As a part of the Indian electorate, naturally I would vote for any particular leader, party or Government in Lok Sabha and Assembly polls. But when my favoured leader/party/Government went all-out to throw out rural farmers from their land and livelihood so that an industrialist can go laughing all the way to the bank and upper middle class can enjoy the cars churned out from that factory, vehemently did I protest from my own platform. When my favoured ones ordered shooting of citizens protesting against forceful occupation of agricultural land so as to create SEZ, religiously did I protest.
Yes, still in subsequent polls, I continued to vote for the same party(though voted out of the seat of governance) as I treated that force to be the ‘best’ among the alternatives; but my opposition and criticism against their antipoor pro-rich stance remained unabated. As for the national scenario, I hold respect for another outfit whose contribution towards the creation of basic infrastructure of the country, right from the dawn of independence, is second to none.
But when their leaders were found to be assaulting democracy and freedom of speech by distorting certain provisions of the Constitution or taking active part in communal pogrom following assassination of one of their tallest leaders; I did protest and will continue to treat such scandals as dark spots of that outfit. With passage of time and mindset, one’s world viewpoint and political reading also undergo changes. So presently I prefer another outfit while exercising my electoral franchise.
But that doesn’t confine me in blind worship of them. Rather zealously do I express my displeasure when they are seen to torment a professor for his “sin” of forwarding a social media post criticising their supreme leader, prosecute a poor farmer for merely asking why price of fertiliser is increasing or suspend a sincere Doctor for not bending his ramrod erect spine. So it arrives as a rude shock to me on witnessing how the admirers/voters of a particular outfit and leaders continue to shower deluge of undiluted praise upon them despite their deep association with riots, pogrom, vandalisation of shrines, assault upon the ‘Others”, mockery of freedom of speech, character assassination of those who dare to question or call spade a spade.
As if such endorsement of assault upon humanity (either vocally or through tacit silence) is not enough; they are also seen to openly chuckling over the Manipur issue by announcing that it would help them in boosting the vote bank. This is the very reason why they can confidently declare that Manipur will hardly be an issue as Hindu Meiteis have been projected as “victim” with the “aggressor” being opium traders and Christian missionaries! When a certain section of the electorate is heartless and communal enough to ignore or enjoy the murder and/or gangrape of Kukis just because they are Christians (just like they celebrate release of convicted gang rapists and murderers in 2002 Gujarat), there lies every reason for their favoured outfit to expect another major electoral triumph.
If communal fire like Muzaffarnagar or barbaric demolition of Babri Masjid act as a booster of political success, it is natural that they will simply relish the Haryana communal arson and Gyanvapi invocation as rabid religious muscle-flexing is simply selling in Indian market like “hot cakes” with huge electoral dividend. They are found to be mocking the Opposition for “disturbing” Parliamentary proceedings revolving Manipur. What was the record of their favoured political force during Manmohan Singh era when they used to thwart Parliamentary proceedings by citing mere allegations of corruption. What would their leaders and fellow Bhakts have done today had Manipur-like barbarities, murders and displacement had continued for months in Opposition-ruled states like West Bengal, Punjab or Kerala.
No condemnation is enough for them who still try to defend the indefensible pertaining to Manipur as well. And yes again only selfish privileged “nationalist” folks like them can afford to display “national pride” in context of attaining “global high table” through advertisement of G-20 summit(which all countries host by rotation) or Moon-Mission when billions of own countrymen are bereft of basic necessities like food attire shelter education medical care justice and livelihood; when millions of Indians are compelled to venture to alien shores(including civil war scarred countries of Middle East and Africa) to feed themselves with the country lagging much behind in all International Indexes of Social and Human Development which really matter.
Yes, there lies every democratic right of all to vote in favour of the preferred leader, party or Government. But can such affiliation be so blind that even basic feelings of humanity be allowed to be trampled upon marauding feet by making absolute mockery of basic Conscience as well. (The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the newspaper.)
