The divergences continue to widen. The bottom 90% struggles to have an existence, while the top 10% is bored of it.
With more modes of communication and information exchange, there is actually less tolerance and greater expression of intolerance. How did we end up here? Weren't we always the most the pluralistic, tolerant and accommodative society? Or was it just a pipe dream?
What gives people the right to use violence and intimidation in enforcing their moral codes on others? How dare they do it? Why does the state machinery fail to tackle them?
How can a person deny me my right to earn to a livelihood in any part of the country? How can he tell me to go back if I don't speak a particular language?
Communalists hold people hostage at will. A person who once burned the Constitution had the cheek to say that the new rupee symbol is not representative of his state because it incorporates Devanagari. Actually, till I met some people from his state, I always thought language was a means of inclusion. Post that, I realised it could be a means of exclusion as well.
We see disaster looming in the Commonwealth Games, and give ourselves an indulgent pat on the back, taking pride in the fact that we knew all along something would go wrong. Had we really been concerned, the top official would have been publicly lynched by now.
Kashmir burns. How long are we going to drag things? Are body counts subservient to national pride? Why can we not swallow our ego and accept our ineptitude in resolving the conflict? Why can't we just let go? And to our displaced Kashmiri brethren who pine for their homeland, why can we not promise a better life in the rest of India?
I have been hearing the same recyled stuff for so many years that I have lost count.
And yet I sit quietly typing out on my laptop, truly representative of everything thats going wrong...
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I understand and share the helplessness you have expressed here. Ignorance, poverty and apathy form deadly cocktail that can corrode the soul of any nation.
ReplyDeleteBut I still feel that all is not lost. As long as there is a realization that these flaws should not be institutionalized, the country, I believe, will make its long and tortuous journey successfully.
And then there are problems like Kashmir where (even if we like to believe so) there are no simple answers. Only political ingenuity and courage can make us come close to a solution.
I share your concerns Akki....but..
ReplyDeleteOn the Kashmir issue - well, we can't possibly concede..politically, strategically, and even for the simple fact that after all these years of resistance, conceding is not the way out
On the language issue - completely agree with you and believe that its the state machinery's silence which is giving more strength to these goons. Wish they made to stand in the middle of the road and shot in the name of honor!
As for us being helpless - bro, people like us have a lot of battles to fight...which monster shall we choose? - Inflation, National security, Political and Business corruption, erosion of moral and social values? which?
@Ameya: I think the realization is in place. What is lacking is a co-ordination of wills. I am hopeful that progress, in particular technological progress, will help. I have no faith in politicians, becuase I have no faith in the people who elect them.
ReplyDelete@Tushar: We can choose to not concede on Kashmir. But at what cost? Is it worth so many lives, efforts and value erosion? Think of how much India would benefit if the issue got resolved.
We all have our battles to fight. The ones worth fighting for are the ones which make us realize that we are part of something larger than ourselves, something beyond our own being.
On your last para as reply to my comment - Kashmir fits into this definition exactly...if we concede, India faces great danger from Pak. This is not worth risking because the lives of a lot more people will be in danger (not to mention other innumerable risks), compared to the ones that are already in danger.
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