Do we understand politics has taken centre stage in deciding who we are, what we do and why. It is amply becoming clear from how the state is fiercely reacting and responding to a single statement said or otherwise spoken by different means and mediums.
Both, Sonu Sood and Harsh Mander are figures in their respective rights, routinely espousing the churning and concerns of those staying on the margins. Well, their works are not hidden from the public gaze as they have strived and endeavoured to perform what they deem is dutifully right from them.
From the beginning of the lockdown, Sonu Sood has been on his toes running relief and rehabilitation for those who were unable to afford and mobilise resources to reach their homes. From arranging bus trips to ration kits for daily wagers, he did whatever he could, politely refusing credit and publicity.
Harsh Mander a retired IAS officer has been a noted child rights activist and founder of Karwaan spreading unity and brotherhood between communities in different districts and corners of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, etc.
Offering to take positions on matters impacting and influencing the common and ordinary from a Citizen Amendment Bill to National Register for Citizens he has always led the fight by being brutely honest about his means and methods.
Can they be simply muted and silenced by Enforcement Directorate raids and surveys? Does opposing bigotry and chauvinism tooth and nail come at a price.
Maybe a Sonu Sood indulged in a sin showing up at the Delhi Government’s programme appointed mentor of Deshbhakti curriculum. Or Mander, penning pieces and columns critical and discomforting to the cultural nationalists in Nagpur.
In the end, it’s the regime calling the shots, completely isolating and alienating from the process and procedure by being electorally innocent