The Tripura government’s ‘whataboutery’ on the issue of alleged communal violence in Tripura last year is ‘completely disgraceful,’ according to the petitioner requesting an independent investigation into the matter.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing on behalf of petitioner Ehtesham Hashmi, slammed the state government’s arguments about why such investigations were not requested during the riots in West Bengal and other states.
It is so unseemly for a state to engage in whataboutery. It’s something we can expect from the news channels. ‘This does not reflect well on the state,’ Bhushan said a bench that included Justices DY Chandrachud and Dinesh Maheshwari.
Bhushan was referring to the state’s affidavit, which was issued last week in response to Hashmi’s plea alleging state police participation and inaction in the case.
‘It is shocking to learn that just a few months ago, a series of pre-poll and post-poll violence erupted in West Bengal, spanning a vast geographic area and affecting a large number of people. ‘The petitioners’ so-called public spirit did not move on a broader scale of communal violence a few months ago, and suddenly their public spirit rose owing to minor incidents in a small state like Tripura,” the state claimed.
‘This explanation does not clarify why the government did not conduct any investigation,’ Bhushan responded to the bench.
The high court panel gave Bhushan until Thursday to respond to the state’s affidavit and agreed to hear the case on Monday.
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