From Bihar to Bengal, the festival of Ramnavami has become a communally volatile occasion. Last week, Bajrang Dal and VHP activists were arrested on charges of inciting communal tension on Ramnavami in 2017, in Nawada, Bihar. This weekend, Union minister Giriraj Singh visited the accused in jail and afterwards met their families, declaring the accused have been “implicated in false cases” and blaming their arrest on the Nitish government’s “suppression” of Hindus.

A key reason why communal riots flare up with disturbing frequency in this country is that the guilty are rarely punished. The perception logically grows that the guilty enjoy political protection. Independent police work has to be a central plank of controlling communal disturbances. On the other hand a Union minister jumping in to pronounce the innocence of the accused, broadly on a religious basis, is arguably strong encouragement for a repetition of the crime.

The Giriraj visit comes on the heels of another Union minister Jayant Sinha garlanding the men convicted of lynching a meat trader in Jharkhand, who are now out on bail. Both these episodes signal that aggressive Hindutva will be a main BJP vote plank in the next Lok Sabha elections. But no electoral ambitions can justify endangering the safety and security of citizens, by creating an environment where those guilty of communal crimes expect immunity rather than punishment.