"Parallel lives... It was a matter of parallel lives, one person having lamb for supper, the other cucumbers. With fate deciding, at random, which was which," wrote Hala Alyan, in Salt Houses, a historical-fiction novel which traces the story of a Palestinian family across six major incidents of global history.
Closer home, and closer now, it isn't the question of lamb and cucumbers, but of liberty and the lack of it. And perhaps, it is our law enforcement agencies, and not fate, that is deciding – (seemingly) at random – which is which.
Thus, on the one hand, we have the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) president, who continues to remain out of jail even after one of the two FIRs against him – which, by the way, were filed only after the pleas reached the top court – booked him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
On the other, we have legislators awaiting the slightest flicker of liberty, even after months of incarceration.
Note: We are categorically not saying that Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, BJP MP and WFI president, should be arrested. That is entirely the discretion of the police and contingent on his cooperation with the probe.
However, all we are asking is:
If law – and the enforcers of the law – can make make such room for Singh's liberty, why was Congress party's P Chidambaram in custody for over a 100 days in 2019? Why has AAP's Manish Sisodia been in jail since February this year? Why is NCP's Nawab Malik incarcerated since February last year, despite his crumbling health?