I seldom watch TV news anymore. I find myself skipping the front page of daily newspapers most days. Partly this is on account of Twitter taking over as my primary newsfeed. More importantly though I have had more than my share of dark news with incident after disgusting incident making headlines and fodder for debates. Never before in my living memory has the country gone through more depressing times ( I was a toddler during the Emergency). Food preferences are (violently) regulated, free thinkers are killed in succession, musicians are not allowed to perform, electioneering has touched a new low while governance is restricted to shrill rhetoric or sweeping streets annually at best.
We seem to be living with the hate-mongering of the partition era, the Orwellian nervousness of The Emergency and the inaction of the immediate preceding regime. We are no strangers to communal tension, our governance has never inspired awe anywhere and the odd high profile killing has always been used as an instrument to send home a message. It is when all of these repeatedly come together that the scenario turns unbearable. It turns scary when you look at the perception of most occurrences being state sponsored , or at least implicitly blessed.
The tone from the top matters. One could argue that we are too large and too complex a nation to be governed by a single individual. Hence laying the blame squarely there may seem grossly unfair. But hold on. This was a mandate sought practically for a single individual. Having received the mandate, the heels have dug in sharper and individual supremacy even more authoritatively established. No minister is empowered and civil servants are moved before they get their feet under the table. Hence, if the 1st solar powered district court has to be inaugurated by the man himself , I am afraid the expectation will be for a personal reaction to every individual polarising or regressive incident. The so- called right wing cannot be allowed to run amok simply because they supplied the boots on the ground for campaigning. If fund contributors during elections are not being granted special favours now, the violent voices of regression need to be publicly silenced too.
The Emergency was relatively short lived because the opposing voices had stature and could garner resources and intellectual firepower to counter excesses. That is sorely lacking today and a few regional leaders need to up the ante if there is no credible national statesman. Some members of the ruling government should also publicly voice their opposing point of view and boldly face consequences if any . Contribution to the country by stopping cultural regression in its tracks will be way greater than any short term achievement in a ministry. You don't need to look too far- the RBI governor speaks his mind and does what he has to without fear or favour. We do need cohesive action to change course now.
Or perhaps, the tone from the top could change and we can live happily ever after. After all we live in hope.
We seem to be living with the hate-mongering of the partition era, the Orwellian nervousness of The Emergency and the inaction of the immediate preceding regime. We are no strangers to communal tension, our governance has never inspired awe anywhere and the odd high profile killing has always been used as an instrument to send home a message. It is when all of these repeatedly come together that the scenario turns unbearable. It turns scary when you look at the perception of most occurrences being state sponsored , or at least implicitly blessed.
The tone from the top matters. One could argue that we are too large and too complex a nation to be governed by a single individual. Hence laying the blame squarely there may seem grossly unfair. But hold on. This was a mandate sought practically for a single individual. Having received the mandate, the heels have dug in sharper and individual supremacy even more authoritatively established. No minister is empowered and civil servants are moved before they get their feet under the table. Hence, if the 1st solar powered district court has to be inaugurated by the man himself , I am afraid the expectation will be for a personal reaction to every individual polarising or regressive incident. The so- called right wing cannot be allowed to run amok simply because they supplied the boots on the ground for campaigning. If fund contributors during elections are not being granted special favours now, the violent voices of regression need to be publicly silenced too.
The Emergency was relatively short lived because the opposing voices had stature and could garner resources and intellectual firepower to counter excesses. That is sorely lacking today and a few regional leaders need to up the ante if there is no credible national statesman. Some members of the ruling government should also publicly voice their opposing point of view and boldly face consequences if any . Contribution to the country by stopping cultural regression in its tracks will be way greater than any short term achievement in a ministry. You don't need to look too far- the RBI governor speaks his mind and does what he has to without fear or favour. We do need cohesive action to change course now.
Or perhaps, the tone from the top could change and we can live happily ever after. After all we live in hope.
