The buzzword of the year that proved a costly affair at Bihar for the BJP. This should be the waking up call for the party to set its house in order at first. While Modi talks of development politics, his minions have expressed opinions that raise grave concerns for many who supported the party at the national games last year. Still many hang on to a glimmer of hope for nothing but this: if the current establishment loses political capital, whatever little hope there was for reforms will be lost.
Indeed the literates have gotten too much attention towards India at the international level by returning their laurels but this is a two edged sword. While it might nudge the leadership to take actions against those stepping out of line, it also erodes the diplomatic and social standing of the nation at the global stage. Again if we really are an intolerant nation, maybe we don't deserve that high ground but the world of politics had little to do with the logic of deserving and ethics. So, the government has got its hands murkier than before the Bihar polls by jumping into the pit with Lalu and hurling communal statements. Earlier it just had to convince a part of minority to drop the communal tag it has been labelled with but now even Modi's international charisma might lose luster and his support base contract.
Even I have been hiding behind the logic that if Congress was forgiven for 1984 and other numerous atrocities over the decades under its watch, so should BJP for ayodhya and godhra, but the hard truth is citing precedents is not the best form of defence in a criminal case-it establishes your guilt before your acquittal. So the ruling party has to act more like a democratically elected government instead of a loud mouthed organisation on a mission to alter history and beliefs of the nation. In the end, the towering claims of reforms & developing the country will fall on deaf ears if social security is snatched away.
As usual, I can't stop badgering the media this time either. While they have done a great job in highlighting the shortcomings of the ruling party and hitting its achilles heel, it has performed dismally when it comes to informing the society's shortcomings. While the news of beating up a muslim for eating beef was plastered all over, little was heard about the plight of upper caste victims here. The intolerance is no longer the sole right of upper caste Hindus but the right of every immoral bully in the country (sic).
I would say that we have become too tolerant in a way. Yes, too tolerant to politics of caste and communalism, too tolerant to the bullies around us and too tolerant to the public representatives who speak hatred. Unless the society acts against this tolerance towards the unreasonable and vindictive minds, the list of communal violence victims will never end. So, lets do more than writing about intolerance and tweeting about it.
If you know your boundaries definitively, there is no room for quarrel over encroachments, so lets start by pledging to respect the freedom and rights of others before pushing in with our beliefs and customs.
