Political Diary
New
Delhi, 14 May 2019
Insult
Now Asset
MORE
RANCID THE BETTER!
By
Poonam I Kaushish
Rajnetik
virodhi ya jaani dushman? A question that niggles as the narrative hits a new low
with highly vitriolic and acerbic mud-slinging down to gutter-sniping slug-fest
between the BJP, Congress and regional Parties over the last few weeks. Which
underscores that slander, sleaze, sensation, smear, sully and smirch are the
new political dialogues.Serenaded by frenzied audiences’ seetees galore. More vulgar the better, dil maange more!
Certainly, the audacious bare-all
below-the-belt attack by Modi on former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi might not
seem behoving of him as one does not speak ill of the dead. Said he: “Rajiv Gandhi
may have been declared Mr Clean by his courtiers but he died as “Bhrashtachari No.1. I challenge
Congress to fight the polls in his name.” Adding, “Rajiv used the Indian Navy’s
premier warship INS Virat as his personal taxi for a family holiday along-with
his Italian in-laws and friends and did it with great swag.”
Needless to say, it had the Congress frothing
and led Rajiv’s progenies to lash out.
Beti Priyanka, compared Modi with Mahabharata character ahankari Duryodhana
and said, ego and arrogance are two things that are common to both….I have not
seen a more coward and weaker Prime Minister”, while beta Rahul dubbed him a rioter and grandiosely responded with a
hug. Even as NaMo justified it by asserting “For over a month you have been giving
me, my mother and family galis, we
have the ability to pay back in the same coin”.
True, one can fault Modi for his harsh
language, innuendoes, call it too blunt for the political palate and 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 as his
intemperate language is no different from what other netas have perfected down the years.
Look at Trinamool’s
Mamata who averred, “When
Modi comes to Bengal and says that I am a top extortionist, I wish to give him
one tight slap of democracy." If this was not bad enough she went a step
further, “he is a liar …. A person drenched in blood….I will ask him to do 100
sit-ups if corruption charges against my Party are proven wrong.” Countered NaMo,
“I advise Didi give a tight slap to some of your Party leaders who stole
people’s money in the chit fund scam.”
The barbs got uglier when Modi talked about ‘Trinamool’s
Tolabaazi (organized extortion racket) Tax’ enforced by Bhua
Mamata and her bhatija. Shot back Didi, “Woh ek badtameez nalayak beta hai who
does not care for his mother and wife.” Worse, was RJD’s Rabri Devi who called Modi “A
jallad
(executioner) with a ‘khoonkhar
maansikta” (vicious mindset). Sic.
It got more rancid as days went by. A
Congress Minister called Modi a “Gandi
naali ka keeda aur Ganguteli,” another leader, “Woh ek paagal kutta hai aur Bhasmasur hai…. rabies bimari se peedit bandar hai, rajnitik Dawood Ibrahim hai.” From
Hitler, chooha, lahu purush, asatya ka saudagar, Raavan, saanp, bichoo,
ganda aadmi zeher bone vaala” The BJP got a shot at countering this when
Rahul’s Guru Sam Pitroda flippantly dismissed the 1984 Sikh genocide as “hua toh hua,” by accusing the Party as khooni.
More. Titillating voters has become common
whereby anything and everything is game. For the BJP, “Muslims can be
identified by removing their clothes (reference to circumcision) to
Samajwadi’s “Jaya Prada wears a khaki (RSS colour) underwear,”
and 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” while NCP’s Pawar dubs Modi
as “deranged who needs treatment in a mental hospital”.
Alas, none want to address critical
questions: Why are politicians’ discourses becoming more and more venomous and
toxic? Can such language and conduct be condoned? In Delhi the BJP stands
accused of calling AAP’s Kejriwal “a dog” and its woman candidate “a
prostitute” alongside casteist slurs.
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.
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?
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.
In this slugfest of personal insults and
character assassinations against rivals along-with a euphemism “I am right,”
the BJP vs rest tu-tu-mein-mein is a harsh reflection on the depth of political
depravation we have come to. A nouvelle vote-catching mantra in the hope that this cesspit 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.
Consequently, thanks to our polity’s
wind-bagging 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 politicians
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 divisive and personal attacks, engage each other on issues affecting
the people and nation and not personalities, put electioneering back on the
rails of dignified debate and adopt a zero-tolerance stand on offensive
language.
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 & Feature Alliance)
New Delhi,
11 May 2019
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