India, Oct. 7 -- The attempt to hurl a shoe at Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai in the Supreme Court on Monday morning is an unfortunate but inevitable consequence of continual political attempts to keep the communal pot simmering. The attempt by the lawyer, identified as Rakesh Kishore, and his utterance, "Sanatan ka apman nahi sahenge (We will not tolerate any insult to Sanatan) while he attempted to remove his shoe, lay bare his sympathies and motivation. Though the CJI has decided, for now, not to take any action against the lawyer, who was suspended by the Bar Council of India, detained, and released after questioning, this newspaper believes that an attack on the leader of the Indian judiciary (and that too, a Dalit jurist) should not be left without a probe. The incident is linked to a controversy earlier this year, when a bench of CJI Gavai and justice K Vinod Chandran declined to entertain a plea filed by a man who sought directions to restore a seven-foot beheaded idol of Lord Vishnu at Khajuraho. During the hearing, the CJI had reportedly told the petitioner's lawyer: "Go and ask the deity itself to do something now," while declaring that the Archaeological Survey of India had to give permission. Despite his clarification later that he respected all religions, social media has remained vitiated with a profusion of disparaging comments about the CJI and the top court. The outrageous attack is the result of this manufactured controversy and should serve as a lesson to authorities in acting against elements that try to erode the public standing of institutions. It shows that once polarisation is allowed to spread unchecked, it can affect even the most exalted of positions. Only a sincere effort at arresting caste and communal passions can reverse this rot....