Political Diary
New Delhi, 14 February, 2017
Insult Now Asset
MORE VULGAR THE
BETTER!
By Poonam I Kaushish
Success breeds confidence and rapid success produces
arrogance. This epitomizes the vitriolic and acerbic mud-slinging down to
gutter-sniping slug-fest between the BJP and Congress in the first half of
Parliament’s Budget session. Which underscored that slander, sleaze, sensation,
smear, sully, soil and smirch are the new political dialogues. Serenaded by a
frenzied audience’s seetees galore.
More vulgar the better, dil maange more!
Certainly, the audacious bare-all below-the-belt are-all
attack by Modi on his predecessor Manmohan Singh in the Rajya Sabha might not seem
behoving of the Prime Minister. Said he, “There have been many scams during
Congress rule… but not a taint on Singh…Bathroom
mein raincoat pehen kar ke nahana, yeh kala to Doctor Saab hi jaante hain aur
koi nahin jaanta hai.”
Needless to say, it had the Congress frothing and led to the
Opposition walking out. Even as Modi justified it by asserting “We have the
ability to pay back in the same coin”. This was in reply to Singh’s criticism
of notebandi. Said he, “the way the
scheme has been implemented, it is a monumental management failure and, in
fact, it is a case of organised loot and legalised plunder of the common
people”.
True, one can fault Modi for his harsh language, innuendoes,
call it too blunt for the political palate even dismiss it as being brash. Some
might shrug it off as part and parcel of political discourse. But the fact is
that he alone is not to blame, given his intemperate language is no different
from what other netas have perfected
down the years.
Last week Lok Sabha leader of Opposition Kharge said, “People
such as Gandhiji, Indiraji sacrificed their lives for country, who came from
your side? Not even a dog.” Shot back Modi, “Hum kutton wali parampara se pale bade nahin hain.”
Besides, the Congress asked for it. Remember, Sonia’s derogatory
taunt to Modi as “Maut ke saudagar”
during the Gujarat elections and recently accusing
him in UP of “zeher ki kehti”. Adding
fuel to fire, Rahul added “Modi khoon ki
dalali karte hain” in reference to the surgical strikes. Earlier two senior
leaders dubbed him “Ravan and Aurangzeb..
Frankly, I am neither surprised as our netagan are only showing their girgit
true colours throwing all public decency and decorum to the winds! Gone are
the days when jibes and trolls were funny or sarcastic and netas took them in their strides.
Today, the lines between an opponent and an enemy have got
blurred wherein trash talk and brazen innuendoes seem to be the flavour of the
season. Dumping basic courtesies and decencies all take venomous delight in
reveling in their baser characteristics swaying to the heady tinkle of cheap
thrills and seetees. Wherein gutter-sniping,
sordid and spiteful tu-tu-mein-mein
between opponents and Parties is the order of the day. Of dirty linen being
washed in public, more vulgar the better.
Sadly, through this entire diatribe one thing emerges
crystal clear: the political skullduggery indulged in mirrors the harsh and
horrendous reality of our polity. Where there is no dividing line between
statecraft and witchcraft, what is correct and incorrect. Never before has
politics denigrated to the sewer level as it has today.
Wherein, everyone and everything is game from Congress’s “Napunsak Modi” to Baba Ramdev’s “Tarka Sonia”, Kejriwal’s “Stuck between
a moron (Rahul) and murderer (Modi),” and Modi calling AAP Chief “a Pakistani
agent and AK 49”. NCP’s Sharad Pawar dubs Modi as “deranged who needs treatment
in a mental hospital”.
Samajwadi leader Azam Khan calls NaMo a “kutte ke bachche ka bada bhai”
and a BJP leader avers, “Is
Italian kutiya ki kitni himmat hai ….khud to sare desh ka rupaiya loot kar apne
account me bhar kar rakh liya” as he threatens to strip her and Rahul and
dispatch them to Italy.
Should one applaud?
More. Titillating voters has become common. Symptomatic of
this is a Samajwadi leader’s insinuation linking Modi and Mayawati’s single
status to a post-poll alliance between the BJP and BSP. “Woh teen baar Modi ki godh mein bathe chukeyi hai”. Sic. Congress’s
Digvijay Singh leering calling a woman leader “tunch maal”
Bengal’s maverick Chief Minister Mamata
castigated bête noire CPM colourfully, “They could do nothing themselves and
are now all the time looking for ways to stick a bamboo up (people’s)
backside!” The war of words turned murkier with J&K Opposition leader Omar
Abdullah allegedly calling those who attend Modi's rallies and vote for him as
“bastards”.
Alas, none want to address critical questions: Can such
language and conduct be condoned? Why are politicians’ discourses becoming more
and more venomous and toxic? Remember, Andhra’s MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi
callous speech in 2013 calling Hindus “impotent” and police an "impotent
army”. Remove them for 15 minutes, we 25 crore Muslims will finish off the 100
crore Hindus.” Retaliated Union Food Processing Minister Sadhvi Niranjan
Jyothi, “Do you want a Government of Ramzaadon
(Ram bhakts) or ‘haramzadon”, says it all.
Thereby, underscoring the bankruptcy that is manifest in our
system wherein netas have perfected
the art of cultivating low morality and high greed according to their whims and
fancies made more malignant by our fragmented politics. Resulting in immorality
becoming a way of life, what damn difference does one more slanderous attack
make?
With politics degenerating to a slugfest of personal insults
and character assassinations against rivals along-with a euphemism for “I am
right,” the Modi-Manmohan tu-tu-mein-mein
is a harsh reflection on the depth of political depravation we have come to.
At another level, it has exposed the hypocrisy of the
system. Love him, hate him or ignore him, the hard reality is that this
in-your-face chai-wallah turned Prime
Minister couldn’t care a damn. He believes in an eye for an eye and a tooth for
a tooth. Truly living up to the synonym of rule by law, jiski laathi uski
bhains. His reaction: catch me if you can.
The irony is that Modi knows damn well that he will go scot
free notwithstanding the raised brouhaha by his opponents. Perhaps one can put
this down to the fact that having risen from the bottom of the ladder he has
nothing to lose.
Consequently, thanks to our polity the very idea of
democracy has been vitiated. Add to it the peoples’ distaste for vulgarity,
gender insensitivity, sexist thinking and speeches spewing hatred.
What next? Clearly, it is time that our netagan realize that they are putting a premium on insult. How long
will they allow profligacy be the bedrock of India’s democracy? Undeniably, our
leaders need to tone down the divisive and personal attacks that they indulge
in, engage each other on issues the nation faces and adopt a zero-tolerance
stand on offensive language. Such rhetoric has no place in a civilised polity.
The aim should be to raise the bar on public discourse, not
lower it any more than has been done. And those who reduce the level of
discourse to such depths only do so at the cost of exposing their lack of
civility to the electorate and the nation at large.
Our leaders should remember one age-old truth: If you point
one slanderous finger at another, four other slanderous fingers will point back
at you! How long do we suffer the stampede for sensation and slur? Can a nation
be bare and bereft of all sense of shame and morality? ---- INFA
(Copyright,
India News and Feature Alliance)
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