Idea of India!

 

'Self-rule' & 'liberty' are things that my generation has not had to struggle to earn - we were the fortunate ones, we were born free. Our forefathers paid the price for the freedom that we enjoy so dearly all the time (also abuse, on occasions). So in that sense, it is rather hard for someone like me who was born in the monsoon of 1984 to imagine, how alluring the scent of the 15th August must have been to those who toiled their life for it, in the fateful year of 1947. It would have taken a nerve of steel to deliver that iconic and historic 'Tryst with destiny' speech in the marvellous assembly setting.

They do not create such men any more!

Think of it, Bapu lodged himself far away in Kolkata; doing what he liked best - helping and building communities, dousing the fire of hate off, away from the glitters and the lustre of the New Delhi, the capital of a nation that had just become a sovereign. Such saintly demeanour, one can not but stop in awe of the great Mahatma. India is a deeply spiritual land, home of rituals, traditions and customs; most of which predate the modern identity of the nation by a few centuries if not millennia. The sense of community, the idea of belonging comes to us Indian in 'plurals'. Amalgamation, in my view, describes us the best. We're the ultimate culmination; like multiple rivers, streams and tributaries meet the ocean to become one, all citizens when they pronounce their Indianness, other identities that they also hold; of caste, creed, colour, culture, cuisine, custom, language and others fade into the background, (or should I say, "should fade into the background")

If winning freedom from the British demanded every drop of blood of our forefathers, sustaining and securing its 'free' state expects every drop of sweat of us Indians. Keeping a continent size country, which is home to 1.3 billion people is not an easy chore. There is a constant struggle, often complex and multidimensional between forces that unite and also the influences that seek to divide us. We are in a category of our own. Within the overarching Indian identity that all of us wear with pride, other sub-antecedents compete with one another sometimes in a moderately violent and uncompromising selfish way too. In the last 73 years, India has seen caste divide what religion united (I will vote for the candidate of my caste) and also religion uniting what caste divided (We have to make Hindus win), she has also endured religion divide what nationhood united (Go to Pakistan). It is humanly impossible to sum the idea of India in a way other than to say that there are 1.3 billion Indians and there are 1.3 billion ideas of India. (I am taking the liberty of assuming that everyone begets just one Idea of India, which we know is not true, entirely)

Given the circumstances, how do we conclude and more importantly how do we converge everything Indian in a capsule, is a question that has remained at the core of all nationalistic and political debates that have occurred in the country over the course of the last 73 years? Someone like me (with limited intelligence and scant erudition) thinks -"Is such a thing even possible"?

To me, ‘The Idea of India’ is neither static nor a singular one, it has never been and it never will be. India is about knitting a variety of Ideas by the combined thread of constitutionality, plurality, equality, civility and unity in diversity. We’re a land of peaceful co-existence, of harmonising difference and worshipping morality and fundamentals of natural justice, not just social but also economic and that of ethnicity. For India to exist, it will have to remain together!

"We're a constitutional parliamentary representative democracy amidst federal structure (centre and the state), with liberal signature"; at least that is how the idea of India was conceived originally by our founding fathers and mothers.  And that right there is one expression that sums it all up. It has the depth the width and the length to accommodate everyone, every notion, every idea, every imagination, every fact and even has generous room for fiction. Our constitution is the supreme binding force, which most eloquently outlines the set of principles that we all shall uphold in our conduct. The creators of the constitution kept the provision for the document to remain current by giving the legislators the powers to add, delete and modify laws. 

'Rule of law' was established, peace-loving and law-abiding citizens of this great nation, allowed the book of the constitution to shape our lives and thus a contour of the modern Indian identity was forged.

In the last 73 years, India conceded multi-party, multi ideological political parties to be formed and operate freely and fairly, as should be the case in a liberal civil society. Evolution is not always a happy process, it is effectively about becoming 'something else'; when species get lucky, they develop into a form that gives them the ability to cope up and adapt to the changing circumstances better and to survive first and then thrive. There are also times when evolution goes wrong which results in the extinction of the species. The idea of nationhood is deeply connected with the system of governance and in a multi-party democracy, politics is equated with governance in an umbilical bond. A highly competitive political system, opens the stage for lateral entries, leading to a wider stage of participation but it also inadvertently reduces mainstream constructive, and citizen-led narrative to a number game; in which getting to 2/3rd majority becomes more important that journey that a party or an individual takes to get there. The number and only the number matters - this mindless, rush creates grounds for all kinds of practices to creep in the electoral process. Morality is forgotten and is often considered a hindrance in the path of blatant and audacious ambition. Citizens unknowingly start craving for a bloody fight; gladiatorial contest comes up for display, every time elections are announced.

In the transition of power from colonial rule to democratic self-governance, in the last 73 years, we have had a peaceful run. When I say that I discount the passionate political jostling, poor policymaking and missteps that might have been taken by various leaders, to further the cause of their 'idea of India'. The first dastardly attack was launched on the state by the daughter of the 1st PM of the country and the freedom fighter who spent nearly 4K days in jail in the struggle for independence, when she declared emergency, rolled back fundamental rights and jailed every voice of opposition. The nation was young then it had not forgotten the freedom struggle, it got back together, brought her to her knees and the atrocity ended in 2 years.

The 2nd and perhaps, even more, potent blow to the founding principles of India is underway now. This time we are living in an undeclared emergency. This version of the attack is intelligent, sophisticated, aided ably by legal and commercial resources and it wears the mask of the mandate of the people but is every bit as brut as all authoritarian regimes have been in the human history. In 6 yrs of BJP-RSS rule under PM Modi India has witnessed, a departure from its rich traditions. The large heart of the republic seems to have shrunk itself so that it could be hidden and locked inside the bud of the lotus flower, the political symbol of India's right-wing. In the last 6 years, we have seen dissent being punished, jailed and even killed. Individual liberties have been crushed under the feet of the strong deep state. Almighty PM rules on whims, he showed his dictatorial streak for the first time when he invalidated 84% of currency notes in circulation. Economic destruction that followed still has not passed us. India is undergoing the rise of majoritarianism, values of constitutional morality have been forgotten. Parliament, the temple of democracy, is used as a notice board, the tradition of debate on legislation is no longer in vogue. The PM steamrolls every piece of legislation by force of brute majority in the lower house and the upper house, institutions like CBI and ED are unleased to make those opposing to fall in line. Election after election we have seen opposition leaders and their aids raided by the central agencies, and if that does not work out, a perfect deployment of horse-trading wins the day for the ruling party. Goa, Haryana, MP and Karnataka are fine examples. Weeks before the 74th independence day, the ruling party was hell-bent to bring the Rajasthan assembly down too; but it survived against all odds.

Nehruvian consensus does not have the approval of the ruling dispensation. How article 370 was abrogated and then the manner in which an entire state was converted in an open jail is no secret, a year has passed but still, all the political leaders of the valley have not been released. Those who have come out have had to trade their right to speak about the abrogation on a bond for freedom. The supreme court refused to hear the petition of habeas corpus, as a result, it is pending for over a year; citizens are under curfew without (high speed) internet for nearly a year in the world's most militarised zone and all of this in Bapu's land under a functional democracy.

A wise man once said that 'we have very strict rules but it gets compensated by the fact that none of us is required to follow them all, at all times' - such is the state of our constitution at the moment. If you look closely you'll find democracy is in suspension. Civil rights in recession and the state freedom of speech can be assessed by the fact that a lawyer was found guilty of contempt of the court because he tweeted criticising the CJI; the fact that the lawyer is a harsh critique of the PM and also a political opponent should tell you the rest of the story. The ethnocultural diversity that India recognised and celebrated as a strength has been lost too. We're no longer a land of equal citizenship, for the first time in its history, the parliament signed off on a bill that takes 'religious' identity of a person before granting citizenship, into account- CAA. No prizes for guessing that the Hindu right-wing party in power excluded, Muslims and accepted everyone else, in that piece of legislation. Dissent is being criminalised, poor Dr Kaleef is in jail for 6 months and a day before the 15th of Aug, his stay has been extended by 3 more months, for making a speech criticising strong man CM of the ruling party.

Founding fathers of the nation envisioned an India on the ideals of shared patriotism, but that notion is being challenged by the communal supremacists, who believe India is the place for Hindus and everyone else and especially Muslims are 2nd class citizens. Communal majority under the gab of poplar sovereignty is asserting its right-wing ideology upon the soul of this nation, that was built for all people, on the principles of 'equality before the law'.

Time has come for India to unite again to fight to retain its freedom from - majoritarianism, despotic rule. To re-establish, a humane liberal state one which values civil liberty and liberal constitutionalism. India needs to find its provincialism from the darkness of cultural and religious nationalism, that surrounds it. Constitutional morality is required to be established again, dissent needs to find its respectable space again in the public discourse. Media needs to be freed from clutches of the fascist forces. Indian people have to come together to protect the diversity of the state.

We need to resurrect the India of love, the India of hope and the India of equality again.

My idea of India recognises her identity from antiquity to eternity but not at the cost of freedom of its citizens.

Jai Hind .. Jai Bharat.

Modi Times!

Allow me to take you back to that press conference that late Atal ji had called in 2002 when he cancelled all his schedules to travel to an Indian state that was burning in communal violence, mindless killings tainted newspapers and television sets got a coat of deep red. In the court of the people, the state administration had demonstrably done lesser than they could, the apex court, however, I must mention, absolved all from the administration from all charges. You might wonder a PM in a press conference answering questions, was it ever done? Yes, all PMs before Mr Modi used to hold frequent and well-timed press engagements; all of them with the only condemnable exception of Mrs Indira Gandhi who shared particular hate for critical media, with our current head of state. Atal ji, advised Mr Modi, the then CM of Gujrat that he should, follow RajDharma, he went to explain that “ Raja ke liye praja praja me bhed nahi hota! Has Mr. Modi learnt the lesson? If 2019 election speeches are any indication, he has not quite as well as a head of state should have. Political science has been a subject of my interest, I like to read about it and learn about contemporary politics by following prominent politicians. Anna movement, was one such high voltage event, that I could not have missed. I was among many who travelled to Jantar Mantar to express their solidarity with the cause. Thanks to my friends in the media, I also got the opportunity to briefly meet Anna, I paid my respect to the man and said that we were with him, in the few minutes that my friend could squeeze in for me. I was infuriated by the mindless loot and the immoral plunder that Dr Singh led UPA2 had dispassionately unleashed on our beloved country, it felt as though, my own home was being robbed. Filled with rage, I wrote about it and with my feeble & unimportant voice joined the chorus that was gaining momentum by every passing day, the solution looked simple and in sight : Throw congress as far away as possible from the corridor of power. Facts as it stands today, the same court that found Mr Modi and his aids innocent of 2002 killing of innocent Indians, also pronounced some of the scam unfounded. CAG’s adventurism caused nationwide outrage, the gentleman who headed the respected institution then, is now retired and perhaps living a great life, I wish him well.

India, unfortunately, only has 2 parties with a real national presence, naturally, an alternative to Congress-led government was searched in BJP & there the stars were aligned just right for Mr Modi, he got anointed as BJP’s candidate for the top job. Much like how the character of Mr Bachchan emerged as an antiestablishment protagonist in the most successful years of his career, Mr Modi appeared taller and much more formidable than he eventually is being seen today. Indian looked at him with hope, a country that was already frustrated with UPAs misgovernance, did not ask him to work hard to connect with the Indian people. Media lapped him as the ultimate choice and Indian household accepted him as the sole saviour, the true beneficiary of the Anna movement had emerged and captured the imagination of a billion Indian.

The groundswell of support for the unprecedented anti-corruption movement seemed natural, the citizens were out saving India from the clutches of a corrupt coalition government which had acquired the form of a hydra-headed Frankenstein monster which was determined to steal and fleece our democracy. Media played its part too, dedicated headlines to the crusaders, nothing less than most severe punishment seemed fair and India was in no mood to wait for the law to take its own course. CWG blossomed and started throwing into the public domain details which directly implicated high profile ministers of gross misdoings, every other day, scams would get unearthed, every progressive catch was bigger and bolder than the previous one. It all looked unbearable & suffocating. In all this Dr Singh was deliberately and dangerously quite, moving from one patchy story to another without saying anything that could console the mourning nation. In the hearts and the minds of Indian people Manhoman Singh had lost, all credibility. People forgot liberalisations, his efforts that gave Indian economy a chance to compete in the modern world. He became a joke and we unabashedly hated him. We were falling in love with another politician, who seemed pure, clean and impeccable, new beloved of India looked dapper & enthralled people when he spoke, he alone made sense, everyone else was just ‘chor’.  The entire country was salivating for Gujrat and its model of growth: All of this made Modi into an overnight hero, it seems as though he had won even before the election had formally gotten over. The election seemed like a mere formality. Mr Modi, worked really hard, he travelled across the length and breadth of the country, addressed mega rallies, people frustrated with unclean UPA flocked in great number, heard every word Narender uttered with hope and adulation. “Abki baar Modi Sarkar’, “Har har modi .. ghar ghar Modi” .. “NAMO NAMO” echoed in Indian homes, streets, newspaper and even in news studios. Rahul Gandhi’s visible disinterest in politics and laughable utterances, Dr Singh’s deafening silence and Sonia’s Italian origin were all criminal offences, in the minds of an average Indian voter. People turned out in record numbers. Some right meaning journalists like Rajdeep did try waking the Ghost of 2002 but they were shut down, mocked, and even attacked, people (us) deliberately looked the other way. Supreme Court has absolved Mr Modi of all charges for lack of evidence, the courts with whatever was presented to them couldn’t without reasonable doubt establish that Modi administration in Gujrat allowed the riots to spring out of control. The allegation that they willfully slaughter Muslim families were all forgotten. Indian saw Mr Modi as the man who could deliver progress. ‘Vikaspurush’, carefully crafted speeches delivered artfully played on to the public sentiments, Indian voters and Modi became one, in a rare political black swan moment, in which on 60% of the seats BJP got 90% of the votes.  First time in the history of Independent India, we had a non-congress government sworn-in with a clear and unmistakable majority in the lower house. Constitutional formalities were undertaken and Modi became India’s 14^th PM. In the minds of Indians, Indian was well on its way of becoming the golden bird one more time.

That night India slept as relieved as Nehru would have after delivering the iconic ‘Tyrst with destiny’ speech.

Before we could make peace the new occupants of the New Delhi; things began to change really quickly and with it what was once a wave became a whisper of disappointment. Indian discourse changed into some of the below.

Nationalism: The ruling party re-wrote the definitions of nationalism, by adding, machoism, bigotry, jingoism, and majoritarianism and artfully removing secular principles, at least in the narrative that it worked hard to build. People were forced to prove their nationalism, by saying Bharat Maa ki Jai, out loud for no reason, become the barometer for a few and for others it was agreeing to the demand of Hindu nation. Liberal voices, the intellectual questioning and critical proportion of the population were being sent to Pakistan.

Communalisation & Hatred - An incident thereafter, was never an incident alone, it was either a Hindu or a Muslim’s issue and almost always Hindu Vs Muslim. Back in the day being communal was considered bad, the secular viewpoint was the respectable stand. In these 5 years, before any one of us could realise, masses were galvanised, Ghar waspsi was organised, name changing, from ‘an Islamic name to a Hindu name’ became the new normal and before we knew India started aspiring to become a pro-Hindu Nation. People who tried, separating religion from the issues, were considered terrorists, apologists of bad Muslims and even worse, anti-national. Mob lynching and killing on suspicion of beef were no longer rare incidents. All Muslims were terrorists to the supporter of the ruling party and even those Hindu Dalits who for centuries have been deskinning dead cattle were not spared.  

Institutionalisation of Misinformation - Narender questioned 70 years of Congress rule to suggest that they had not contributed to making India. Dead Nehru was dragged back to public discussions, everything that was not right was made to appear as his fault. Whatsapp became a powerful communication platform and the mighty IT cell of the ruling party uses it to its fullest to spread all kinds of bizarre lies, demonising Nehru and efforts were made to erase him from the memories of modern India. Reading and researching have since long been dying in the modern world, superficial hearsay information makes people knowledgable, now. Most industrious are those who type and search on Google if Google throws garbage in the first 10 search results it becomes the gospel of truth for this brigade. Pictures were morphed and lies were spread like nobodies business. Concerted efforts were made to decimate opposition, not just a party, but then the whole concept of active opposition was being attacked.  Online trolls were legitimised by the ruling party which needed not just ground support but also an army on social media.

Media got broken up in two blocks.

1) Modi’s cheerleaders

2) Anti-national, presstitute, swine and what not

Anti questions & subversion of institution: Prime Minister Modi broke away from the tradition of holding press conferences and answering to the Indian people through these media events. It is not that PM was as quiet as the the previous one, in fact, he spoke, more than any other PM in the history of this country but all of it was either a Monologue or a staged programme where people who he would face, would ask questions celebrating his grand personality and greatness of his hard work. Media houses, barring a handful, just stopped being journalists and resumed the role of ruling parties spokespersons. From Prime Time to headlines, every space was dedicated to celebrating the larger than life personality of the PM. Hero worship was in. People who wrote against him were silenced, cornered, driven out of jobs and in rare cases even killed, like the journalist Gauri Lankesh. The economy started to rumble, following the disastrous currency ban but and botched up implementation of GST, with unemployment at a 45 years high, Indian saw 26 lacs open positions and government gagged NSSO data, which led to the resignation of eminent statisticians, two RBI governors walking out, supreme court judges holding press conferences and what not. On one side, the ruling party muted every information that showed its poor performance and on the other side within their party, they shunted all veterans; thus came into existence the Margdarshak Mandal.

Real issues were masked: Poll promises of 2014 were forgotten and Pakistan made entry into the political debate. To the point where PM in his election speeches dedicates 80% of his time to terrorism and even stoops to the level of asking votes in the name of the dead soldiers. Those who raise questions on his all-around unflattering performance are called “DeshDrohis” by his supporters. Farmer Suicides, trade deficits, questionable handling of the Rafale deal, cultivation of hate, mishandling of the Kashmir issue are all unimportant and must be subdued by the chorus that BJP, one of the wealthiest political parties of the world builds. Mr Modi, in this 2014 election speeches, spoke about fighting 2019 election on the report card, he has forgotten it completely instead he now holds a large card with “Hate Pakistan and Muslims” written on it. He had taken an oath that he would set up a special court to fast track the cases pending on MPs, the reality is that in 2019, his party has the maximum % of tainted MPs. He has been in the harshest tone possible condemned dynastic politics but truth is that his party is not different from any other political party in the country, he has gracefully given tickets to 25+ such entitled naamdars. The below tweets summarises the change in Mr Modi’s politics  

BJP : We will ensure implementation of NRC in the entire country. We will remove every single infiltrator from the country, except Buddha, Hindus and Sikhs: Shri @AmitShah #NaMoForNewIndia

My Tweet (@LKstates): Insurgent #Modi #2014 : Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas, Black Money, Jobs, Sec370, Uniform civil code, development, Price rise on fuel!

Incumbent Modi #2019: India Pakistan .. Hindu Mussalman.. Anti National .. Surgical strike.. Nehru .. Congress..

Voters : Achha theek hain, #Vote !

In such a political climate, it is incumbent on we the people of India to decide by voting which story appeals more to us. Do we wish to preserve and protect our democratic right of holding the Government accountable by asking tough and critical questions or should we surrender like most of the Indian media before the almighty political force and let the change of 2014, forever change the construct of our society? This election is when we need to assert our will of keeping India a plural sovereign, of valuing peace and beating the surround sound of rhetoric. You own your vote, spend it wisely!

I continue to reserve my right to ask questions and I shall continue to do so; should you wish to know those questions too, look me up on twitter @LKstates.

 

#MeToo & Us!

Half a million people responded to a tweet from actress Alyssa Milano within 24 hours of her asking anyone who has ever been 'sexually harassed or assaulted' to reply to her post, she wanted to demonstrate the scale of the problem and thus was born the most successful and the most scary movement of our time - #Metoo. In the week since, there has been a flurry of posts leveling acquisition against many high profile men in entertainment, politics, academics, business and in social life. Last autumn a watershed moment in the history of mankind happened with painful revelation and in less than a year, victims from all over the world .. of all genders, social and economic background have come out with their horrific stories, each one more painful and daunting than the previous. Ever since Tanushree broke her silence on her agony.. spotlight of sorts have got fixed on the issue, at least in the Indian context .. many have come forward too with their stories implicating some very senior, accomplished and respected people. The tainted names include journalists, writers, politicians, businessmen, actors, directors, singers, music composers - in short, it is profession agnostic.

We grew up learning that humans are social animals .. we are however reminded that it is not true for all of us, some of us, are just animals dressed as humans. We live, learn and grow together but that does not necessarily make us alike. Many among us are predators, cold-blooded criminals ... with a crooked sense of belonging and we surely did not need a #MeToo movement to know this for a fact. Crime against women both physical and sexual in nature are brazenly normalized in our society.  I wrote an article on 7th Jan 2017, titled “Crime Against Women - Why?”

Liking it here (https://lkstates.blogspot.com/2017/01/crime-against-women-why.html ). I won’t repeat what I wrote back then .. but would say that in that article I tried dealing with the “why” part of it and in my own limited way suggest “what” could perhaps be a remedy. Oppression of women, inequality and organized injustice to the gender has a long condemnable history which has been kept under tight covers carefully by those in power .. occasional whispers have always surfaced but nothing to the tune of what is happening now. Silence is no longer a companion to the atrocities .. Skeletons are falling off the closet people are making conscious effort to stir the still waters .. and I couldn’t be happier to know that the truth is coming out, finally. Newspapers are tired of carrying the dead weight of rapes happening across the length and the breadth of our country, it is not merely a coincidence that what is the political capital of India is also the rape capital of the largest democracy of the world. 

“Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” for the longest time I’ve resisted this philosophy because as a thinking individual I have firmly held that neutrality is the key unless we distance ourselves from the extremes we can’t make a fair assessment or an objective evaluation of the situation. When you subscribe to a certain viewpoint .. you tend to give it preference. But recent developments have shaken that belief a little bit... Look at the names that have come to the fore, MJ Akbar, Pachori, Nana Patekar — these are all, educated, successful, wealthy, politically connected and thus powerful men.

Power must have had a role to play in this. We will come back to the power and some of the other elements that I think are causing these but before we get there I’d like to address the elephant in the room which has to do with trivializing the incident because it is being reported late or by someone who isn’t seen perhaps as a credible figure. And I’m picking this up from an incident that happened to me at the Bangalore airport, I was returning to Hyderabad after a fulfilling day at work and was one among 100 other people who had queued up in the line for security check. I was talking to my mother on the phone in Bhojpuri ( 2nd most popular dialect of Bihar, Magahi is the most spoken one. I’m fluent in both. if you happen to know someone from my home state who says Maithili is the most popular .. you should just ignore that person because .. it is not true) was louder than my usual self because I carry an Airtel SIM card and if you do too you’d know that sometimes speaking louder is the only way to send your voice over to the other side. The gentleman standing behind me .. asked me politely if I was from Bihar .. I responded happily and in a hurried manner, we completed the first 3 questions .. which part of Bihar .. why here .. and how traveling is a pain etc and went back to minding our own businesses. That is when another gentleman wrecked the topic of Tanushree Dutta’s indelicate commentary on Nana, the actor most of us love. I was quietly listening while also surfing through my Twitter timeline. He said that Tanushree is trying to defame Nana to grab limelight which she has lost long back, the person added how her career was nearly over and if it wasn’t for this controversy none of us would even talk about her and then another friend of his pulled out a video from YouTube of one of her songs in which she is seen getting comfortable with Imran Hashmi in a scene that is clearly written to flame passion. The person based his argument on her openness in the song and her being out of work to suggest that it was all false. Nana should file a case against her and how media should ban her etc. A few unparliamentary comments were also made with a few gross remarks on women in the entertainment industry.. at this point, I felt obligated to interject. I wanted to say very many things not all in polite tone but maintaining how unimportant their beliefs were to me and that the setting wasn’t suitable for an argument .. I just said that Tanushree hasn’t denied filming that scene .. it had her consent and therefore she isn’t voicing displeasure on that incidence but the other one in which she felt violated by Nana. I also said that it would have been wonderful if she made her telling to form an FIR back then .. but then truth is not perishable and therefore is not guided by the limitation of expiration. if what she is saying is correct .. she can say it now, a decade later even a century after the incident. Doesn’t matter all that much. Dignity is everyone’s right .. no matter what they wear, how they talk, which part of the world they come from or how they make their money or their gender for that matter.. while I was making my argument I got to the yellow line, which meant that I had to cross over, allow the security personnel to go about his business .. I collected my belonging from the conveyer .. thanked the CISF jawan and walked towards my boarding gate. Telling myself that idiots like those come in the way of creating equitable society and then .. boarded . 

By means of this article, I’m not trying to sit in judgment on what happened. I think due constitutional process should decide punishment after free and fair investigation & trail, hurling accusation doesn’t make someone a criminal. Civil society maintains that unless proven otherwise no one is guilty and certainly not of a crime that can’t be substantiated by hardcore evidence and facts. Those being accused are also equal citizens and deserve to be heard .. we know the legal process and we also know how difficult it is to prove a dirty look or an inappropriate touch. In all likelihood, 95% of criminals will walk free leaving the victim sore, ridiculed and perhaps more melancholic. It is sad, and the order of the day .. but does that make #MeToo inconsequential, certainly not.

In many bold and meaningful ways .. this social media campaign has done three important things which will bring about positive change. Let’s not forget all historic changes have had similar revolutionary past ( not the sexual oppression but people voicing against injustice), from voting rights for women in the US to the most recent abolishment of triple talaq, allowing women the legal right to enter places of worship like Haji Malang Dargah in Bombay , Shani Signapur temple in the west, also the Sabarimala temple visiting rights. Injustice .. needs united voices and therefore I say, this movement will not go to waste. It won’t be the Lokpal Andolan. 

Coming back to the three things. 

Unite voices for meaningful change: This movement gave the weak voice, the Internet got people together, amplified the concern to the right tune. It gave people the belief and courage needed to feel for one another. I salute all of those who have come out, it wouldn’t have been easy.

Detailed narration to change behavior: Victims have literally re-lived the horror in documenting what is it that they had to go through. It serves the twin purpose of alerting others of being mindful of such advances at the same time give those who would like to arrest situations like this enough details to formulate policies and encourage social norms to make our society a better place.

The power of culture: Over 95% of these incidences have happened at the place of work, which underlines the need to re-look at the culture that makes and feeds such monsters. Balancing of power, holding people accountable and creating an open environment which encourages people to blow the whistle is needed.

Harassment is born out of inequality either of real terms or of perceived value. Low self-moral fed by fear is the key reason why victims did not react right at the very first move that the predator made, in my view; reasons could range from economic liability to the desire to succeed in career to lack of support or an understanding or one being an introvert personality trying to avoid confrontation. 

It is upon us to create a just society, one which is based on respect, one that doesn’t violate personal space, one that does not believe that the weaker is to be exploited carelessly. We have to encourage people to speak .. tell their stories .. if needed provide them with security, not just emotional but also financial and legal to enable them to live a dignified life. 

If you let someone walk over you .. you are guilty of not protecting your own dignity. 

I render my support to every victim and offer my apologies on behalf of all from my gender. May you win!!

Free Speech - Status check!

Absolutism is the virtue that applies to Freedom, if freedom is not absolute, It is anything but free! When it comes to free speech, I’m a not only a big supporter but also a fan of the concepts. Given the realities of our times it is all the more important that we have nothing less than free speech. Look at it, we live in a world that is watched over by cameras, run on web, every tiny detail is in the public domain. And here don’t you make the mistake of thinking if you are not a Facebook check in addict you’re discreet  When you pay digitally you leave an impression which is not only recorded but is also traceable- this is one of the many ways in which what you’re eating, what you plan to buy are all floating in thin air! I do not mean to discourage you from going digital. Because anything which is offline is making little or no sense in today’s world where between confidentiality & convenience- the obvious choice for many in most matters is the later. So, by all means you must & you should be digital. Mr. Modi has been spearheading this change initiative and it is only fair that we Indians support our PM when he is trying to bring about a positive change.

Traditionally, those in power have not openly denounced absolutism in free speech - everyone from Pundit Nehru to Narendra Modi have on occasions more than one made public speeches, even written articles supporting it. And as a nation we are making progress, one can’t deny that! Regulations such as RTI bought in Dr. Singh’s regime, to an extent does extend the power to the common man to know things which they do not have direct access to (well, the debate on validity of items exempted from this act is for another day – right to privacy is also what is dear to us). But is knowing enough? At a personal level perhaps it is all that is needed but when we talk of a society essentially thriving on exchange of all kinds - from goods to money to Ideas to even identities in some cases ..only knowing is not good enough! Let’s me give you an example if Mahatma Gandhi kept the knowledge of power of truth and non-violence to himself would we have managed to get out of the clutches of British oppressors? The answer to that question is simple- NO, we wouldn’t have. It was needed that he communicated the goodness to other people, he used the twitter of then – Radio, Newspaper, magazines apart from every effective deployment of public meetings, prayer gathering to reach masses to ‘network’ to gather support for his ideas - and we have today a whole nation to ourselves.

 

So, knowing alone is never enough. Communication of what is known is knowledge when kept relevant. Then we come to that aspect of free speech that is often debated and discussed in societies which are progressive and consultative. How much should be allowed? Well, if you are wanting to regulate you’re not a supporter of free speech, very clearly! For two reasons, when we allow people to speak their minds freely without fear or pressure, we not only let ideas out but also get to know how good or bad our knowledge or morals are.

 Let’s take an example -  when an MLA is allowed to freely say - “Cow is the only animal that exhales oxygen and that cow dung can neutralise radioactive substances". We know it for sure the level of education and general awareness is so pathetic in our county, so we know that there is work to do! Had our man not been allowed to say what he believed in we wouldn’t have possibly understood that gap that exists - therefore it is important to let people say what they have to, even if what they are saying is stupid or plain dumb.

 

The other aspect is shouldn’t we draw lines as people have often misused the right to free speech by spreading misinformation, abusing people, hurting and insulting sense and sensibility of others on purpose. These are valid concerns. Some may not like to have jokes about Jains eating potatoes, or Sardars having common sense or Biharis being well groomed etc . But if we take everything out, what are we going to joke about? Or in other words express our discontent/observations, freely? A good way of looking at a situation like this is comparing it with food options available at a 5-star restaurant - it offers all kinds of food, veg and non-veg, Indian, Chinese and Mongolian and other kinds but do we choose all? No, we don’t, we eat whatever suits our taste. Same should be the case with free speech and insult, take only what suits your taste ignore the rest and like you do not ask to ban an eatery that also sells food that you don’t like, you shouldn't go crazy after those who say things which doesn’t sound nice or appropriate to you. People must and should have the right to say whatever they wish to.

 

Those who want to gag free voices, more often than not – take refuge in hate speeches to say that regulation is a societal need.

Free speech on ‘hate speeches’? As a county we have seen enough instances of violence and public disorder which were cause by motor mouth hate mongers. They on purpose have said and done things which have hurt sensibilities of people who in turn have raged causing severe damage to the state and society. Goes without saying, we shouldn’t let a hate monger walk free inciting uncalled for disturbance but to say that you can’t hate anything is as logical as is the statement that peacocks breed on sweat. 

 

Nothing can justify putting those who say things you do not like to permanent silence of death, in any society . In past 2 weeks, we have seen noted thinkers and writers being tortured & then murdered. If we were to believe the report, since 2013 in UP alone more than 200 journalists have been killed? What does it say about the state of free speech in our country? We must never forget that we live in a great country, it provides for, all of our needs. But that does not mean that we as citizens shouldn’t question the very well-being of the very nation we call home. One and all should be allowed to say whatever they have to. Killing a writer or silencing a contrarian view will never do this country any good!

 

Let us not forget, death is not the end! Mahatma was killed but his values continue to live and guide people around the world, even today!