Conversations have been called a window to the soul and when we
listen to the conversations and debates taking place in various corners
of our country, one gets saddened by the quality of the talk. We have
always been taught by our religions, great thinkers and philosophers to
just live in today. We have been told time and time again to learn from
our past and not to worry about the future.
But
today we are being told some totally different. We are asked to forsake
our past as we know and re-define it. The redefinition is not based on
some deep research but on a very narrow view of the history. We are
being told to use that narrow view and instil hatred in our hearts so
that we fear tomorrow
and ruin our present. We are being told repeatedly that 14%of Muslims
are going multiply into unproportionate numbers and take over 79-6%of
majority population.
We are being told that Taj Mahal is not the pride
of our nation but was built by invaders. It is being called an
archeological blunder that probably needs to be demolished or renamed as
it was built on a temple. Shah Jahan was a rapist and mass murderer.
Tipu Sultan was not one the first Indian ruler to launch an offensive
attack on British but rather he was a mass murderer.
These leaders
forget that Red Fort, from where the PM addresses the nation on every
Independence Day, was too built by Shah Jahan. The foundations of GT
road was laid by another She Shah Suri. So are these hate preachers
going to demolish those too?
No doubt that the leaders of
yesterdays had a dark side and a very different view of human rights.
Even George Washington practised slavery but today America is one of the
biggest crusaders of human rights. That's what evolution is all about.
We are learning the art of being more humane. But are our conversations
helping that process? Our conversations are adding to the hate in our
society.
On 15th October, an 8month pregnant Dalit lady slipped and
accidentally touched a bucket of an upper caste woman. That angered the
upper caste woman and her son so much that they took a stick beat her
mercilessly, attacking her womb. The woman and her unborn child died.
This hatred is spreading which has foundations in the caste divide set
by our ancestors. We need to talk about this and shake the foundations
of the caste system. Our history teaches us that till we were divided
into kingdoms and sultanates, British found it easy to rule us. But when
our country united, we were to achieve independence.
The
noise of hate mongers is getting louder and more are listening to it. Or
maybe, more are listening to it, so they are getting bolder. It's a
vicious cycle that affects our thoughts and we end up encouraging the
conversations that incite hate in us. Today, India is thinking Rahul
Gandhi has finally become a politician. What has happened is that he has
learnt to entertain the audience with his funny comments; GST is Gabbar
Singh Tax and �Shah-Zada� is benefitting reply by the Shehzada who has
been tormented by his opponents.
But his capability hasn't changed, he
has just re packaged himself. This is the same Rahul Gandhi who was
behind the much-acclaimed MENREGA which provides employment to millions
of Indians living below poverty line. But because, We, the people, want
to be entertained by our politicians, he has reinvented himself.
We
have become a nation that wants drama in politics too. We are okay with
dreams built on falsehood, lies but we don't have stomach for a silent
but a capable PM like S Manmohan Singh. Let's leave the entertainment to
the artists of Bollywood. Let's change our conversations.