CHANDIGARH: Politics is truly a delightful game. But at times it makes me wonder why my partner
never shares the blame when the two of us do blunder. As the Bengal Assembly election is nearing
there seems a competition between the politicians to justify “yours murders are bad than ours.”
Some intellectuals jump to explain away BJP victory in 2014 and 2019 by saying Hindus are a special
breed different from the rest of the Indians as they are willing to tolerate the quasi-fascism of Modi.
Thousands of innocent people sacrificed at the altar of politics to justify the action. Same
yardstick is not adopted by these so-called intellectuals who always boast of their intelligence in the
cases ‘pseudo-secularists’. What happened in the recent past is a matter dismay that the high
political principles of Independence movement have given away to the cynical tolerance and
violence in politics to win elections with the help of criminals and killers.
Country has a history of political killings whenever there are elections. Many intellectuals
were aghast over the victory of Modi and condemn voters. Anti-social elements hijacked the
farmers’ protest and Delhi came to a complete standstill on Republic Day. A city on the move is not
just about the moving of buses and shops with shutters open. It is about a city which lives with
swagger. Many so-called ‘intellectuals’ will be on job indulge in Hindu bashing.
Hindus are not a bunch of communal fascists. They are a wonderful community with
wonderful and rich civilization of thousand of years behind. They do not subscribe to the theory of
violence and destruction in a bid to advance their beliefs. Congress sins were forgotten by voters just
two months after Delhi killings. Baba Ranjit Singh who killed the Nirankari chief was sentenced to jail
by the court the “secular” government headed by Inder Gujral granted him an official pardon in the
interest of communal peace. Can peace be legitimately bought by condoning a convicted murderer?
Many regional parties are tainted too. Many critics call Modi a fascist who carries out
pogroms. But they do not apply the same level to the Congress. Their only concern is to protect
Nehru family to the exclusion of all other families. Neither Gandhi’s family nor that of Kalam Azad
was in way recognize nor rewarded. As if only the Nehru family legacy counted and no other family
mattered.
Right to protest is being misused and becoming a tool in the hands of protestors to meet
their ends. The judiciary which despite its high status not only held that Right to Protest is valid but
also refuses safeguard even elementary liberties of others. There is basically wrong with the moral
fiber of the nation. It has too many irons in its soul and too much infection in its blood stream. The
maladies which these ‘irons’ and ‘infections’ caused, were common to all the categories, classes and
institutions. All politicians proved to be weak-kneed in implementing rule of the land.
Malice in the country is because of politicians want political dividend out of people’s
sentiments. No political returns out of people sentiments. Sentiments cannot be bartered with
electoral returns. When rivals denounce Modi, they make an attempt to divert attention from their
own sins. In fact, they are saying ‘your murders are bad than our murders.’ Instinct of ‘nation first’ is
loosing its charm before ‘self-ends.’ If it does not contain, country will be in trouble and remember
Mahatma Gandhi will not come again to free you from the shackles of slavery.