Political Diary

New Delhi, 5 July 2014

India’s Moral Terrorist

WHERE IS SOCIETY HEADING?

By Poonam I Kaushish

Intolerance and violence is the rhetoric of the times. Pick any newspaper. Any day. Splashes of social schism gore into news headlines. Massacres, murders, gang rapes, and dowry deaths. Even the most gruesome violence shocks no more. Wherein, brutality and beastiality have become synonymous in modern India. Welcome the Ugly Debauched Intolerant Indian!

Undeniably, Trinimool MP-actor Tapas Pal’s vitriolic annotations advocating rape of rival CPM women and murder of its cadres if they coerced Trinamool workers tops the charts of vulgarity and debasement of women. “I will tell our boys to go and rape CPM women .... If CPM tries to kill and intimidate our workers, Tapas Pal is not going to spare them. I will carry a revolver and shall pull the trigger myself.”

Blistering comments which strip India of all balance, open-mindedness, equilibrium and tolerance. Am I shocked? Not at all, five rapes occur every minute across the country so what’s the big deal? Last month, two teenagers were found hanging naked from a tree after being raped in Badaun, UP, a 20-year-old mentally-challenged is gang-raped in a Bihar train, a 19-year-old mother is ravished in front of her husband in Odisha and another defied by five men in a moving car in broad day light in Delhi…an 80-year-old grandpa deflowers an innocent five-year-old in Haryana.

Amidst the political howls of protests over Pal’s venomous tirade, another   bigoted howler emanated from the Saffron stable in Goa wherein PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar advised women not to wear bikinis on beaches and short skirts in clubs as it could lead to a law & order problem. Sic. Reminiscent of Saffron acolyte Ram Sene’s Pramod Muthalik brutally attacking women in a Mangalore pub ostensibly for “violating traditional Indian norms” and going on a rampage against sex and nudity in Goa in 2009.

Remember Southern star Khushboo who faced lawsuits, was labelled 'anti-social' and her remarks, “no educated man should expect his bride to be a virgin and youngsters who had pre-marital sex should use condoms,” interpreted as an attack on the integrity of all Tamil women. Earlier married couples kissing in a hotel bar in Chennai led to the hotel’s licence being revoked and its manager arrested.   

Raising a moot point? Why are we so intolerant? Why the increase in crime against women? Who is X, Y, Z to decide how the fair sex should behave or wear? Which way is society heading?

Tragically, it is just not a mere question of Pal’s venom on molestation of women or moral policing by the Goa Minister, but a much wider and larger national problem --- of increasing intolerance. This has resulted in a total breakdown of institutions, society, culture and ethical values. Replacing moral rules with naked force, hypocrisy and fraud.

Killing yet another signpost of an increasingly enfeebled system. Symptomatic of the complete lawlessness that has gripped the country. A new cult establishing an order of hatred and rage. Of an eerie stillness filling the senses with the smell of death, mayhem and brutal carnage held hostage by rampant goondagardi.

Who is responsible? The onus lies on all sides --- politicians, bureaucracy, police, ‘protected’ criminals et al. politicians and the police are but two sides of the same coin. Both widely viewed nowadays as venal and incompetent. Nobody sees red at the sight of blood any longer. Even if some blood is spilled in an ever-populated nation, what difference does it make? Fake encounters. Torture deaths. Want to get rid of somebody? Call up the “Police-wala Goonda”.

Criminals in khadi herald the new dons of tomorrow, hustling and muscling is the way to fulfil the people’s aspirations. And what should one say of hot young blood? Who will rape for kicks and kill for a drink. In this milieu can criminalized mafia dons be far behind? Who now have taken recourse to “out of court settlements” and extortions. And what about the new intolerant rage sweeping across the country. Turning religion into burning embers of hatred.

The forebodings are in the air: rising prices, over-population, urban decay and proliferating of slums. Killings take place. Property is destroyed. Work and economic activity is brought to a grinding halt. Normal life is disrupted at the outbreak of any festering conflict. Muzzafarnagar’s Jat-Muslim communal carnage last year a case in point.

Evidently, the administrative system had practically collapsed long ago --- not only in New Delhi but almost everywhere. A life-style of Nano Yuppiesim only brings forth the macro consequences of the neglect of socio-political environment. A total urban breakdown, neglect of rural poverty, unpaved roads, unsanitary environments and a collapsing sewage and drainage system. Of degrading poverty. At a stage, where another crisis threatens.

The truth is that even as we have achieved political and economic freedom we still remain hostage to the errant elements of the society. "Lopsided economic growth has created a dispossessed population which cannot relate to Western cultural values and norms," asserted a social scientist.

The tragedy of it all is that the political class exploits this. Wherein rowdy and rabid outfits like the Ram Sene and Jamai'at-ul-Ulma-I-Hind proliferate and act with impunity because the authorities are reluctant to take stern action against them. It gives them the opportunity to exploit the sentiments of the vulnerable aam aadmi. Get votes. Get attention. The increasing frequency of hooliganism exposes the continuing failure of law and order.

At the present reckoning, India might remain indefinitely trapped in its divisive rhetoric. Unfortunately, most Indians do not care. Absence of national character and indiscipline has led to a creeping paralysis of ‘sab chalta hai’.

It is not India alone. The world over countries are in the throes of the breakdown of civilized society. The Americans are increasingly violent. Britons have turned sleazy. The Japanese wonder how their politicians are taking it. The Italians have their mafia to settle scores, Russians believe in thugs’ et al.

What now? How does one salvage India’s soul? For starters we need to shun our moral terrorists and reassure women about the Government's commitment to take harsher measures on crime against them. Neither should we tolerate any dumb politician belittling women who exploit the sentiments of the vulnerable aam aadmi to earn brownie points and garner votes. We deserve better.

Pertinently, India is renowned for its cultural values and long tradition of cultural tolerance. If leaders are keen to improve the lot of women there are any number of issues they could address. They could start with fighting female foeticide, dowry death, rape, domestic violence, kidnapping of girls for forced prostitution etc.

It is now imperative for the country to re-think it’s strategic and approach to the future. The way to go forward is to desist from acerbic speeches. Hate crimes don’t pay. Time now to invest in the citizens. In society. People who make this nation. Their education and health. Who toil and sweat. In their jobs and in their future. The country together needs to undergo a DNA test. Any takers? --- INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)