“Divide and Rule”- Time to get rid of it
I came across these lines somewhere:
“The forest was shrinking, but the trees kept voting for the axe because its handle was made of wood and they thought it was one of them”
2019 was quiet a happening year for Indian polity. First six months was devoted to pseudo nationalism and great Indian festival of elections. Although we have elections like every alternate month in some part of the country ,given its vastness, but central elections have a different kind of enthusiasm. Our poor journalists (Sarcastically!) work 24/7, roam all around the length and breadth of the country, shout more than usual and we celebrate our democratic rights. But is this true? Or a mirage? Does democracy really exist in India?
Nearly 50% of our MPs have criminal history (26% more than 2014 Lok Sabha). Actually, criminal politicians are considered normal in India. It’s as normal as sun setting in west. No wonder crying for proper law and order and blaming the system is our favorite national pass time.
Lets ignore this ethical judging. There are other uncountable problems. Be it Delhi becoming gas chamber or unemployment making new records, economy giving us danger signals or onion trying to compete with rupee value against dollar. We are frustrated. We are irritated. We are sad. We are angry. But still we are happy. How?
Because we got Ram Mandir. Our cows got bodyguards. (Fact: Women are more unsafe than cows in India.) We got Statue of Unity. We scrapped Article 370. We may not know what is the history of Article 370 or Kashmir. But we are satisfied. Similarly as we were happy during demonetization and GST introduction. Our government is working. We may not understand the pros or cons of its action. We are just grateful something is happening. And in November, we got CAB and upcoming NRC in the chronological order. Woah! A record breaking year indeed. We don’t remember when the last time any government had worked this much.
But is it enough? Were they need of the hour? They may be. But warmongering with certain neighboring countries is not the answer to our basic problems. A temple is not going to take care of our deteriorating health facilities or climate chaos. We are the country where people still die of hunger, children die of epidemics, and farmers/students prefer suicide to life. We simply can’t afford biggest statue of the world.
But do we care. Why will we? Our news channels are working tirelessly these days. Competing each other to give their ‘version’ of latest news. Thanks to our over responsible media, we are being diverted from the reality.
Since the people are already distracted and confused its very easy to divide them. Its happening since independence. Our ancestors inherited Britishers’ well known divide and rule policy. Even though we were divided officially in Aug 1947 as two states, division never saw the end. We are divided every day. Be it religion, caste, language or class. Our representatives are playing with our emotions and we let them do it. They betray us again and again and we still choose them. They kept on growing and we kept falling backwards. Inequality got a new definition in our country given that richest 1% hold 58% of country’s wealth. But we are happy. Happy in division.
But now things have reached to the brim. People need to get aware. Be it Hindu or Muslim, both have been cheated. Both are struggling for basic needs. Food is equally costly for them. Water is becoming inaccessible to both. Their kids go to same sub-standard schools. Both are unemployed. Both pay bribes in government offices. Both are scared for their women. Both are getting burned in Surat or Delhi fires. Both are exploited. Both are vulnerable.
Its not the time to run towards left or right now. Both extremes are wrong. Its high time we look for balance. And this stands true for each and every citizen of India. We all have to come together. We are already heading towards the saturation point. It has already started to show glimpses when peace loving people of our country are celebrating encounters. The time is near. May be a second war of independence is awaiting. Independence from inequality. Independence from division. To the country of equal opportunities and prosperity. To actual democracy. To peace.