DEMOCRACY BLACKENED

By Vikas Khanna

It is a black day for India. Being a true Indian, my head hangs in shame. A bunch of lumpen elements has not only blackened the face of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ideolog

ue Sudheendra Kulkarni, but the soul of India. Is hosting a book launch of Pakistan’s former foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri such a sacrilegious act that Kulkarni should be publicly abused and humiliated? Every true Indian should stand up against such forces which are out to destroy the social fabric of the country.

What’s more shocking is the comment made by Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut? If this is a "soft" attack then will Mr. Raut enlighten us by explaining what does he mean by "hard" or "strong" attack? In a way, he has issued a veiled threat to Kulkarni and the like-minded forces. The Sena says that it opposes any engagement with Pakistan as long as it supports terror. Will it then dare to blacken the face of Prime Minister Narendra Modi also who invited his Pakistani counterpart to New Delhi for his swearing-in and later held talks with him in the Russian city of Ufa? Was Pakistan not supporting the terror then? What do you say, Mr. Raut?

Mr. Raut will do well to remember that Pakistan has been fomenting trouble in India since eighties. It uses terrorism as an effective tool to bleed India. In fact, the entire world knows about it. It will be naive to believe that Pakistan on its own would stop sponsoring terror. India will need to talk to Pakistan and exert international pressure on it. The three wars that we fought have not brought about any change in Pakistan’s mindset. There is no other option but to talk to our neighbour, no matter, how does it behave. As the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee rightly said that "you can change friends, not neighbours".

October 12 would go down in the history of India as one of the blackest Mondays. This comes barely days after Shiv Sena activists forced cancellation of the concerts of ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali, who has huge fan following not only in Pakistan and India, but across the world. Such acts do not make us proud but belittle us. For, art and music know no boundaries. Glad that Bapu is not alive to see the denigration of India for whose freedom he fought his entire life. Wonder, would we have been better off under the British! For, our freedom fighters did not struggle for an independent India where intolerance and religious hatred would become the order of the day.

Of late, the attacks against writers and scholars have increased because they believed that they could practice free speech in the independent India. How wrong were they? In 2013, Narendra Dabhokar had to pay a heavy price for campaigning against religious superstitions. He was murdered. Early this year in February, communist leader Govind Pansare was killed. And in August, the 77-year-old M. M. Kalburgi, who was against Hindu idol worship, was gunned down. Where are we headed to? Why can’t there be room for different viewpoints in a pluralistic society? Sadly, the State has failed in its responsibility to protect the society from these fundamentalist forces who want to implement their own agenda, akin the Taliban. The increasing Talibanisation of Indian culture has forced several writers to return their Sahitya Akademi awards and the number is increasing by the day. But the State is unperturbed!

Why have the voices of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena and Ram Sena alike, not to speak of controversial sadhus and sadhvis, become shriller since the present government assumed office? Why have attacks on minorities increased? Why were the comments made by some of these practitioners of hatred politics in the wake of Dadri incident not censored? WHY?

While the government of the day talks about economic reforms, development, Make in India and what not, then why can’t it rein in its ministers or parties with whom it shares power who/which do loose talk? Can we dream of a modern India where one does not have the freedom to speak, can’t eat what one feels like or can’t dress the way one is comfortable with? If this is the concept of modern India, then god help us?

The United Nations has taken note of attacks on minorities? US President Barack Obama ticked off India during his last visit to New Delhi. But the government has maintained a studied silence; forget about reining in such fringe elements. Should then it be construed that such forces have the tacit approval of the powers that be? Welcome to the new India!