Human rights ‘activist’ and former Head of Amnesty India, Aakar Patel, went on an unprovoked and contemptuous rant against the Supreme Court of India on Friday night. He had earlier tried to incite Muslims and Dalits to resort to violence.
In a sexist and transphobic tweet, he compared the judges of the apex court with ‘eunuch’, suggesting that they were not ‘manly’ enough to stand up for the Judiciary. While referring to the sexual harassment case against erstwhile CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Aakar Patel wrote, “Eunuch judges of Supreme Court of Hindu Rashtra let sexual harasser Chief Justice appear in a case where he was himself accused. And we must genuflect to it as if it were some oracle of Delhi.”
However, on being slammed for his sexist remarks, he was quick to backtrack and delete his tweet. However, he did not stop with his tirade. He decided to replace the word ‘eunuch’ with ‘haramzada’. The former Amnesty India Head wrote, “Am deleting this tweet to remove the word eunuch and replacing it with haramzada. My apologies for using eunuch.”
Aakar Patel, nevertheless continued his vile tirade unabated. Labelling the Supreme Court of India as the apex court of ‘Hindu Rashtra’, he wondered whether children would be taught against the sexual harassment case against former CJI Ranjan Gogoi.
He claimed, “Wonder if our children will be taught that Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi-who sent thousands to torture in Assam-sat in judgement in his own case. That the SC of Hindu Rashtra dismissed it.” Patel further accused Gogoi of leveraging his position to get a Rajya Sabha ticket, suggesting that he had been close to the current political dispensation at the Centre.
As a matter of fact, an in-house committee of the Supreme Court, comprising of Justices S A Bobde, Indu Malhotra and Indira Banerjee, submitted its report on 5th May 2019, which said that they found no substance in the allegations contained in the allegations levelled against Ranjan Gogoi by a former female employee.
In another contemptuous tweet, Aakar Patel claimed that the Supreme Court, whose duty is to check the Executive’s overreach, has been intentionally chosen to be ‘pusillanimous’ (devoid of courage) and a ‘coward’. “It is the Judiciary that has power over there executive’s overreach. The fact that it has been pusillanimous and cowardly under Modi is a choice. Especially the Supreme Court of Hindu Rashtra.”
The tainted track record of Aakar Patel
On 31st May last year, while quoting a tweet by Colorado Times Recorder featuring a video of thousands of people running riots in Capitol in Colorado, Aakar Patel had tweeted that India Muslims, Dalits, Adivasis, women and poor also need to do protests like these. “We need protests like these. From Dalits and Muslims and Adivasis. And the poor. And women. The world will notice. Protest is a craft,” he had tweeted. His Twitter account was withheld thereafter.
Aakar Patel was booked under IPC sections 505(1)(b) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public whereby any person may be induced to commit an offence against the State or against the public tranquility), 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 117 (Abetting commission of offence by the public or by more than ten persons).