We are celebrating 75 years of independence this year. The achievement is
not just merely a number reflecting years our country stayed independent and
stayed together but it signifies the immense hard work that has gone into
getting our country out of poverty and destitution. From literally running out
of food in 1960s to a grain surplus nation, from rationing Milk to a country
with one of the highest milk productions. The achievements are too numerous to
mention and each one of it is of staggering proportion (Polio
eradication!).
And all this despite our democracy which is lead, generally speaking, by myopic,
corrupt and family centric business/mafia enterprises masquerading as political outfits. However, at a macro level, political parties across the
spectrum and since independence have done their bit in strengthening democratic
fabric. They all fought elections rather than grabbing the power by, well,
Power. All political actors abided by the rule of the land and abided by the
court rulings. And most importantly, they all accepted people's mandate
graciously. But democracy has its limitations. As in, it attracts the crowd
that wants to win at any cost. It does not necessarily attract the best and the
brightest. It attracts hustlers. The myopic nature of political parties is not
the fault with politicians, it's the design fault of the democracy. One of the necessary way to win the elections is to create fear among the electorate. Creating the want or need of agitation is the key
ingredient. The lack of mature conversation and dialogue is not a fault with democracy,
it's an essential and unfortunate necessary evil.
Issue manufacturing is almost a requirement for running an election.
However, sometimes this issue mongering goes out of hand and threatens not just
the mentality of the society but pose grave danger to the future as well. In
India, one such issue that's becoming draconian in its reach is the constant sense
of victimhood by everyone. Everyone is a victim in India. They are victims of
caste, class, religion, gender(s), region, language, food preferences,
capitalism, socialism, communism, of history, of future...you can come up with
'n' number of dimension and there will be some group in India that will be
grieving and aggrieved. This week NDTV published a column by a Muslim IT
professional who is allegedly persecuted as a tenant because, what he surmises,
he is a Muslim and a meat eater. Is the writer simply a stupid with a
megaphone? Or there's something more to it?
Discrimination does happen, at all levels, all the time. Theoretically
speaking, it should not happen. At least not because of identities such as
caste, religion or eating preferences. But to surmise that he is discriminated
only because he is a Muslim and that this sort of discrimination is faced only
by Muslims and that's why, by extension, India fails as a nation is nefarious
attempt to tarnish the image of the hard-working country. Ask any Marathi
person in Mumbai trying to rent or buy an apartment in Gujrati dominated
societies how they were discriminated. Ask any Hindu trying to rent or buy an
apt in Muslim dominated areas and listen to their stories. Such narratives are
numerous and across the broad spectrum of the social fabric.
The key aspect to note is that there is recourse for all such issues. A
person can go to the police and file a complaint, go to the court with
grievance. The laws are strictly against any sort of discrimination. What does
it signify when one, without using any of these avenues, simply starts
shouting from the rooftop?
The answer is emergence of new 'identity' on a social and political platform
- the identity as a Victim - a perpetually bereaved class. Mind you,
Muslims polity and Muslim politics are Granddaddy’s of Victim politics.
Everything is an affront to them, and everything is a danger to them. But now
game is picked up by everyone. Farmers, despite not paying taxes and getting
free electricity are the victims of ....well, for being farmers. Students? Remember
the Rohit Vemula suicide controversy? No one knows what exactly happened, yet
the unfortunate death of a young person was leveraged by everyone for their own
interest and Victimhood was claimed on the basis of caste, religion, student
status, student politics on college campus etc. A glass pane is broken in
church? - all Christians are now in danger in India - they are all victims of
Hindutva, Hinduism, Brahminism....I don't even know what else. Bring a rule to
make it easy for persecuted minorities from Islamic nations to come to India?
For the reasons no one knows, Muslims in India are suddenly now in danger. The
list just goes on and on. And once you claim the status then you are free to do
anything in the name of Victimhood. Go on rampage, destroy property, kill
people but the so-called journalists and so-called Press will side with you.
Unfortunately, instead of having a nuanced dialogue political parties act as
a megaphone for such incidences. In fact, it is increasingly becoming
impossible to discern the reality from fabrication. Is a particular incidence actually an incidence with some merit or it's simply a political stunt? The Delhi University fracas is a great example how issue
manufacturing and Victimhood narrative is imposed on public so as to help few
political parties and start political careers of some individuals.
One can argue that this is all part and parcel of the politics. And the real
issue is politics has seeped too much into our social fabric (is
there even a single social or culture program in India that gets inaugurated by
a non-Politician now?) Maybe, the argument has its merits. Not all Christians
feel that they are in danger because Barkha Dutt proclaimed that a broken
window in a Church tantamount to religious persecution. Not all Muslims feel in
danger because a law is made for persecuted minorities of outside nations. Yet
and this is where the tire hits the actual road, - no Muslim or
Christian organization ever came forward to denounce this narrative setting. No
archdiocese, who otherwise will eagerly defend rapist padre in Kerala, has come forward to
denounce Barkha Dutt and her drama of birthing Victims. No Muslim
organization has come forward and said that Muslims are not and will not be
victims of a law that has nothing to do with citizens of India. And that's because it is clear to these organizations that playing the card of Victimhood pays dividend. The constant bombarding of
stories that one or the other is a Victim in India, because of other Indians,
because of Indian state or a society, in an 'inceptionian' way started forming
a narrative in psyche. In a generation or so, people will start hating their
own background, their own country, their own society, history, their own
civilization.
By the way, this has happened before. We are still suffering self doubt as a nation because of British imperialists leveraging issue manufacturing and Victimhood complex (Muslims, as usual, were always the victims even during British rule). The self doubt is evident in our foreign policy and military strategies even now.
The reality is, asking political parties to mend their ways is a tall ask. They are not different animals than us. For better or for worse, they are extension of us. If we want to emerge as a strong nation then the work starts at much micro level. We need to become strong in minds, understand the context, not fall for traps and for short term benefits. And, vote accordingly.
Of course, all this has been said before. I am simply rehashing!
