Mr. PM, I am sorry but I never felt ashamed for being Indian in my life so far

During one of many foreign tours, Indian Prime Minister Mr. Modi said that before his government came into power Indians used to feel ashamed about their Indian nationality but now they feel proud. I really don't know why he said this and what was his intention behind it apart from scoring some brownie points against the main opposition party Congress, which ruled the country most of the time since independence or maybe he is still in election campaign mode. These types of things are said very frequently during election campaigns where various political parties try to take potshots at each other and try to score brownie points against each other. Most political leaders do this during their campaign speeches but I don't understand the purpose of saying something like this on an official foreign tour as a PM of the country. When he said this, he was not speaking as a BJP leader there but as a PM of India. Mr. Modi loves to deliver speeches with a lot of rhetoric, he loves positive responses from the audience, and as a performer, he gets encouraged by all this. We saw on multiple occasions how much he enjoys delivering his speeches with a supportive audience, he can say anything to please his audience. I think in these cases also he got carried away due to a very supportive audience. I am sure people close to him know this but no one is going to apologize for this mess up, this is not how Indian politics works, top leaders never apologize or say sorry, no matter what. 

I personally have several objections to many things happening in India. I hate casteism and discrimination against women, and corruption is still very rampant but these and many other problems are not only India specific, they can be found in various other parts of the world in various forms, one can debate about the intensity of them but they are present everywhere. But none of these issues made me feel ashamed of my nationality. This thought never came to my mind either now or in the past. I don't think anyone is ashamed of their nationality, most people love the country they come from. I proudly say that I am Indian but yes at the same time, I also acknowledge that, like many other countries my country also has some problems along with some good things. Many of my friends went back to India from the USA leaving comfortable jobs and they didn't go back just in the last year but most of them went back before this government came into power. They all went back for several reasons, some went back for personal reasons, some for professional, and some for visa problems but they all loved their country of birth and also got opportunities that matched with their interest. For all of them, it didn't matter who was the PM or which party was ruling India. I know people who even after renunciation of their Indian citizenship love India and feel proud of their Indian heritage. We all have our favorite political parties, we feel closer to some particular political ideology, and we even debate very passionately against or in favor of some political party but if our choice doesn't win the election, we don't feel ashamed of our country or hate it. People can love their country even if they may not like the government of that country. How does Mr. Modi feel if his opponents say that they are ashamed of being Indian because he is the PM of India? Wouldn't it sound disgusting and pathetic if someone said such things? This particular statement from him was totally avoidable and I hope in the future person of his stature will choose their words carefully.

As far as I see so far his government is sincerely trying to change a few things, they are really trying to improve certain sectors, only time will tell how much success they get in all these efforts but definitely such comments and many other statements made by PM or his colleagues are not helping this cause. It is too early to say anything about their performance, but I see that they are trying. They should focus on their work rather than making such stupid comments, I am sure they have a lot on their plate that they need to take care of. Taking political gibes is easy, politicians do this all the time but sometimes on some platforms it is good to show some restraint and control your emotions. There is no doubt that this was a serious lapse of judgment from the PM. He went a little too far to project a positive image of his government. He is new to this job so I think we can ignore and forgive this time but if this continues then maybe even all the good work may not save this government from escaping the perception that they are only interested in winning elections and nothing else.

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

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

Sania Mirza is an individual first then a daughter or daughter in law

Recent obnoxious statements by some BJP and Congress MLAs in Telangana about questioning the Indianness of a very successful and celebrated tennis player Sania Mirza created a lot of uproar. This totally unnecessary controversy started when the newly appointed government of the newly formed state of Telangana appointed her brand ambassador of the state. Maybe some politicians were not happy with her appointment or maybe they were not happy that she was being paid money to do this job. They have the right to raise their concerns or objections but there is a civilized way to raise objections to these types of issues without making any personal obnoxious remarks. BJP leader K. Laxman called her "daughter-in-law" of Pakistan and questioned her credentials for this particular honor. Calling her daughter-in-law of Pakistan was not required to question her appointment for this job. These lawmakers are looked at as role models by their supporters, if they use this type of language then it sends a wrong message to their supporters. But it was good to see so much support for Sania and condemnation of this statement from many people. These statements show at least two problems present in Indian society. First, it shows their attitude towards women, where many people fail to look at them as individuals, women are always looked at as someone's daughter, sister, wife, daughter-in-law, or mother. Why can't they consider a woman as an independent person with no labels or any relations attached to her? Second, it shows an unjustified bias against certain communities by doubting their patriotism, particularly Muslims or in some cases Christians. Both these problems are a result of ignorance of people and stereotyping of particular gender or community.

I still remember the way they used to teach us why to respect women (or girls), we were taught to respect them because they are also someone's sister, mother, or daughter; the point they wanted to make was to respect other women as you respect women with whom you are related. It was always because she was someone's sister, mother, daughter, or wife not because she was a woman or an individual irrespective of any relationship tag. Why can't we respect everyone just as an individual, just for what they are rather than bothering about who they are? How long do we want to continue with this patriarchal mindset? This mindset is reflected in such comments where many men as well as women fail to look at women as individuals with no tags of relationship or social status attached to them. Another disturbing trend that has been going on for decades in Indian politics and which doesn't show any sign of going away is that whenever any such statement is made political parties either try to justify it or just distance themselves without condemning it or taking any action against the individual in question. I support absolute freedom of speech so according to me these individuals have the right to say whatever they want to say. I have no objection to their right to say these things. If their parties believe in freedom of speech then I welcome their stand of not taking any action against that person for making such statements. But these parties don't believe in freedom of speech, at least their past actions do not indicate this, so, I wonder what is stopping them from condemning such statements. Aren't they indirectly supporting these statements by not condemning them? Do they believe in the bystander's approach? 

Sania is a well-accomplished sportsperson in her own field. She has won many competitions for her country and also has been decorated with many awards and honors. If anyone has any problems with her suitability for the job of brand ambassador, then they should have raised their objections by asking relevant questions, not by questioning her patriotism, personal life, or relationships. These other things are not relevant to the matter of her being a brand ambassador. Just because Sania is married to a Pakistani national she doesn't become a Pakistani, it doesn't give anyone a license to question her patriotism. She is an accomplished Indian and doesn't need to prove this to anyone. She is an individual first and then she is someone's daughter or wife or daughter-in-law. If people can not respect her as an individual or independent woman then they won't respect her no matter she is who's who. I don't have any hope from these traditional political parties who cite hundreds of political compulsions for not criticizing such statements, they keep pointing figures at each other as if pointing out others' mistakes to legitimize their own mistakes. But I expect all rational Indians to object to such behavior. This patriarchal mindset and this bias against any religion or community need to be challenged. No one needs to prove their patriotism just because of their gender or religion, this must stop.

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. Sania Mirza controversy: All that has happened till now

Do Dr. Swamy really want to disenfranchise Indian Muslims?

I watched some of the interviews of Dr. Subramanian Swamy sometime back, and I didn't think that they were worthy of any serious attention. These interviews were largely ignored by mainstream media also and even all major political parties gave it a pass, no one really made any big deal out of it. But on second thought, I think these types of views should be questioned, especially when they come from some political figure who might play a key role in the major national party. I think Dr. Swamy gave these interviews as a part of a promotional campaign for a book he wrote recently. I can understand his desire to popularize his book to boost its sales, but any sane person with a rational mind would have thought twice before making any statements like the one he made during these interviews. Dr. Swamy is a well-known politician and educated person, nowadays he is also a prominent member of the major national party like BJP. There is a very high probability that if BJP comes into power he might hold some crucial ministerial position in the future government. It is really unfortunate to see that such a person is saying that all Indian Muslims (or all non-Hindus including Sikhs, Christians, etc.) should first acknowledge their Hindu ancestry to get their voting rights.

Only Dr. Swamy knows why he said these things and what he really meant, but his statements clearly display his intolerant attitude toward other religions and faiths. I wonder on what basis he links Hinduism with being Indian. I don't think there is any relation between these two things. Why does anyone have to accept or even acknowledge their ancestors if they don't want to? I personally don't care who were my ancestors, or what religion they followed. I am very happy with my present and willing to work hard for a better future. Does this make me any lesser Indian than others who prefer to acknowledge their ancestors? Being a law-abiding citizen who respects the law of the land is not enough to get a voting right? Why acknowledging my ancestry is important for my voting rights? Why government is interested to know my or my ancestors' religion? Can Dr. Swamy give any satisfactory answers to all these questions? Dr. Swamy's aim behind the insistence of this ancestry acknowledgment is clearly to create some unnecessary controversy. Imagine what will happen if a person with so much bias against a particular community or religion gets some cabinet portfolio that designs policies for the citizens of India. Will he be fair to all communities? I hope people who are going to vote in this election ask these questions to concerned people.

I believe this is an intentional move by Dr. Swamy to create polarization of votes during this election. He is a very clever and shrewd politician. I think he is playing this card to please the gallery, to make traditional BJP supporter happy, and to make them feel assured that their pro-Hindu ideology is not all lost in this development saga. I think Dr. Swamy himself knows that this policy is impossible to implement in India, but this is a political move to reap some short-term political benefits and some money by boosting his book sales by creating some controversy. But by doing this, he created a really pathetic image of himself. The government has no business to interfere in the private matters of law-abiding citizens. Citizens should be free to choose whatever religion they want to follow, they should be free to change it at any time, and any religious affiliation or acknowledgment of ancestry should not be a prerequisite for citizenship, voting rights, or any other fundamental rights of citizens. I hope Dr. Swamy understands this and will correct his mistake.

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. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVm-BhvKZw0#t=271
2. Swamy to head BJP’s action panel