Déjà vu - the politics of hatred

The murder of an Indian immigrant in Kansas City was a very disturbing incident. This unfortunate incident got a lot of media coverage in India, obviously, this was due to a strong Indian connection to this event. Many relatives from India of people living in the USA got concerned because of this incident and I am sure it created a situation of panic in some people's families back in India. It is very sad to see anyone killed like this. Many feel that this murder was the result of an atmosphere of hatred or resentment against immigrants. There is a strong perception that the current administration is anti-immigrant, which I don't think is true. This anti-immigrant perception is created based on some strong statements made by Mr. Trump during his presidential election campaign. For me personally, these things are like a replay of a similar migrant resentment phase that I witnessed in the state of Maharashtra in India. I even wrote a post about the politics of pitching one section of society against another and expressed concerns about it before the presidential election. This political gamble worked in Maharashtra and there was no reason why it wouldn't work the same way in the USA. The statements made during the election or the rhetoric used during campaign speeches help leaders and their parties to win elections. They substantiate and solidify their support by creating a very polarized political environment. But, after winning that election some leaders and parties find it difficult to control that anger and contain the hatred of the supporters who voted for them just due to those feelings. After the election, somehow these people who voted just for that particular rhetoric of hatred feel vindicated and get the notion that their feelings are now legitimized and they have the right to execute their agenda.

These types of incidents are disturbing, but they don't define the character of this great nation. The USA is a very immigrant-friendly country. Immigrants feel safe and welcomed here and most of them try to contribute positively to the society and community where they live. The person who risked his life to save two immigrants from this murder was also an American, and I have no doubt that many in this country will try their best to protect their fellow residents. Whether to attribute this incident to a change of regime or not is can be debated Even in India, few people were killed for being a Muslim (Pune techie murder) or for allegedly eating beef (Akhlak murder). When my mom came to know about this incident, she freaked out and asked me why I wanted to stay in the USA? My simple answer was, I love this country, my kids are citizens of this country, and I don't think there is any better place than this country for people like me. Due to my political and social views, I can be a target in any country that doesn't encourage freedom of expression. I don't subscribe to ANY ideology, I am not a member of ANY political party and I don't follow ANY particular religion, and this makes me vulnerable to attack from anyone who doesn't like my views or feels offended by them. In this country at least I have the freedom to express my views without being threatened just for expressing my opinion. The recent case of Gurmehar Kaur might explain what I mean.

As far as feelings of hatred and resentment are concerned, I understand their origin and reasons behind them, and they are common no matter where you live in the world. Resentment will get diluted once the economy gets going, but the politics of hatred is what worries me. If some group gets targeted just because of who they are, then they don't stand any chance to defend themselves. No one should be forced to change their identity just to survive. If people have to change their name, religion, or skin color just to survive then I don't think that country is a free country anymore. I hope this murder was an isolated incident and that the people of the US still believe in their inclusive and tolerant tradition of welcoming immigrants. 

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

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

I am a minority, so I understand their insecurity

Some time back, I wrote a post about why the rights of minorities matter in any civilized and progressive society. The reason why I am so aware and sensitive towards the rights of minorities is because I find myself representing a minority opinion wherever I go. I am not affiliated with any particular religion, group, philosophy, or political party, I prefer to be an independent voice. I see that people are very polarized about their views; people are either pro-gay rights, anti-war, pro-poor, pro-choice, or anti-gay rights, pro-war, anti-abortion (pro-life); people love to compartmentalize everyone, and there are stereotypical definitions of conservative and liberal. People conveniently divide themselves based on whatever argument suits them, you are either with them or against them there is no possibility of a middle ground. You are either liberal or conservative, either communal or secular, it is about which side you want to choose and not about which ideas or principles you support. People treat others who don't support their own views or ideas like enemies, they often tend to fight based on party lines not based on principles. The word "bipartisan" only exists on paper.

I personally find some good ideas with every political party or ideology, but often, they are not willing to work together to implement these ideas for the betterment of society. This makes me a unique minority, when I am arguing or discussing with liberals, they think I am a conservative person, and if I am discussing something with conservatives, they think I am a liberal. Because of this, I call myself a unique minority and very well understand why it matters to protect their voice. No matter whether we agree with their opinions or not, no matter if we are comfortable with what someone saying or not, any civilized society needs to protect the voice of dissent. They need to create and maintain an atmosphere where everyone is comfortable in sharing their views and concerns. One should not confuse this with minority appeasement, that is an altogether separate issue. The minority doesn't need any extra favors they should be given equal rights and space, that's all, no more no less.

For any majority it is easy to crush any voice of dissent, it is easy for them to intimidate the minority just based on their strength in numbers. This is why it becomes the responsibility of the majority to create a conducive and healthy atmosphere where everyone from the minority feels comfortable as only the majority has the power to do this. It is quite natural for minorities to feel insecure if the majority or even part of the majority shows any hostile attitude towards them. Fortunately, so far, I happen to live in societies where dissent was never suppressed, of course, there was criticism, resistance, and ridicule which is expected, but so far, there is no physical threat to me for expressing my views and objections. But when I see people threatening others just for expressing different lines of thought even on places like social media, this makes me wonder why there is so much hatred for dissent? Why can't people discuss and debate rather than threaten each other? I hope the importance of having voices who object or criticize is not forgotten by people who are in power, I remember how people like Jawaharlal Nehru gave so much importance to listening to the other side that didn't agree with them. I hope this culture and attitude of encouraging dissent stays or rather steps up to the next level rather than moving towards majoritarianism. This is why I speak in favor of minority's rights to raise their voice, I speak in favor of discussion and debates rather than forced obedience. Let's hope that the world still believes in moving together rather than moving in the direction of majoritarianism. 

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

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

Link:
1. http://selfrealization-vinay.blogspot.com/2014/09/why-rights-of-minorities-matter-in-any.html