by openly championing Hindutva. This behavior of outdoing even the most aggressive right-wing groups seems to be part of some careerist and ambitious game plan. However, in doing so, he has shredded not just the Constitution but also the dignity associated with it.
Calling him “Justice” is an insult to the term. He neither understands the essence of justice nor has any connection to it. His speeches expose the years of hatred festering within him, pouring out all at once. From a stage within the judicial complex itself, he shamelessly voiced the entire Hindutva agenda—calling Muslims “bigots,” advocating for a uniform civil code, and declaring that the country should be governed according to the majority’s will.
This was not his first time doing so. Even in his judicial pronouncements, he has demonstrated this hatred. Previously, he proposed declaring the cow the national animal and claimed its protection was a fundamental right of Hindus. He argued that attacks on the country’s culture and beliefs weaken the nation. In court proceedings, he cites Manusmriti, Vedas, and other ancient texts more frequently than constitutional provisions or legal articles. This reflects his deeply ingrained mindset, one filled not with modern, scientific, or secular awareness but with a regressive ideology that aims to smear the nation’s future with cow dung.
The bigger question is: how did someone like him even reach such a high judicial position? Can someone harboring such hateful ideas be allowed a place in the country’s higher judiciary? The Supreme Court’s collegium supposedly conducts thorough background checks before appointing judges. What happened in his case? It seems likely that this individual’s appointment was approved despite full knowledge of his ideologies, possibly due to government influence.
Former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who greenlit his appointment, later landed in disgrace, a fact the entire country witnessed. The government’s blatant interference in judicial appointments has reached unprecedented levels. Files recommending judges who adhere to truth, justice, and secularism are being suppressed, while individuals like Justice Shekhar Yadav are being strategically appointed.
Such individuals must be immediately suspended, and all their past rulings reviewed. Furthermore, impeachment proceedings should be initiated against them to ensure they are permanently removed from the judiciary. This would send a clear message that individuals with such hateful ideologies have no place in the judiciary. The increase in such appointments suggests an alarming trend within the judiciary, one that reflects the growing dominance of regressive ideologies.
The RSS has always aimed to place its ideologues in key institutions. With a government aligned with its ideology, it is now attempting to take over educational institutions, the judiciary, and the bureaucracy. The ultimate goal is to stifle dissent and silence opposition completely. Eventually, this will erode citizens’ freedoms, reducing them to mere puppets who act on command.
The exclusionary campaign underway is extremely dangerous. While it appears to target Muslims, the truth is that it also threatens Dalits, Adivasis, backward classes, and other marginalized groups. Even a significant section of the middle class will eventually be excluded. The endgame favors only a small elite—corporates, the upper middle class, and upper castes. This unholy alliance of Brahmanical Hindutva and corporate interests poses a grave danger to the entire country.
