Sentiment is not at all a new term in politics. Over the years, it has been pumped up, provoked, ignored or aggravated to suit certain “needs”. The widespread political ignorance in India quite evidently exceeds it’s literary one, as discussing and debating freely about politics without personal mockery or brainless populist propaganda is quite an aspect of the distant past. People talking about politics are seen much like HP Lovecraft’s “The Outsider” even today, after seven decades of independence of the world’s largest democracy.
However, in democracy, questions definitely ought to be raised by responsible citizens. There are certain questions that we do need to ask right away:
Why is Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) and Jadavpur University(JU) an issue??
Frankly speaking, I don’t know if anti-national slogans were raised in either of these universities. The absence of any definite chargesheet against Mr Kanhaiya Kumar by the Delhi police seems to agree with my idea that there is no definite, verifiable, legally admissible evidence as of yet. But probably the word “evidence” somehow seems very fragile to politicians who immediately declared that such slogans were indeed raised and that JNU had become the birth-house of anti-nationalism. Some even went as far as to say that tanks should be entered into the campus. Perhaps to strike “terror and awe” I guess.
When Jadavpur University in West Bengal showed solidarity with JNU, it was summarily declared anti-national as well. Luckily for JU, it was not a central institute, so it had to suffer much less than it’s compatriot.
This event makes one wonder whether we are being governed by people who declare us as outcasts, outlaws and surely anti-national the moment you question or criticise the Government. Perhaps the demolition of Babri Masjid was an example of absolute nationalism to them.
Surgical strike and aftermath..
I seriously wonder whether we live in a democratic or a feudal society. We pay all sorts of taxes to the Government. That however doesn’t give us the right to demand answers from our Government. Although the Government is quite rightful of using “Pakistan” as an excuse, we can’t use our taxpayer status as our right. Sounds so familiar to modern feudalistic societies.
So what’s the deal? I am not debating whether surgical strike was diplomatically right or wrong. After the surgical strike, when certain Parliamentary members demanded proof of the same, the Government(along with many of our honourable countrymen) reacted in a peculiar fashion. Guess what?? As usual, they called us anti-nationals. Endless propaganda flooded mass media dehumanising the people who demanded answers about the surgical strike and brainlessly glorifying the army as if they were divine human beings who can see no evil, hear no evil and say no evil.
These all seem to point to a specific idea: “Anyone who questions the army is anti-national”. Wonderful. Quite “democratic” in nature, isn’t it??
Cows are holy, human beings are not
I am keeping my fingers crossed for the day when cows will be more valuable than human beings in this country. Hindu fanaticism is on an extreme rise. People are being killed for the “crime” of eating beef, the meat of “holy” cow. Canteens are now afraid to serve beef.
Nothing more to say….Whoa!!
Hope India globally showcases these great examples of “scientific attitude” the next time ISRO sends a rocket.
Declaration: These are my personal political opinions. I am neither attached to any political party. nor popular on mass media. I am not a threat to any politician or political party. So please, no death threats this time.