Classic case of (in)justice

Classic case of (in)justice

Bibliophiles, if your bookshelf is crammed with Leo Tolstoy’s works, especially War and Peace, it’s time to lend it to (un)willing friends, abandon it or hide it in the attic (if you have one) or a basement (which we are sure you don’t have in your house, unless you are living in Lutyen’s Delhi). 

To cut the long story short, Tolstoy’s classic novel about Russia during Napoleonic wars became a point of contention during a court hearing of Vernon Gonsalves, who is an accused in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon case. The Pune Police claimed that a copy of War and Peace was part of the “highly incriminating evidence” it had seized from Gonsalves’ house. The Bombay High Court on Wednesday asked Gonsalves to explain why he kept “objectionable material” like a copy of War and Peace and some CDs at his home. 

Predictably, the Twitterati and FB users started taking digs at the proceedings through the trending hashtag #WarAndPeace. One user tweeted, ‘Ended up in a Maoist hotspot in Delhi today. Close shave. #WarAndPeace’ and posted an image of the road sign — Tolstoy Marg. 

Another tweeted: ‘#WarAndPeace objectionable? You know what, its translation in Marathi is published by Maharashtra government itself!!’  

‘Morning, fellow booklovers, and what great work of “highly incriminating evidence” are you reading today?” a user asked while another posted an old picture of PM Narendra Modi browsing through War and Peace saying, “The author of Exam Warriors reading a seditious Book!” 

Interestingly, the Pune Police had also mentioned a list of books — Rajya Daman Virodhi, Marxist Archives, Jai Bhima Comrade, Understanding Maoists, RCP Review — which were found in Gonsalves’ possession, besides the much-trending Tolstoy tome. 

The judge also said that Pune Police need to explain and convince the court how the content found in the books and CD prove the charges against the accused. However, this bit lagged in making the headlines.

— Ambika Shaligram

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