Political Diary
New Delhi,
12 December 2017
Slander Is Now Virtue
MORE VULGAR THE
BETTER!
By Poonam I Kaushish
Rajnetik virodhi ya
jaani dushman? Tragically,
the lines between a political opponent and a sworn enemy have got blurred.
Nothing epitomizes this better than the brazen slanderous ongoing campaigning for
the Gujarat Assembly. Which has trashed basic courtesies and decencies, ended
camaraderie, bonhomie and respect among healthy rivals. With the devil taking
the hindmost!
Everyone and
everything has become game in the land of the Mahatma. From desh bhakts to desh drohis. For the
Congress, confused about its support base, devoid of a vote plank and desperate
about stopping its main opponent, the BJP from returning to power, it fell back
to its tried and tested formula --- abuse and blatant casteism. For the Saffron
Sangh it is a do-or-die battle for its ‘Gujju’
poster boy Prime Minister Modi.
All
hell broke loose when Congress ex-MP Mani Shankar Aiyar called the Prime
Minister, “Ye aadmi bahut neech kisam ka
aadmi hai. Is mein koi sabhyata nahi hai aur aise mauke par is kisam ki gandi
rajniti karne ki kya avashyakta hai.” As a counter to Modi’s attack on the
Gandhis while inaugurating the Ambedkar International Centre in Delhi.
True,
he expressed regret post his public censure and suspension by Rahul who
lambasted Aiyar for his tone and language but the damage was done and could
cost the Party heavy in the polls. Never mind that Rahul himself had summarily
slammed UPA Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011 describing his Government’s
ordinance as “nonsense” and tearing it up.
Retaliated
Modi, “He gave this 'gaali' to me or
you? Did he abuse me or Gujarat? Did he abuse the cultured society of India or
me?' They can call me neech, but I
will keep doing oonche work.” Adding, “The Congress leader gave ‘supari’ while on a visit to Pakistan to
get me 'removed' from the way to ensure peace between India and the neighbour.
It is an example of the Congress' Mughal values that teach to demean castes and
talk about upper and lower castes.”
What’s new? Aren’t we
accustomed to gutter-sniping, sleazy and vitriolic tu-tu-mein-mein between political opponents and Parties? Of dirty
linen being increasingly washed in public serenaded by a frenzied audience’s seetees galore, more vulgar the better, dil maange more!
Today
we may hang Aiyar but has the Congress forgotten it showered the choicest of
abuse on Modi since the Godhra riots in 2002. Remember Sonia’s intemperate “Maut Ka Saudagar” remark while electioneering
in the State 2007 which led to the Party’s defeat. As also, “Yamraj, Ravan, Gandi Nali Ka Keeda,
Bhasmasur, Rabies Victim, Gangu Teli etc to describe NaMo.
Importantly,
will this stop the mud-raking. “No”. All are tarred by the same brush. Be it
the Congress, the BJP or X,Y,Z Party. If the BJP is upset now, it too has to
accept its share of the blame. Remember, Modi had described Sonia as “Italian
mud will not stick on me. Sonia has a hatred for Hindus. She speaks against
Hindus and chooses to remain silent when atrocities are committed against the
community.”
Snapped
another leader, “Modi is a terrorist…an unchanged lunatic... He is a cynical
and criminal challenge to democracy and Gujarat has become a hub of Hindu
terrorists.” Or senior BJP leader Advani calling then Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh “nikamma” in his poll campaign
in 2009.
What to speak of VHP’s
obnoxious Togadia calling Sonia an “Italian kutti….”
DMK’s Karunanidhi mad ravings about Lord Rama being “a drunkard” over the Ram
Setu issue. Varun Gandhi’s hate speech against the Muslims. BJP’s late Pramod
Mahajan comparing Sonia with Clinton’s Monica Lewinsky resulting in a torrid of
abuse by Congressmen against bachelor ex-PM Vajpayee, “Aulaad nahin, damaad hai.”
Of NCP’s Sharad Pawar being described as “so big
that he can’t walk properly,” and Samajwadi’s Amar Singh malicious rancour
against Congress leaders and vice versa. Of BSP’s Mayawati being called a “prostitute,” by
a BJP leader, “when a veshya enters
into a contract with a man she sticks to it. But the ex-UP Chief Minister does
not follow any binding when selling tickets. If she has sold it for Rs 1 crore
and gets another who pays Rs 2 crore, she will give it to him.”
This see-saw battle
between the BJP, Congress and others seems to tell us everything, yet nothing
about our polity. Indeed, a sad reflection on the depth of political
depravation we have come to. Wherein there is no dividing line between
statecraft and witchcraft, what is correct and incorrect? Transgressing all
limits of political etiquette and public decency.
What is most worrying
is that our politicians have perfected the art of cultivating low morality and
high greed according to their whims and fancies—and the need of the hour which
has been made a lot more malignant by our fragmented politics. Wherein slander,
sensation smear and sully are the new political dialogues chanted by one and
all Parties with each propounding its own recipe of harmony, according to their
own warped and selfish political needs.
A nouvelle
vote-catching mantra in the hope that
this gutter sniping would bring them tripti---
and power. None cares a damn for decency and decorum except for scoring brownie
points against each other. Ends matter not the means and winning is the name of
the game.
Resulting in
immorality becoming a way of life, wherein what damn difference does one more
slanderous attack make? Undoubtedly, harsh words are part and parcel of
politics. Even Westminster, the mother of all Parliamentary discourses is not
free from this. One notorious case is that of a leading Labour right Nye Bevan
who often crossed swords with Winston Churchill describing the Conservatives as
gutter snipes and vermins.
Undeniably, in our
present all pervasive decadence, interspersed with growing public distaste,
cynicism and despair there comes a moment of truth and reckoning, it is time to
pause and ask: Are we putting a premium on slander? On immorality? Will
profligacy be the bedrock of India’s democracy? How long do we suffer the
stampede for sensation and slander? And, what is in the best interest of India
and its democracy?
True, one can argue
that all is fair in elections yet we must draw a lakshman rekha specially when it comes to the office of the Prime
Minister. Plainly, no leader or Party can abuse the head of the executive body
of the nation as he is not anybody but symbolizes the power of the nation and
the dignity of his office is paramount for our democracy.
Any slur, slight and disrespect to this
institution would deal a body blow to the credibility and authority of the
State. We might disagree, criticize, run down policies even demand a change of
Prime Minister but none ever desecrates the Prime Minister’s dignity. It’s a
strict no no.
The BJP, Congress and
Opposition Parties need to heed, put electioneering back on the rails of
dignified debate on issues affecting the nation and not personalities. They should
remember one age-old truth: If you point one slanderous finger at another, four
other slanderous fingers will point back at you! Can a nation be bare and
bereft of all sense of shame and morality? And, for how long? ---- INFA
(Copyright, India
News & Feature Alliance)
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