Friday, May 30, 2014

Do we forget what we are and who we are???


What is surprising is the fact that people who live in rural areas and have seen poverty, caste system/caste discrimination and gender violence, have failed to understand how these things work in day to day life, especially after they move to an urban setup, get college education, and are trapped in upward mobilization.
Someone sent me a post on Facebook which reads as follows, “ONE DAY POOR WILL HAVE NOTHING LEFT TO EAT BUT THE RICH”.  This statement is also in Hindi in a poster withthe photos of Prime Minister Modi and Indian businessmen Ambani and TATA on top and people on the floor with faded clothes below.  
This national election has seen BJP win with big margin; there is no individual party which has the required strength to sit in opposition. According to me, this win is not BJP's but this is  the election victory of Ambani, Adani and TATA. They win each election irrespective of parties, their loyalty shifts immediately after the result so they win each time.
People in India are becoming rich and rich day by day and people in India becoming poor and poor day by day. What is visible to us is the rich becoming richer. What is also visible is the fact that few subsides are provided to the poor farmer, few kilogramsof grain are given to dalits, tribals, and these continue to be poor. What is not visible for most of us who live a middle class life and aspire to acquire the status of rich (and who also eventually show our frustration on the poor for eating our tax paid money) is that the interest free loan and the uninterrupted water and electricity provided to the rich, the kind of facility provided to the industry. So how do we respond to all these things? What do we say to these half blinded middle class people who criticize the poor for no rhyme or reason?
When Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal was depicted in cartoons and her policies criticized, some arrests were by the state government under the IT Act.  People are witnessing a similar fate for posting their views against Mr. Modi. Of course, no one is making a cartoon of Mr. Modi but the issues are more serious; there are many anti Anant Murthi postings in the public domain for his remarks on Mr. Modi and these continue. In case people like me express our views on the personal attacks on people like Dr. Ananta Murthi and argue that they have a fundamental right under Article 19(1) of the Constitution, we have been attacked and restrictions under Article 19(2) invoked.  So are we saying that people who oppose the state and the police are outside the preview of Article 19(1) of Constitution? Or are we saying that Article 19(1) is limited to Mr.Modi/BJP supporter and not for others?

The danger is political polarization and the absence of scope for a healthy debate. If you say something you are being branded as Congerss party worker and the stooge of Ms. Madam and her son. Does that mean that we have already accepted the two party system in this country and that what is available is either you are with us or with them? If earlier one ran the risk of being branded as a leftist or nationalist, and then terrorist or nationalist, now one is either a nationalist or a congress sympathizer. Is this what we have learnt from history?