Mr. Kejriwal and his so-called dramas

AAP leader Mr. Aravind Kejriwals' arrest for refusing to pay bail money has been in the news. Among all the news related to Mr. Modi's swearing-in ceremony this was the only news that managed to get attention in electronic media. They ignored the killing of a couple of soldiers or a rail accident but only focused on these things, but that is media, after all, it is a business and they show what people want to read. Kejriwal's arrest because of his refusal to pay bail was called another drama from his side to attract media attention and cheap publicity. This was not the first time his actions were termed as drama, his decision to reject the big bungalow that normally chief ministers occupy was called a drama, and so was his dharna on the road to demand the suspension of a few police officers. Even driving his own vehicle to the office or his dress was considered as a drama or an attempt to attract media attention. Most of his actions which defied the so-called normal behavior patterns of conventional politicians in India were called drama not only by his detractors but also by the media. Why Mr. Kejriwal's actions are labeled as drama? Why anything that deviates from the conventional norm is labeled as drama by people who like to follow the conventional line of thinking? These are very interesting questions and as usual, Mr. Kejriwal has given us another opportunity to discuss another interesting issue here.

Actually, I have some personal connection with this issue which is the main reason I decided to write this post. There was a time in my life when I absolutely hated to wear a suit or any fancy dress (no matter what the occasion). I still don't like to wear them but back then I was totally against some of these things. Any time I opposed any of these ideas, it was called a drama. That too when I was the one who was opposed to dressing up or for lavish celebrations. People who were dressed up like movie stars were called normal and a person who refused to do that because he really didn't like to dress up was accused of doing a drama. The real problem is that many people can't believe that some individuals don't like to follow conventional norms or stereotypes just for the sake of being accepted by society. Many find it difficult to believe that some people can break the conventional norm and behave differently. It is also ironic that when everyone is wearing flashy, expensive, designer, and fancy stuff, a person with simple clothes is called a dramebaaz.

This mainly happens because people think that if a person can afford these things but still refuses to do so, then they must be a dramebaaz. Poor people who can't follow some of these conventional protocols are not accused in this way but if you can afford it and still don't follow the norm then you are dramebaaz. If you can afford then buy a fancy, expensive, branded car; if you don't do it and are still driving your old, used, or rusted car then you are a dramebaaz. If you can afford designer suites and expensive jewelry, then you should wear them but if you go to parties or functions with very simple or regular clothes then you are a dramebaaz. I am not saying that people who wear expensive clothes, like designed stuff or fancy cars are doing something wrong or should feel bad about it, they have the right to buy and wear what they like. It is their right to choose what they want to wear or what they want to do with their money and their life. I really appreciate their sense of fashion and their ability to manage all these things but some people don't have any interest in these things so why not respect their choice also.

Our society needs to accept that some of us believe in a different set of values and want to live our lives by those values. How can it be called a drama? If Mr. Kejriwal wants to live his life by his own beliefs, he wants to stand up for what he believes is right and is willing to face consequences for his actions, why is it called a drama? This also shows a mindset where people expect everyone to fit in the same mold and behave as per society's norms. We must learn that certain people travel a different path and their choice also matters like everyone else's.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Gender biased etiquettes

Open and hold your car door for ladies, pull out the chair for them before you sit, and offer your seat to them in a crowded bus or train, these are a few tips offered to men who wish to behave like true gentlemen. It is also said that true gentlemen treat women as women, I guess this means giving them special treatment, but definitely it doesn't mean treating them as equals. While these etiquettes might make women feel special, privileged, or even happy on these occasions. According to me, these etiquettes are gender biased. They are examples of positive gender discrimination, where women are getting special or preferred treatment just because of their gender. Superficially, there doesn't seem anything wrong with it, these gestures are well-mannered, intentioned, and respectful, but such minor incidents sow the seed of discrimination in people's minds.  Because of some of these things, some men get the impression that women are different (or special or weak) and always need some help from men and they should be treated somewhat differently than men. Then these people also expect that in return women should behave like women because they are special and different than men, and this is where the crux of the problem lies. Some of these men are shocked when women demand equality.

Gender discrimination like any other discrimination can be either positive (where some person is offered special treatment just because of their gender) or negative (where a person is discriminated just because of their gender). Men and women both are victims of this type of discrimination, especially women. But whenever men or women face positive discrimination, that is, when they get any special treatment just because of their gender they don't complain, this is why many men are silent about the privileges that come to them just because of their gender. I see most men and women enjoy this type of special treatment offered to them but when it becomes negative discrimination they start complaining. Any type of discrimination (positive or negative) should be questioned, because if you tolerate one type (positive) then people expect you to tolerate another type of discrimination (negative). Some families treat boys differently than girls. Boys are allowed to go out more frequently, and they can stay out late, drink, or even smoke after a certain age but similar things are not allowed for girls. Boys often don't see anything wrong in this preferred treatment, and they don't complain about this special treatment but then the same families expect boys to outperform girls in every competition, they are expected to work and earn a living for their entire family (bread earner), they need to be strong under all circumstances, they are expected to be the man of family, the savior, the protector, and bread earner. All these expectations put tremendous pressure on them, they are expected to perform and succeed not to fail or show any weakness. Men who don't fit in this mold struggle, feel guilty, or even get ridiculed by society (for not being real men). I have written about discrimination and bias against women in some posts before so I won't go into details about that. The truth is both genders get special treatment and then also face gender discrimination, women way more than men. Once we accept special treatment or positive discrimination then the other negative discrimination follows.

Why do women need to be treated any differently than men in our day-to-day interactions? What couples do during their date is their personal matter but to make gender-biased etiquette part of male-female interactions is problematic for gender equality. Women can open car doors themselves, pull their own chairs, and unless pregnant they can also stand like any other normal passenger on a train or bus. I have seen many ladies politely reject seats offered to them just because they are women. There are reserved seats for ladies in trains and buses in India but there is an altogether different reason for that, I think everyone who has traveled in crowded buses and trains in India knows why ladies are offered reserved seats or reserved compartments. But I think we don't need any reserved seats just for ladies anywhere, in special cases like pregnant women, both men and women should be courteous enough to offer them their seats. Women are capable of taking care of themselves they don't need any special treatment, especially, in a way that makes them feel that they are the weaker sex. I hope that more and more women reject this type of special treatment offered to them just because of their gender. Equality comes with some price, it's not a free thing. Equality also comes with some responsibility and struggle, if women want to claim that they are equal to men they need to behave like one. They need to reject all special treatment offered to them just because of their gender. They need to say that they don't need special treatment but need equality. They need to fight for their rights, it might come with the loss of all this special treatment, but I am sure equality is far better than any special treatment that comes at the cost of equality.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Mr. Modi your time starts now

BJP under the leadership of Mr. Narendra Modi has registered an impressive performance in the 2014 general elections of India. They not only emerged as the single largest party by outperforming their arch-rival Congress in almost every state, but also they secured a majority on their own which never happened in so many elections in India. No doubt this is a stunning performance and an incredible victory by any standards. There was a huge vacuum created by a very weak performance by the Congress-led UPA-2 government, BJP projected itself as a very viable alternative to solve all the problems India is facing in every sector and the results show that people believed in them. By % vote share BJP got ~30% votes all across India, which means there are still ~70% of voters who chose some other party than BJP. So there are many voters (~50%) who didn't accept either BJP or Congress (second largest single party in this parliament with ~ 19% vote share) as their choice, however, the truth is that BJP has won the majority in parliament on their own and they have a mandate in their hands to implement their manifesto.  Numbers are in BJP's favor so it will be interesting to see how they perform. After a long time, for the first time since Rajiv Gandhi won a majority for Congress in 1984, a single party secured a majority on its own in the Indian parliament. This is a unique opportunity for them, let's see how they make use of this.

During the election campaign, the BJP and its leaders made many tall promises along with equally tall claims (the so-called Gujarat model of development). They promised a uniform civil code, squashing of Article 370, and construction of a Temple in Ayodhya for so many years, and in their every election manifesto (including this one) these things were mentioned. It will be interesting to see what they do with these promises. They also promised to bring back black money from foreign banks to India and use it for people's welfare. The numbers floating in media about the amount of black money stashed in offshore accounts are ridiculously high, the range is enormous, now it will be the responsibility of the newly elected government to keep its promise and bring back that money or at least they should clarify how much truth is there in all these news articles about black money. Issues like price hikes (in every sector), the struggling economy, sluggish job market, rampant corruption in all sectors of public life, and opaque and non-accountable governance have been there for so many years, they have made so many promises to tackle these issues and I think people now expect them to deliver the results. One famous line of Prime Minister-elect Mr. Narendra Modi during the election campaign was, "You gave Congress 60 years, give BJP just 60 months." People liked his idea of seeing their fortunes change dramatically in 60 months, and they gladly gave him and his party the next 60 months to govern India, Mr. Modi promised to change India's future (hopefully in a good way) and bring development (hopefully for everyone not only for a certain section of society). Now all these people who gave them a chance with a lot of hope wait for their expectations to get fulfilled. People should be patient and wait at least for few years before forming any positive or negative opinion about this new government. There are many things that they can do immediately in many sectors which can boost people's confidence, it will be interesting to see if they are willing to take those steps. People are expecting a change in the governance not just a change in the government's face and I hope that happens.

There is one more thing that I noticed after this election, some people or groups of people are acting this if something catastrophic political disaster happened in India and its democracy is in acute danger. They think that the BJP's victory is like doomsday for the Indian parliamentary system. Maybe they have a very good rationale behind all these fears but honestly, I am a little surprised by their extreme pessimism and negative attitude towards this democratically elected government. After all, they won this election by a huge majority. One can differ with their ideology, and raise questions about the way they fought the election, the amount of money they spent during elections, and various other related issues but to question the legitimacy of their victory too much. They are trying to paint a very negative picture of India under BJP (or NDA) rule. Rather than doing all this if they are really worried about something really bad happening, they should go back to work, they should work hard to strengthen their respective organizations and spread public awareness so that even if the current government wants to do anything wrong they won't dare to do it. Crying foul and offering lame excuses for their own bad performance is not going to help them in any way. There is no doubt that India needs major electoral reforms and political parties, and their funding should come under RTI but these things are not going to happen overnight, we need to put on a long and persistent fight to make it happen. Let's see how this government performs to tackle these problems, let's see what steps they take, and how they govern. People should judge the performance of this government based on results, not based on perceptions or hypothetical scenarios. We should continue asking questions and raising important issues, let it be about 2002 (or any other) riots or fake encounters, inflation, pollution, corruption, or anything else. No government or prime minister should be immune to questioning. But it is too early to paint a doomsday picture, first, give this government a chance and see how it performs. I agree that many BJP supporters have become extremely aggressive about their attack on people criticizing their leader or party (this was clear during the election campaign). All such hyperactive supporters from all parties first need to learn how to control their emotions, if not, then at least learn how to talk in civilized language. Mr. Modi and his team don't have much time before people start asking them about the results that they promised and start evaluating their performance. Their time starts now, and it is better for our country if they utilize this unique opportunity very wisely.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

We have now new group of employees to work for us in the government

The results of the 2014 general elections in India are out. People have given a clear-cut mandate in favor of the BJP, this is the first time in many years that a single party has got a clear majority in parliament. This is a very good sign, one can agree or disagree with BJP's core policies or can question their communal history, those things are open for debate, but now they have a clear mandate to fulfill whatever they promised in their manifesto. The people of India have decided to give them a chance to implement their manifesto. Recently AAP has shown in Delhi that if there is political will and a strong desire to implement the manifesto it can be done, even though it was for a really short time but they displayed a proof of concept. Now this government has no excuse to offer for lack of performance. If they even try to blame the previous government it will be considered as an attempt to offer lame excuses to cover their inability to perform.  

Now we have a new set of employees in the office, let's see how they perform for us. All elected members of any public house or public service are employees of all citizens of India. Their salaries, perks, and benefits are paid from the taxpayer's money. So in every election, we elect employees to work for us for some specific tenure, they are supposed to fulfill all the promises that they made to us during their selection process (elections). For many decades these employees behaved as if they were owners of the office (our country) and we all citizens were their workers, and we voters (who are real owners of this enterprise) allowed them to do this. We allowed them to get away with this arrogance. These people cheated us again and again, misused our trust and made false promises on many occasions, offered lame excuses whenever we asked for any explanations, this whole drama was going on for many decades. All political parties (including the current one which is coming back in power after 10 years of gap) are guilty of this crime. But I think now hopefully people are tired of this game, people showed some of that attitude in asking questions to the AAP's government in Delhi, and I hope they will show a similar attitude towards each and every state and national government in India. We had enough of the blame game, BJP blaming Congress and Congress blaming BLP and in reality, none of them doing anything to fulfill their promises. This needs to stop, we need accountable and transparent government in every state and at the center. BJP with its clear mandate and majority of its own now has that chance, they also claim to have a leader with a proven track record and the ability to make tough decisions, so they should not have any difficulty in doing all the good work for all sections of society. These all claims and promises they made will be now put to the test. It is easy to talk, and easy to make tall claims and populist promises, but it's not easy to fulfill them all, their time and real test starts from the day their party assumes power.

They promised to bring back black money in a specified time (like AAP promised Lokpal), they promised to punish criminal politicians, they promised to bring a uniform civil code, squash Article 370, etc. One can read BJP's manifesto or hear speeches of BJP's prominent leaders to know what they promised. Some promises (like Article 370 and uniform civil code) they have been making for decades and offered an excuse of lack of clear majority for not fulfilling them, now they don't have that excuse. They now have to deliver these things, they can not hide behind the shield of coalition politics or coalition dharma, because now they have an absolute majority. AAP delivered in Delhi without having any majority and with very hostile opposition in the assembly. This government doesn't even have any strong opposition in parliament, and this can be a very dangerous situation for any democracy. A strong opposition is a very important part of any democracy but this can be a big plus for this government if they really want to do something good for this country. That is why I said in one way this is good that they have an absolute majority, there will be no place to hide for them even if they fail on any single major promise.

I am looking forward to their work, and I will evaluate their performance after some time. One should give them some time and then ask our questions. So, don't stop questioning them, don't forget any past issues, debate and discuss them as strongly as we did in the past. All parties who did not perform well in this election should not lose all hope, and their supporters should not get disheartened just because their party has lost the election or didn't win any seat, win or loss is part of any election, get back to the basics, work hard to strengthen your organization and keep your eyes and ears open to listen to people's problem and issues. Building a better and stronger India for everyone is important who is doing it is not that important, so let's work to build a strong, free, and vibrant country for everyone. Let's build India which we all dream of, a country which is not only great in slogans but in reality also. 

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Women need to get involved more in politics

For the last month or so general elections were going on in India (polling ended on 12th May 2014). These elections were to elect representatives (MP or member of parliament) for Loksabha (lower house of the Indian parliament). The number of seats in this house decides which party or parties will come into power and form the next government. Obviously, during any social gathering of friends and family, the topic of politics always used to come for discussion and there used to be very passionate and heated discussion about politics. One thing that I noticed during these discussions was that rarely women participated in these discussions. Women were against discussing political issues during these gatherings, maybe because of the aggressive way people argue about politics.  Politics and religion both topics result in very passionate and intense discussions and arguments, some people don't like to participate in such discussions just because they are not comfortable with the way people behave (or attack each other) during these discussions. I can understand this but I fail to understand why some people feel so against these topics that they don't want to touch them. After all, both (politics and religion) have been part of our society for ages and they both affect our lives in one way or another. Politics especially affects everyone as government and its policies do affect our day-to-day lives.

I wrote many posts about issues related to gender discrimination, women suppression, and sexual harassment, these all are socially and politically very relevant and sensitive issues. If women want to bring change in society's attitude towards them, if they want to eliminate gender discrimination and highlight the problems that are faced by them, then they need to become politically active. They need to participate more in the political process to highlight their issues and add their perspective to political discourse. If the political field remains dominated by males then even if politicians discuss women-related issues we will only get a male perspective. We will always hear what some men think about these issues, even if they are feminists, it is a male perspective. It is important to hear what females think about their own problems and to make their voices heard women need to take an active interest in politics and become part of the narrative. Depending on the establishment to solve their problems is not a very reliable solution. 

I always try to invite everyone to discuss these topics, I always do this in my own home where we all discuss various topics related to these issues openly. In our home, everyone is free to express their views or challenge anyone's opinion. These types of discussions and debates are very helpful and necessary according to me. I always engage in such discussions with many of my friends but female representation is always missing or very limited, especially during Indian gatherings. This situation is not only limited to social gatherings or functions, if you look at some reports created by Ravish Kumar (a journalist with NDTV) which were telecasted during this election season, wherever he goes he only gets male opinions about political issues, and he had to take extra special efforts even to make women speak to express their political views. I think this needs to change. Blaming society and patriarchal culture for all their problems and issues is not going to help all the time, women need to step up and take responsibility to solve their own problems. Currently, politics is a male-dominated field, if women don't show any interest in it then it will remain male-dominated for more years to come. The first step in this direction will be to understand the political process and political issues by getting involved in political discussions which will help them to form informed and independent opinions about various issues. Depending on others, especially on male members of their family, is not going to help women to solve their issues.

I have also noticed that it's not that women don't have their own opinions about politics and related issues, but they hesitate to share it, they think this is not the area where they belong, or their opinion is not needed or valued. Women constitute almost half of the world's population, and their active participation in every field is necessary for the progress of our civilization. They need to voice their opinion, they need to make informed choices on their own. Unless they make conscious efforts to change this situation male dominance continue in every field. Politics and religion are two major areas that are still dominated by males and by controlling these two fields they control the entire society. If females want equality in society, they want equal rights and fair treatment then they need to make their presence felt in both these areas. They need to break barriers set by society on them to enter these fields and show that they can also lead politics and religion. Unless women start actively taking interest in these areas, we are not going to see this change and I hope this change comes very soon.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Kashmiri Pandits - banished from their own homes in their own country

Kashmiri Pandits is a Brahmin community from the Kashmir valley, but I am not using this term for that particular caste, but for all Hindu communities that once used to reside in Kashmir valley. This is one of the most beautiful regions of India, with a lot of beautiful mountains, valleys, and lakes, it was stable and peaceful till the partition happened in 1947. After that also largely it was very peaceful and tourism was one of the major businesses in this area. Once, Kashmir was a major tourist destination, and many Hindi movies were filmed here, especially many songs of famous Hindi movie star Shammi Kapoor were filmed in Kashmir. Those days shooting abroad was not so easy and common, Kashmir valley provided much-needed scenic locations for romantic movies and especially for songs. Kashmiri Pandits constituted approximately 14-15% of the population (during Dogra rule from 1846 to 1947). The valley population was dominated by Muslims during this time but there was a peaceful co-existence of different faiths during all these years.

The major problem started sometime after 1985 or so, many separatist groups emerged and Kashmiri Pandits became easy targets as the largest minority in that region. Many of these militant groups with their demand for independence from India or demand for a merger with Pakistan started terrorizing people by spreading violence. Kashmiri Pandits and other non-Muslims were specifically targeted because they were in the minority. Targeted killing of many people from their community naturally spread fear among them, government's failure to control these killings and provide the required protection to these people resulted in the fleeing of these people from the valley. These people were victims of cruelty and brutality which happens during any communal riot. These families left their ancestral homes, land, culture, and identity behind and moved to different parts of India to save their families. They mainly migrated to parts of Jammu and Delhi, and even though it was in the same state of the country they were uprooted from their ancestral home and culture. I am sure many of them hoped that this was some temporary madness that would go away and they would be able to return to their homes and live their original life again peacefully. But, sadly it never happened. According to different different estimates around 100 to 200 thousand people migrated away from the valley because of this insurgency. This brutal and targeted killing and displacement of Kashmiri Hindus is no less than any other communal riot in India. Respective governments (state and national) should apologize to all affected people for their failure to protect them and every effort should be made to reestablish these victims in their own homeland.

This is a serious issue like any other riot or massacre in India, but unfortunately, it hardly gets any mention in mainstream media. Everyone agrees that there is a problem but no one is willing to discuss or to show any willingness to solve it. No one is held accountable for this. Like every other communal riot, we are expected to forget this incident and move on with our lives. But how these people who got uprooted very recently from their culture and land will move on? How can they forget all the trauma and pain that they endured all these years waiting for justice? Can we just tell them that we tried our best but nothing can be done now? Is it enough to heal their wounds? One can understand the seriousness of this problem only when you talk with those people and listen to their stories. Mere words are not enough to explain the pain and anguish of these people. These people were banished from their own homes, uprooted from their own culture, murdered, and victimized for no fault of theirs and their own government couldn't do anything to protect them. Unfortunately, this issue (along with many other similar issues) is heavily politicized because of so many political interests involved in this. Some parties (like BJP or Congress) raise this issue but they never pursue it enough to take it to any logical conclusion. But all political parties are only interested in taking the political benefits that come by exploiting these types of issues. Sometimes it's really sickening to see the way these political parties play dirty political games using some of these unfortunate incidents.

As I wrote in one of my previous posts recalling memories of any tragedy, communal riot, or massacre is not a pleasant experience, but when we see so many people still suffering and waiting for justice, how can we remain silent as if nothing happened? How can we tell them to forget everything and move on? Is our system become so weak and useless that we can not punish the real culprits? Or we don't want to punish them because of some political equations? Does our society believe that the minority always needs to surrender before the demands of the majority and forgive each and every injustice done to them? Are we going to react to massacres or communal riots based on people from which religion or caste die in these incidents? For me, any communal violence is a disgusting and a terror attack. I don't check how many Hindus or Muslims died and base my reaction based on the scorecard of the riot. This issue of Kashmiri Pandits is equally important as the 1984 riots, 2002 riots, or any other riot, or terrorist attack. Every riot victim deserves justice and at least an unconditional apology from the administration which failed to protect them. There cannot be any exception to this and as a society as long as we don't achieve it we will be forced to look into the eyes of riot victims and hang our heads in shame.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Links:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmiri_Pandit

Politics and religion - a lethal combination

Politics and religion are so similar in many aspects that sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish them from each other. In many countries, they help each other in many ways, they work very closely and assist each other to keep their hold on people's minds and their votes. Especially in a country like India, religion is used extensively in politics. There are many ways by which politicians use religion to achieve their political goals. Sometimes politicians, like some religious leaders, start thinking that they are gods and they start behaving that way. Instead of interacting with people, understanding their problems, serving them, and answering their questions, they live a comfortable and disconnected life. They only occasionally come to visit them (that too with a lot of security and in helicopters or planes), give their speeches, and disappear, just like giving some sort of 'darshan' to people. They also think that people should be happy just to see them and listen to them as if they are someone whose mere presence or their words will solve all the problems of their devotees. When these politicians start behaving like demigods they lose touch with reality, their image becomes everything for them, and they start delivering their speeches like sermons. They don't like any difficult questions from anyone, not even from their own supporters or bhakts. There is a lot in common between the way politics and religion work (at least in India). Religion also works on very similar lines, just listen, don't ask any difficult questions, if you don't believe in the powers of our God then you are an enemy.

There are some parties like the BJP who owe their existence to some religious organizations (like RSS), they even became a major national party with the help of a religious movement started by them (the Ram Mandir movement). Why do some political parties or politicians make use of religion to gain power? Can we keep politics and religion separate from each other? How and why do politics and religion help each other so much? These are very complex questions and there are equally complex answers to them. One blog post is not enough to answer them all. Depending on the culture and nature of society interdependence of politics and religion varies from region to region. But no doubt that this is a lethal combination because only one is enough to bring out the fanatic side of people and if we mix both of them together the mixture becomes more lethal. It completely shuts the logical thinking of people and then all that remains is blind faith and fanaticism where there is no scope for discussion, debate, or opposition. Either you are with us or against us. Politics is all about debates, discussions, questions, answers, policy brainstorming, and the active participation of people (because after all, it's for people). It is a very interactive and dynamic process, nothing should be an untouchable or taboo subject in politics, whatever is there in society must be discussed in a political forum. In religion, certain things are not allowed, and questioning is allowed only to a certain extent, after that either one is accused of blasphemy and punished or thrown out of that organization. When people mix religion with politics, it kills the spirit of the political process, and it becomes hard to differentiate politics from religion.

One thing is for sure both politicians and religious institutes want to control people's minds and they also want their money. Political parties and religion both need a lot of money and power to survive. To achieve these goals they want people to believe whatever they say without any questioning. They try their best to create situations where people are not encouraged to ask questions (or are afraid to ask any questions). Grand rallies or god-like images of their leaders are ways to intimidate people so that they hesitate to ask questions. This intellectual intimidation mostly works, people just get mesmerized by the presence of these charismatic personalities and surrender before them thinking that this great leader is going to solve all their problems. But it never happens, actually, we don't need superheroes we need good leaders who are willing to work with people and for people. We need leaders who are interested in designing a system that can work efficiently, a system that doesn't depend on a star performer but is a star in itself.

The use of religion or religious symbols is prohibited by law in India during political campaigns, but many political parties do this anyway. There are laws but there are also ways to bypass them. I think there is nothing wrong in discussing social issues that are related to some religious beliefs like same-sex marriage and abortion but there should be a free and fair discussion about these topics, not some emotional speeches intended to polarize society. If people are not interested in healthy debate then better not to raise these issues during election time as nothing comes out of them except social polarization. These issues can be discussed on a proper forum where there is no political interference. For many people both politics and religion are very sensitive issues, many have very passionate and strong views about their political and religious beliefs. Normally only one of these subjects is enough to create some heated discussion or debate then imagine combining both of them. I personally believe these two areas should be kept separate as much as possible. We have seen some disastrous effects of religious conflicts on our society we should not make the situation worse by mixing politics with it. I hope political parties, religious institutes, and mainly 'the people' realize this and act accordingly.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]

Hinduism and today's Hindutva are totally different

Some self-proclaimed Hindutwa forces are in full swing nowadays in India, they are smelling a fresh ray of hope because of the emergence of BJP's prime ministerial candidate Mr. Narendra Modi in the political arena. Mr. Modi is leading the race for the job of the next prime minister of India, his RSS background and image of a Hindu nationalist leader have made these people very optimistic about their future. There are many religious or cultural organizations all over the world, and they all try to propagate the agenda of their own religion. There are many organizations like RSS, VHP, and Bajrang Dal in India, that claim to be flag bearers of Hindu ideology. Many others focus on propagating ideas of other faiths also but in this post, I want to focus on some organizations that claim to propagate the message of Hinduism. They all claim that their ideology is synonymous with Hinduism, which is considered one of the oldest-practicing religions of the world. All these organizations have a very sizable number of followers in India. Religion plays a very important role in day-to-day life for many Indians and because of this it is also widely used in politics.

Organized and aggressive campaigning by all these organizations, their strong cadre base, and supply of sufficient amount of funding from various sources help these organizations spread their message. They claim to be the protector of Hinduism, they create a perception that Hinduism is under threat by some invaders and other religions (like Islam or Christianity) are trying to destroy it. A similar line of thought (threat from other religions) is used by almost all religions all over the world, it helps them to polarize society in favor of their own religion (if they are in the majority). If they are in the minority, it helps them to instill feelings of insecurity among their followers which in turn increases their dependence on such organizations. This type of propaganda is especially dangerous in plural societies like India as it creates communal tension and religious animosity. This divide-and-rule policy can take an ugly turn which results in incidents like communal riots, forceful religious conversions, casteism, and other discrimination based on religion. There are many examples of such incidents from history to support this hypothesis.

The perception created by these organizations has worked very well for them, we can see that at least to some extent they were successful in propagating some of their hard-line Hindutwa ideology among people and creating polarization based on religious beliefs. The coexistence of many religions at the same time (pluralism) is a central feature of India. Hinduism is a very good example of a pluralistic religion, a religion where a variety of traditions and beliefs coexist without having any single book or saint dictating the terms. Some countries from southeast Asia after their gaining their independence chose to follow a religious path (for example Pakistan) and we all can see what is their situation today. India, fortunately, chose to follow a secular path that keeps religion and state separate, there is freedom to choose and practice any religion, and state laws are not biased towards any single religion. Many people still need religion and their religious beliefs play a very important role in their lives, many associate their identity with their religion. Because of such a strong influence of religion on people, many politicians use it as a tool to attain their political goals. For this purpose, many of these organizations twist and turn the facts as per their convenience, they try to propagate very biased views of certain cultures to instill feelings of hatred or fear. They try to create as much animosity among people as possible as it helps them to polarize people's opinions. This game has been going on for a very long time everywhere in the world, and India is one of the victims of this type of politics. The British rulers started it and now Indian political parties continue to play the same game. The politics of polarization has resulted in some gruesome communal riots but still, neither political parties nor people are willing to forego this approach.

This hard-line Hindutwa philosophy that these organizations are preaching is totally different than Hinduism. Many people don't consider Hinduism as a religion but consider it as a way of life or call it by some other name like Sanatan Dharma. Like all other religions, Hinduism has its own pros and cons. But in general, it is a very tolerant and inclusive religion. But it also has its own share of bad traditions like casteism, untouchability, discrimination of women, and many superstitions. Like any other religion, there are hardliners that propagate hate under the name of protecting Hinduism. These hardliners are the people who create problems in every religion, they are the ones who are always interested in conflicts. They are the ones who think that some conflict is always necessary to keep their religious movement alive and active. To keep their religious movement alive they can go to any extent, even to the extent of creating a communal riot which results in the loss of many innocent lives. There is no strong deterrent that can stop these people from using politics of hatred and divisiveness. It's entirely up to people to understand this dirty trick and oppose these efforts to divide society on religious grounds. 

Hinduism and this so-called Hindutwa are totally different things. Hindutva is a political ideology and is designed to suit some particular organizations and their aim is to target minorities. Any religion which targets minorities can not be considered tolerant or inclusive. Let's oppose this fake ideology which is trying to camouflage its divisive agenda under the banner of Hinduism. Hinduism and this Hindutwa are totally different things. The sooner we understand this better it is for our country and society, otherwise, we don't know how far this communal polarization will go and how many lives it will claim.

Thanks for reading and please share your views on this topic.

[Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing]