You will agree to this- We are in the grip of ages-old evils, have been unable to deliver a state with zero-tolerance towards violence and one that is just for all communities not because we lack the intent and will, but for a simple reason that we never diagnose the issues faced by our society in an unbiased way that could pave way to improvement. We try to suppress, exaggerate and also set aside concerns depending on how much profit can we extract from a happening, a happening that sees vandalizing of religious buildings or brutality against people of one caste/ community or furtherance of one community at the stake of another. And by ‘we’, I am not just referring to politicians and spiritual leaders, this word grips us all, we are sometime a news channel which for want of sensation portrays an incident in a completely deceptive manner, at the other time we are a source of rumors, and sometime we are part of the crowd that follows these political and religious ‘contractors’ for want of special privileges. The attack on a church under construction in Haryana and the vicious crime involving rape of a 72-year old nun in West Bengal deserve punishing of the convicts, guarantee of future safety, framing of tougher laws, but no blame games and diverging from the actual topic.
Something that hurt me the most after coming across the rape incident in a convent school is the politicization of these shameless and unforgivable cases. While addressing a crowd from the platform of her car, Mamta Banerjee, the CM of WB, did not hesitate a bit prior to naming her political rival BJP for what occurred. When I was expecting a sense of shrewdness, at least from some leaders of the AAP, their spokesperson and a former journalist (hence expert in playing with words) was quoted as saying that PM’s show of concern through words has become a routine after the members of Hinduism-fortification groups crush law and order promoting religious intolerance. The Congress, which in the name of ‘spying’ on Rahul Gandhi was obstructing the working of Indian Parliament now has a new card, and in this endeavor they have found supporters in the form of TMC, SP, JD(U) and other opposition parties. Isn’t it sad? The accused of the rape case are still not behind the bars, a liability which the state police of West Bengal should have served without delay and if not, the CM of the state must have summoned the police, rather than tackling with such a sensitive manner on lines of polls due in the state in 2016.
The irony is that we create an instant hype of any incident for a day or two and then discard it completely. May be because our political leaders extract all benefits from such anti-secular events in a day by hampering the working of Vidhan Sabha/ Lok Sabha, by holding marches and protests, and the public feels they are being heard, but the blame-game does not allow any improvements, on the contrary, time that was to be utilized for planning is killed, resources are wasted. At time when other parties are accusing the present central government of backing anti-minority deeds, what if the government indicts opposition parties of upsetting brotherhood by deliberate acts for political gains? It is true that in our country, any authority can claim any nonsense, accuse the other of harshest crimes, can announce any verdict publically and thus develop a detrimental state of affairs when sometime Hindus, sometime Muslims and at other times Jaats, Pandits, SCs, Sikhs are blamed for an attack by a group of three/ four men on another community. ‘Divide and Rule’ is as effective policy today as was decades ago, and until the general public changes the way it perceives happenings, this policy will remain a vibrant tool for ruling in the hands of our corrupt politicians, though not all, but many.
Another mockery of our democracy and secularism is that while allegations on Christian missionaries and Madrasas of inducing religious conversions are condemned by most of the political parties and social reformers, unconfirmed charges on Hindu groups give chance to these men to cry of foul conduct by the BJP government. Not at all will I try to shield any political party by my writing, but yes, the central government of this country, which has a clear mandate for next 5 years, a mandate to eradicate poverty, unemployment, under-development and communal hatred, if is stopped dishonestly, I will never remain silent. Criticizing policies of the government in no way means a ‘no-questions-asked liberty’ to obstruct working and growth; when we know that WB rape incident and the vandalizing of church in Haryana are crimes and criminals ought to be punished, we shall ask for arrest of the wrong-doers, not blame the union government of endorsing anti-secular activities. The police of the states are answerable, the letdown rests on the shoulders of the state rulers, not on the PM. Repeated failure of law and order is now a usual scenario in West Bengal, Didi, however, is busy diverting her MPs from normal conduct of Parliament to creating disorder and affecting an operative and productive Parliament session.
This is an appeal to all my countrymen- To pave way for development politics and to cut down communal politics, we are to prove that we are united despite of being from dissimilar castes and communities. Let us challenge real forces that promote communal violence and hatred, rather than blindly following the so-called self-acclaimed protectors of secularism.
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