Sanjiv Bhatt a factual victim of modern times

Eight years of incarceration, and the family of former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Sanjiv Bhatt is still standing strong, with his head held high, his conscience intact, and his resolve unbroken.

Sanjiv Bhatt, an ex-Gujarat-cadre IPS officer, in 2011 had submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then Gujarat Chief Minister, had ordered officers not to interfere with violence in the 2002 riots.

8 years – 2,923 days of our father, Mr Sanjiv Bhatt’s unjust incarceration,” wrote Aakashi and Shantanu Bhatt on their father’s social media accounts.

September 5 marks eight years since the current “regime” entered their house and took Mr Sanjiv Bhatt, “tearing their  family apart”. Aakashi and Shantanu said Sanjiv was taken away under the guise of trumped-up charges made to silence his voice of truth.

Eight years is an extraordinary amount of time to measure the life of a family, but there are moments when time becomes a strange and almost meaningless measure. 

The calendar insists that eight years have passed; however, their hearts and souls remain rooted in that September morning when their world was turned upside down and torn apart.

In fact Sanjiv Bhatt, an ex-Gujarat-cadre IPS officer, in 2011, had submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then Gujarat chief minister, had ordered officers not to interfere with violence in the 2002 riots.

Bhatt said Modi had organised a meeting on February 27, 2002, with top police officials and asked them to let Hindus vent out their anger against Muslims. What an unfortunate fact that India could see modern Kumbakarna  @ Modern Mahisasura and so on to say a few words about Modi a modern Rakshas of the little world.

Mr Sanjiv Bhatt was suspended from his post on August 19, 2015, for “unauthorised absence”. He was sentenced to life in 2019 in a custodial death case and to 20 years in a drug peddling case. Fabricated cases too made Indian judiciary helpless to show prison's doors to Mr Sanjiv Bhatt.

The duo daughters said their father taught them that, at times, an individual has to decide whether the safety of silence is worth the price of surrendering one’s conscience.
Hats off to the brave daughters of Mr Sanjiv Bhatt. 

From him, they realised what it truly meant to stand in the path of power, when power had decided that it would rather not be questioned.

Aakashi and Shantanu said Sanjiv knew that independent institutions, when captured by power, can become “deadly instruments” capable of destroying society. 

Terming the current government a totalitarian regime, the siblings said Sanjiv was well aware of the consequences of refusing to bend to its whims.

They said Sanjiv’s sacrifices were never for himself, as he always fought for people who suffered hate and violence “for the political ambition of one man”. 

Mr Sanjiv Bhatt raised his voice when remaining silent would have been infinitely easier, they said.

Mr Sanjiv Bhatt believed that those who wield enormous power must also be held to an enormous standard of accountability, Sanjiv’s children said. And for that, years of his life and his freedom have been cruelly ripped away from him.

Democracy fades more quietly when…: The two noted that repression does not win by breaking a person but convincing everyone there is nothing they can do. Because democracy does not disappear in a single dramatic moment.

They noted that democracy fades more quietly when institutions created to restrain power begin serving it; when the judiciary, which should be the last refuge of the powerless, fails to protect them; when due process becomes something that can be manipulated; when truth becomes inconvenient and therefore dangerous.

The most dangerous of all, the brave daughters said, is when citizens decide it is safer to look away instead of raising their voices in the face of atrocities!

Aakashi and Shantanu said they have watched for eight long years how extraordinary machinery of power descends upon one man.

And still, their father continues to fight. That, more than anything else, is the measure of his courage, his legacy!

Regime unable to imprison his refusal to surrender conscience’ : The post said that even after eight years, the regime has been unable to imprison Sanjiv’s refusal to surrender his conscience. 

Both Shantanu and Aakashi asserted that democracy can survive when people defend its fundamental promise: that no power is above accountability, and no citizen should have to surrender their freedom, dignity or voice to remain safe.

Referring to the recent nationwide protests, Mr Sanjiv Bhatt's two daughter said once again that voices are being raised to question, to look beyond the empty noise, beyond propaganda, beyond the carefully constructed narratives that ask them to blindly accept rather than use their agency to examine. Indian White Paper salutes the brave daughters of Mr Sanjiv Bhatt.

A generation that was taught to keep its head down is slowly beginning to lift it with courage and defiance, indeed.

Nation calls on everyone to show courage in the face of power, stating that September 5 doesn’t just mark 2,923 days of separation but eight years of their relentless fight for justice.

Aakashi and Shantanu urged people to remember Sanjiv and his courage to confront power when doing so came at an unimaginable personal and professional cost.

Mr Sanjiv Bhatt dedicated his life fighting to protect the very secular, democratic fabric of our society, our nation. The least his daughters can do is to refuse to let his voice stand alone!.