We the people of India, must think wisely and question ourselves – do we even know what’s happening around us at all, or do we just wake up after a disaster to try to mitigate it?
Mitigation isn’t easy, and with certain ideals, we will never move forward. Personal satisfaction and our own interests are important, but what if these interests are denied to us? If that happens, that’s what makes us look for justice, instead.
Perception doesn’t really make a difference, but the intention does. But, what is that intention? A party that holds certain ideals, will stick to them. However, a government must adhere to the needs and desires of citizens. Wanting a party to rule, instead of the government is probably the most threatening situation for a country as diverse as ours.
The instances we are facing in our day-to-day lives, such as intolerance, extremism and Islamophobia are examples of the threats that are looming around in our country. However, I guess that it matters who raises their voice. While justice isn’t as accessible to the poor, it is usually, speedily available to the rich.
Moral policing in the name of cow protection and violent behaviour towards people of the Dalit and Muslim communities are examples of what we are going through in today’s time. They behave this way as if they are the patent-holders of religion. Caste system is also a prevalent problem in the country. But it seems like the media doesn’t care enough about these issues for their own interests.
How long will this go on?
The development models should aim to propogate proseperity and ensure real growth. But somewhere, we are busy debating fictional perceptions of history, such as Padmavati. We believe ourselves to be part of a sophisticated era, so we must focus on issues like women’s rights and emancipation. We should try to make our society safe for women. There should be a focus on the vision that our forefathers held, and the ideals of the Constitution should be held. What we don’t need is the perception of a party that isolates people. The freedom of speech and expression is important and a core ingredient of a healthy democracy.
If we ignore these issues, who else would take them up? We must ponder over these questions in order to fix things. Directly or indirectly, these stigmas affect us, but we must not let them. We may not know, but each one of us is a victim, one day or the other.