Dera Violence – is it a ominous
sign from the Idea of India
August
25th will be marked in Indian contemporary history as the day Indian
State twiddled its Thumbs while few cities burned and an area equivalent of
western Europe was brought to a standstill by a few lumpen elements.
To
the many educated Indians and their counterparts in western democracies used to
seeing rule of law being sacrosant in day to day life the visuals presented by
24/7 Media were nothing short of stunning, repulsive,and sheer callousness of
state machinery.
Needless
to say the trumpeter of so called urban India
the media, specially electronic, went overboard in expressing their anguish,
anger, and all emotions. That the TRP’s went up for all was just an added
benefit. What I found very strange amongst all the coverage across Hindi and
English channels was that almost all were unanimous in expressing outrage at
state government, anger at dera head and
sheer frustration at large masses assembled there.
While
the soundbytes were taken from all and sundry like the politicians, media experts, lawyers, police functionaries etcs
not many took the pains to ask, understand and analyse why and how lakhs lakhs
of people from villages of two to three states assembled in a sleepy town and
spent a few sleepless nights.
Was
it just blind belief in a so called GODMAN? Was it a managed crowd by a super connected and
resource rich dera head and manipulated by a few of his speciall commando army?
The
stormy petrels of Indian Journalism
- the goswami’s, sardesais’s and ravish
kumar’ -
combined didn’t bother to go deep and find the reasons for such cult
following. A middle age woman leaving her chulha , an old man walking from one town to other, lakhs and
lakhs of young boys and girls spending nights on roadsides and in parks in a
distant town were not usual kind of an event.
What binded all these people were that they all belonged to the vast
RURAL INDIA.
The
visuals of pitched battles being fought between dera supporters and forces were
not just blind followers of a cult guru. It was rural India coming to
fight urban India and they came prepared
- with lathis, petrol bombs, stones and
etc. The callous state government which was in cahoots with a GOONDA
masquerading as a dera head, and the verdict against the dera chief were simply
an opportunity to vent out its frustrations. Its chance to get even with its
more prosperous cousins in cities and towns. I
am sure in days to come there will be tales of how village bumpkins
brought a state down and held a country of billion plus in daze.
To
me it was the Idea of India that is already torn at its core - a rapidly urbanizing India with access to
technology. Media, comparatively better access to services and better
opportunities for making a living and a largely rural India which still lives
in villages and small towns . The fact that this large rural population belongs
to few particular castes and also reside in a concentrated geographical
location adds attraction to the selfish and short sighted politician looking
for quick access to power. What else can explain the current CM khattar who
didn’t show any nerve, capability or intent other than a high school principle
in dealing with third major law and order situation in the state.
Not
surprisingly such vote banks are allowed to thrive and god help a upright judge
but for whom August 25,2017 would have passed peacefully and in conformity that
had become a routine for last fifteen years.
Many
many uncomfortable questions arise from yesterdays events. The issues of
encouraging the build up of vote banks, their subsequent misuse , spineless politicians
making a mockery of law, and most importantly a rightist political party that
is increasingly becoming hegemonistic
and carelessly mixing the two most volatile elements –religion and
politics – for buttressing its own idea of India.
In
days and years to come it will be this- the idea of India that we choose that
will become the guiding light in our journey to realize our potential in world
order.
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