Divisive politics has always been a bane for the constitutional framework and the law and order situation of our country. There are countless instances wherein the ruling power has used the differences among people to their benefit, and has prevented people from uniting and focusing on real issues.
The recent events in Koregaon, and the riots that have broken out in various parts of the country, once again draws our attention towards this issue. What we want to ask is, how the victory of a colonial power against natives can be celebrated? And even if the celebrations do occur, the violence that ensued can never be justified.
We are a country that got its independence through a non-violent struggle. The fact that violence can be justified and even celebrated, sounds a bit counter intuitive to me.
We are slowly moving towards social inclusion after decades of hard work by our leaders and different social activists. But these clashes, and the resultant widening of the cracks in the social framework, only takes us back in time.
We should realise that more often than not, the reason for such instances is misinformation. We are often presented with twisted facts and we believe them, without even giving it a second thought. In today’s world of hate speech and online extremism, we need to prevent this from happening and see to it that we read more about issues that concern us and get to the bottom of the matter. Only after that, must we react – but, in a sane and peaceful manner.