Editor,
The apex court’s decision of not taking any action against the lawyer who hurled a shoe at the CJI is unfortunate. It is reported that the lawyer who committed this unpardonable act has shown no remorse.
Amartya Sen famously said, “The problem is not that Indians have turned intolerant. In fact to the contrary we have been much too tolerant of intolerance.” It explains why the “Black Lives Matter” movement gets momentum in foreign countries, but a movement for Dalit’s dignity is hardly noticeable in India in spite of innumerable numbers of caste atrocities against them.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, released in September 2025, reported that 57,789 cases were registered against SCs in 2023, marking a 0.4% increase over the 57,582 cases reported in 2022, and 12,960 cases were registered against STs in 2023, a sharp 28.8% increase over the 10,064 cases reported in 2022.
Given Justice Gavai belongs to Dalit community and therefore holds a pride of place in their heart, the shoe throwing incident is not only a direct attack on the judiciary but it also hurts Dalit’s pride. Here restraint means giving a wrong message to Dalits that they should keep on tolerating abuse.
If a woman is being abused, she may not file a complaint. But can her act of restraint be considered as a good job? No, because she lets other women down by allowing the bullies get off scot-free. It is a good thing that many women have now realised the danger of tolerating intolerance and harassment.
Sujit De
Kolkata
Via e-mail
