A premature burial of justice

 The Karnataka government’s latest move threatens to bury justice even before the truth has been unearthed. Home Minister G. Parameshwara’s  suggestion that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Dharmasthala deaths of girls and women would be wound up (even before completing its work) has ignited outrage. For citizens who placed their faith in this inquiry, the message is devastating: the state has no intention of pursuing justice to its logical end.

Silencing Whistleblowers,

Protecting the Powerful

The trail of events makes the government’s intent transparent. Whistleblower Chinnayya, whose widely publicised complaint forced the government to establish the SIT, now sits in jail. Another dissenter, Timrodi, has been jailed once, threatened with externment, and is now entangled in an arms case. Another key agitator, Girish Mattannanavar is also being hounded as the authorities have issued notice to him to execute a bond. This obviously to silence him. These relentless actions against those who raised their voice stand in stark contrast to the government’s reluctance to confront the Dharmasthala family, who in the court of public opinion remain accused of rapes, murders, and cover-ups spanning decades. The inversion is grotesque: the accusers are punished, while the accused are shielded.

SIT as a Smokescreen

Was the SIT ever meant to deliver justice? Increasingly, the suspicion is that its real role was to contain public anger rather than expose the truth. By setting up the inquiry, the government bought time and credibility. By crippling it midway, it ensures that nothing incriminating emerges. What was promised as a mechanism of accountability has instead become a smokescreen to sanitise reputations. Instead of investigating Dharmasthala, the SIT appears to have been deployed to protect it.

The Dangerous Fallout

The consequences of such a brazen retreat are grave. When governments openly abandon the pursuit of justice, public trust collapses. Institutions lose credibility. Citizens grow restive believing that the law functions only for the powerful. In cases as sensitive as the Dharmasthala deaths—where suspicion has accumulated for decades—an abrupt closure of inquiry will not heal wounds; it will deepen them. It risks pushing people into despair or even fueling movements outside the institutional framework.

Outrage Is Turning to Cynicism

Already, citizens who once believed in the SIT’s integrity are questioning its very purpose. The hope that justice would be done has given way to the belief that the SIT exists to give a clean chit to the accused. This erosion of faith is not merely symbolic; it corrodes the moral authority of the state. A democracy cannot sustain itself if its people believe that truth is negotiable and justice is selectively applied.

Playing With Fire

By targeting whistleblowers and hinting at shutting down the SIT, the Karnataka government is playing with fire. It risks being seen not just as negligent but complicit in the crimes the SIT was tasked to investigate. To wind up the probe now is to send a chilling message: that the lives lost in Dharmasthala matter less than the prestige of its ruling family.

The choice is clear. Either the government allows the SIT to complete its work without interference, or it will be remembered as the regime that strangled justice in order to protect the powerful.