Two shades of politics

If you’re the kind of person who waits for trains on a daily basis, there are two possibilities: 

• you must have paid attention to the corrugated roof
• you’ve got better things to do with your smartphone

Either way, the roofs shadowing our railways platforms have gone through an interesting transformation. Earlier, they used to be of white-and-maroon shade. Nowadays, they are white-and-blue. This didn’t happen overnight. It was Mamata Banerjee’s initiative when she became the railway minister (for the second time) in 2009. Just like her sari usually is: white with blue border. Interesting move, isn't it?

OK. Now pay attention to this screenshot from the trailer of the upcoming biopic based on MS Dhoni’s life. Notice something? Yes, the white-and-blue roof there. That’s an error from the filmmaker’s end. It should have been white-and-maroon, ideally speaking. They could have done a more detailed job at recreating the early days of our beloved cricketer. For the record, Dhoni was a ticket examiner between 2001 and 2003. Mamata Banerjee’s first tenure as the railway minister of India was between 1999 and 2001; the period during which she had no interest whatsoever in leaving behind a colourful legacy.

Will the real messiah please stand up?

Mallika Sherawat thinks Narendra Modi is India's most eligible bachelor. But then, she also thinks she is the Marilyn Monroe of 21st century. You can't blame her for being so delusional. What else can justify her singing the Happy Birthday song in an accented tone for the charismatic candidate à la the Original Sex Symbol did for JFK? It's plain craziness. From what one can gather from this episode is NaMo Fever touching a new high. And the Haryanvi actress is just cashing on publicity by riding the wave. She's not the only one though. All you've got to do is look around with your eyes open. Social media is abuzz with fanatics who don't like BJP but would sacrifice their fingertips for their leader. The general public seems to be rooting for his designation come 2014. Congress, on the other hand, appears abysmal thanks to their Somalian track record. It's nothing less than a miracle that they are still governing our country. The worst part, however, is their lack of a face. Rahul Gandhi, someone? Naaaah. Even though he doesn't have a single smear of corruption on his dynastic brow—just like his dear Gujju foe—the "young" gun has been far from impressive. Personally, i don't like either of them. One is a communal hardliner who hasn't tested himself at the national level and the other is a sickular softie who might never be tested at whatever level. But for the sake of argument, it'd be interesting to see NaMo at 7, Racecourse Road. Ek chance toh banta hai, for all the momentum his name has gathered in the past few scam-filled years. It behooves us to check whether he's really that messiah who'll deliver our beleaguered nation from further damage. If he succeeds, well and good. If he doesn't, bad for his supporters. Anyway, between the devil and the sea, it's better to choose swimming.

Oxymoronic home truths

Even though calling yourself a Hindu nationalist might inspire awe, it's nothing more than a collaboration of two completely out-of-place powerful words. Indian nationalist makes real sense. First of all, the term Hindu has more to do with geographical identity than religious. Thanks to whatever has happened to our great civilization over the past 2000 years, this distinction has sadly blurred to the point that politicians are making hay while Sanatana doesn't shine. It's a clear case of myopic ignorance. People would probably disagree with this as they don't like to see beyond what's visible. Regardless, who liked geography in school anyway? Or for that argument, history? Going back to the aforementioned magical words, if a person is a Hindu (which anybody who feels s/he's part of this ageless land is), he doesn't have to be nationalist. It's a given. On the contrary, Indian nationalist is more specific. It subscribes to the colonial truths and the lengthy embarrassments that piled one over the other. What's also evident is its adherence to the current political border. The term 'Hindu' doesn't give a damn about LOC. It could pertain to those who call themselves Pakistani today because they are unwittingly a cog in the Ferris Wheel of Islam or a smaller guinea pig in Jinnah's Lab. Besides, who knows for sure how far the so-called Hinduism initially spread? The truth is actually a bit complicated. The great souls who could come up with something as gorgeous as Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam are dead and gone. And their wise language is dying a painful death too. Small wonder why a majority of the current lot get goosebumps when they hear their pseudo-saviour utter two words that aren't meant to be a couple.

When in India, Occupy Caste

There are LOTS of social issues with respect to caste. Foremost of all is the general economic disparity — the usual ‘rich is getting richer and poor is getting poorer’ cliché. The huge chasm between the rural India and the urban India is facing us. The overwhelming urge of the former to merge with the latter is not only intriguing but also worrisome. The lack of opportunities is what’s driving this social disorder. There are many more ailments like failing infrastructure, lack of governance, civil disobedience when it comes to adherence of basic laws, poverty, illiteracy, corruption and growing Maoist threat. All these inimical elements blend perfectly with our turbulent society.

These are the social issues. Political terrain is quite different and bumpy.

Political issues pertain mostly to politicians. Democracy empowers us to vote, yes but what happens next is not guaranteed. Of course, that’s the case with almost all democracies across the world but here, things are a bit more skewed (or screwed, for lack of better word). Politicians are perceived as villains by the haves and saviors by the have-nots. But that doesn’t stop us from electing more of the unreliable kind. The reason behind this being the role caste plays a key role in the national arena.

Caste is like the most legal illegal substance in India. The Untouchability Act was passed in 1955. In that very year, the Protection of Civil Rights Act was passed. Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act took place in 1989 and Human Rights Protection Act in 1993. Since they are part of the constitution now, they are bona fide laws. Besides, the Hindu system has been casteist since time immemorial. It’s India’s version of apartheid. People like Buddha and Mahavir were the earliest proponents of ‘Chuck discrimination! Everybody is equal’ dictum. And if one observes closely, Buddha in particular was very successful too. It’s a different story though that his ideals are followed more religiously in South-East Asian countries than in India! Similarly, Gandhi took particular interest in the upliftment of the Harijans.

So reservation helps the case or not?

Reservation was a temporary solution crafted by our founding fathers who thought the under-privileged ones should get an upper hand when the nation kick-starts. Reservation was meant to go on for about 15 years. But it’s been almost 65 years now! When Morarji Desai founded Mandal Commission during his tenure as the PM, it was an honest step towards separating the privileged from the underprivileged ones. But with PM VP Singh’s shrewd decision to implement the reservation policy in 1990, caste, politics and reservation became inextricable bedfellows – ultimately giving new rise to new faces in politics who run the roost today.

Interestingly, the Dalits found a messiah in Mayawati when she became the Chief Minister of the largest non-nation entity on the planet (read: Uttar Pradesh) but as time went passed by, it became apparent that she’s just another narcissistic politician. For the record, the last Dalit leader whom no one has been able to emulate till date is Dr. Ambedkar (who is also considered the Father of Indian constitution). Every other Dalit leader carries his picture for approval from poor Dalits but barely anyone truly stand for what he did. Political solutions are most effective in a vast country like ours but it takes a lot of awareness and time. And patience is an expensive virtue in politics.

On the other hand, independent India saw some Dalit leaders making a mark too in the last two decades. Like RK Narayan becoming India’s first Dalit President and KMC Balayogi, first Dalit Lok Sabha speaker. KG Balakrishnan became the first Dalit Chief Justice of India in 2006.

So we can’t deny that thanks to such schemes, there has been a heck of an improvement for Dalits in the overall social order. In fact, a lot of progress has taken place over the years due to reservation mainly in the field of education and employment. But at the end of the day, reservation is self-defeating and anti-competition. And worst of all, people who are economically privileged and don’t even belong to the eligible caste try to leech benefits. There was a time when people didn’t know that caste was a major issue in independent India but now, thanks to widespread mass media, we get to know what happened where. People aren’t asleep anymore.

As a byproduct of these actions, we now have 27% reservation for OBC (Other Backward Class) and Muslims are eagerly anticipating a 4.5% reservation as a sub-quota with the OBC. Women are looking forward to 33% reservation. Math can’t get murkier than this. Even some new states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh were formed under the pretext of empowering the downtrodden communities. But what’s going on today is in stark contrast with what was supposedly intended. Or like Charlie Sheen would quip, upper caste politicians are #winning in these states.

So how does the non-political entity contribute to this cauldron? Well, there are effective personalities like Sudha Murthy (wife of Infosys founder NR Murthy) who is busy building schools in far-off villages. And there are selfless crusaders like Binayak Sen and many more who could have lived a charming life in cities if they wanted. These activists and campaigners try to work at the grass-root level. Most of them are of the opinion that education is what’s missing. And it’s very true. They believe that stringent legislation will empower the lower castes in the long run. Offering a helping hand by upgrading their living condition is the way to go.

Here again, political will portrays an important role. Like Indira Gandhi’s garibi hatao movement was effectively turning land laborers into landowners overnight!

After all, you won’t find pickets like “Occupy Caste” anywhere in India. Urbanites don’t care about it and that’s that. This is how it works (and doesn’t work) in India. Since rural areas are the ones where casteist discriminations takes place, most of the activists working there are nameless and faceless. Except when we read about their inspiring work in newspapers/magazines.

Caste doesn’t change but our perception towards it does… from place to place. If you are born a Hindu, it implies one surety – you are born in to a caste by default whether you like it or not. And in states like Gujarat and Rajasthan, caste transcends religion. Like the Muslims have castes belonging to mercantile communities and such. In South India, people usually don’t care much about caste in the society unless someone is getting married. YOU’VE GOT TO MARRY A PERSON FROM YOUR OWN CASTE – is the norm. Politically, it’s very Brahminically-oriented though. In North India, caste is more prominent and sometimes, brutal. But cities like Patna and Lucknow won’t witness discrimination based on caste the way forlorn villages are bound to.

Caste has also benefited proselytism. Christian Missionaries will generally target the forest-dwellers and the downtroddens. They offer education in exchange of faith. Net-net, it’s a win-win situation. No one’s complaining. Except the radical Hindu groups who think it’s a conspiracy against their religion. Net-net, they are morons.

Development (read: capitalism) has what it takes to overshadow caste. Remnants of feudalism can still be found in villages where Dalits often suffer at the hands of cruel landlords. Everyone must have heard or seen Bandit Queen. It’s a hardcore movie about a real-life dacoit who took revenge on people from upper caste who wronged her when she was younger. Well, the story ended this way – she surrendered, served sentence and joined politics later and then one morning, got shot by a kin of whom she massacred!

The setting is quite different in cities as far as caste identification is concerned. Urban areas function like a neo-liberal. Hardly anyone cares to ask each other which caste one belongs to. Everyone share a common table in the office canteen without any hassle. However, religion, linguistic and regional identity rather plays a bigger role in metropolitans sometimes. Caste is not THAT visible in the vital status. People are way too busy chasing trains that often don’t run on time to bother with anything else.

Mass migration has a lot to do with the prevailing caste (mal)practices in rural areas. Loads of people migrate to Mumbai every single day. It goes without saying that a major bulk of this ‘Diaspora’ belongs to the lower caste. They enter the city with dreamy eyes. Everyone wants a new start and they are no different. Once they are within the city, their caste ceases to exist. Hard work and opportunities are what matters. The word is reinvent. In any case, they are better off in restless Delhi or Kolkata than in the bucolic pockets of India.

Talking of Mumbai, Bollywood is a shining example of how casteism can be thwarted. First of all, Bollywood is like the most secular thing in India. The very fact that the Punjabi Kapoors and Muslim Khans have dominated it over the years illustrates this point. A different and purer adaptation of caste-ing applies here — dynasty. It is pivotal. For example, Big B’s son becomes an actor even though he might not have an iota of actor in him. The same goes for Hema Malini’s daughter. A producer’s son becomes a producer (if he fails as an actor first!) and a director’s son will vie to get behind the camera like his father. So in a way, it’s a casteist from a professional point of view.

To understand why Bollywood doesn’t have a Dalit superstar yet, we’ll have to peek into its history. Bollywood happened in a Marathi-Gujarati Bombay but it thrived because of the Punjabi infusion. Bollywood’s first superstar post-independence was a Muslim who went about with a Hindu name: Dilip Kumar. And today, it’s a Muslim who proudly goes with his Pathan name: Shah Rukh Khan. Between them, there have been an array of superstars who came and went but none of them were Dalits.

Perhaps the future might belong to some Dalit superstar. Hopefully. It will definitely be a positive sign. There were Dalit poets and writers but how much of their work influenced Bollywood needs to be researched. There are Dalits in the production team who work behind the scene but they aren’t forced to display their ID cards.

In an ideal world, caste won’t exist. But we don’t live in an ideal world. So I believe affirmative actions with a pedantic approach is what’s needed. There will always be people who’ll be oppressed, especially farmers. After all, India is an agrarian country with nearly 70% of the economy depending on agriculture. And it’s a sorry state of affairs for farmers who commit suicide as if it’s a newborn trend. Hence reservation ought to be based on economic factors rather than one’s caste.

Just because a person is born of low caste doesn’t mean s/he should be addressed with provisions meant for the underprivileged. In simpler words, it’d be unfair. The same goes for the lower caste kids who are applying for colleges/universities. Why should they be given preferential treatment when a kid from a general category scores better marks but is denied the rightful seat?

Gumption is what’s lacking. And the worst scenario happens when casteist mentality becomes apparent in cities while applying for higher education or government jobs. LUCKILY, THERE ARE NO RESERVATIONS IN PRIVATE SECTOR THOUGH POLITICIANS ARE TRYING TO GATECRASH IN THERE TOO!

Anti-discrimination has to take place at the grass-root level like most the national activists keep on reiterating. What’s the point in allowing reservations in IITs and IIMs when the low-caste kids don’t even get to attend a proper school? Education, general awareness and a strong political go-to-ness is what’s required to tackle these issues. Society can change but a country as a whole needs politicians at the helm. And we aren’t blessed with such politicians. Yet.

Stop playing dice with paradise!

By all accounts, J&K has become a nerve-wrecking problem for all the stakeholders in that region right from the Kashmiris themselves to the mechanical arrangements that involves India and Pakistan in this long and complex arena of conflicts, apathy, pathos and despair.

It’d be very lucid to say anything about ‘K’ without addressing the evolution of this state. Kashmir has been a lingering issue that should have been resolved way back. I agree India has failed Kashmir. Pakistan too has. They have failed to address people’s concerns. It has rather become fashionable to speak over the ownership rights of this disputed land. Grandiosity from both side of the border steals the limelight while addressing people directly takes a back burner. No wonder, empty rhetoric is what is left on the table.

When the British finally decided to relinquish the Indian subcontinent, they were discussing about how the future state/s would take place. Various ideas right from creation of nations on the basis of language, basic culture, region & religion emerged. Of all the factors, religion became the ultimate criterion.

Though the Indian subcontinent boasted of nearly all-existing world religions right from the Indic beliefs of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism & Sikhism to Abrahamic yet Indianised versions of Islam, Christianity & Judaism as well. Considering social passions, it was decided to include Islam and ‘the rest’ as primary dividing factors and thus, the modern states of multi-religious India and largely Muslim Pakistan got created.

But some regions became a thorn for resolution, primarily, the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir. Kashmir being a Muslim majority area was claimed by Pakistan for obvious reasons whereas India’s claims rested on ‘accession’ agreement signed between the Maharaja of J&K and the Indian government. It also needs to be pointed that though Pakistan was proclaiming itself as the homeland for sub-continental Muslims, even then, the modern partitioned India had more Muslims in entirety than Pakistan.

Also, Pakistan’s convictions further deteriorated when its eastern wing got separated to form the present independent nation of Bangladesh. The struggle for independent B’desh from united ‘Islamic Republic of Pakistan’ was on linguistic basis and not religion as cornerstone. It somehow proved that religion couldn’t always be a cohesive factor.

Now coming back to ‘K’.

More than 60 years have died giving birth to this problem as it is, and still we are running in political circles. People who’ve been following Kashmir can easily vouch for the fact that not all is well in paradise. Sadly, it is burning. And I suppose people with a benevolent heart and mind would feel pained to witness their agony and would like to see an end to their sufferings. Kashmiris themselves are tired and are demanding ‘Azaadi’. ‘Azaadi’ from the daily humiliation they go through and ‘Azaadi’ to live in a functional society with pristine atmosphere. After all, it’s a basic right for every breathing human being.

No one likes Army or, for that matter, any non-civilian body interrupting daily course of life, and that too on a weak hint of suspicion. And it’s a naked secret that defense forces have used coercion and violation at a drop of hat.

Having said that, playing devil’s advocate, what I don’t understand about voices coming from the Valley with statements such as “Kashmiri society and Indian society are different” and that “Kashmiri culture and Indian culture varies”.

My questions are - What is Indian culture? Can anyone define Indian culture? Is India too homogenous to assimilate Kashmir influence within its society and national frame? Can you identify any single aspect (say language/religion/culture) and declare it’s truly Indian and rest as not?

On the contrary, Indian society is a vast and diverse phenomenon. India’s diversity is capable of holding variety of interests and ideas even when conflicting each other eventually leading to broad based assimilation. Can’t beautiful Kashmir fit into exotic India? Don’t you think of all the existing options for Kashmir its continuance, as part of India would be a crown for its own welfare as well as for an idea called India?

Normality must return to Valley, at the earnest. We all agree. But what after that? A permanent solution must yield taking all the relevant factors into consideration. People who have long reneged on their Kashmiri identity in favor of power should keep their mouth shut and mind open. They are misleading the masses into false utopian beliefs. It will be nothing more than a farce and eventually too late to reconcile with truth. Arrogant Army powers must be severely amended, if not repealed completely. Crime is a crime and that applies to everyone. Shopian rape case showed how fragile the judiciary is in J&K. The culprits were not held accountable for their misdeeds. It was blindfolded Themis that went to trial and acrimoniously disrobed. Events as such shouldn’t be allowed to repeat.

And yes, there is an undeniable gap between mainland Indians and people in the northernmost state. Lack of communication has been a huge deterrent. Tourism in J&K, which helped a lot in fostering economy, goodwill and camaraderie was, no wonder, attacked by the secessionist/terrorist elements. As long as people-to-people connect is absent, all other efforts will only be on paper. If we want to call a country with 28 states, then we better not act like a 27 states nation. Interestingly, Bollywood of the past glorified Kashmir as a tourist destination, but today, even it prefers Swiss Alps.

My post here reeks of parochialism and I can’t do anything about it for a very simple reason: I am an Indian. My nation was built on common aspirations, common dreams and a search for common identity. We weren’t forced to shout “I am an Indian” at any point of time. The sense of Indianness trickles from our heart no matter whichever state we belong to or whatever tongue we speak. Yes, we are facing problems in the form of poverty, Naxalism, corruption and whatnot but talking of secession of Kashmir, I don’t think it helps the case.

India has a timeless history of tolerance. Even today, we tolerate a lot. But frankly, toleration of sedition is one thing and secession, another. We don’t have to look weak. All we have to do is be right and right now, we are far from right. We are in the middle of somewhere.

Prosperous Jammu & Kashmir, Progressive India and South Asian haleness should be the ultimate aim.

Leadershit

Why do you need leader(s)? Can't we function on an individual basis? How does leadership differ at political level? Where does the solution lie for political apathy?

These are questions. And I don't have the answers. At least, I thought so.

Firstly, whenever the question of assuming a leader and then following him/her comes up, we sense a sigh of relief, for various reasons. The biggest reason could be the anointment of a person who could be charged responsible; if at all something goes wrong. I know that sounds a bit cynical but let's take a chance with cynicism for a change. See, we humans are just like any another animal in groups. In other words, we are a herd and we require steering. And that's exactly where a leader comes in. S/He makes sure the herd is given direction and we are not talking about right or wrong or lame direction here. We are just getting into the mindset of how one accepts another human being as a leader. It could be plain stupidity on the hoi polloi's side or superior intellect on the leader's side, sometimes parlayed by the leader's cronies.

Secondly, individuality is much stronger than leadership. The leaders themselves are individuals at grass root level. The concept of leadership peculiarly pertains to urban life. In rural areas, the idea of leadership is gradually catching up; the reason being family orientation and self-sustenance, be it in life or produce. Villagers are known for working together. They help out each other on agrarian and related issues without conforming to the norm of leadership. Here, a person is designated a job and s/he does it with will. The standard of execution may not be ratified but everyone involved are accountable to each other. The success can be at an individual level, not necessarily at leadership level only. Art can make a good case study for individual progress.

Thirdly, in politics, the concept of leadership changes a bit. Here, the role of a leader gets mysteriously curtailed to the interest of the party s/he belongs to. It's easy to dismiss politics as a corruptible institution but there are some inherent home truths to face too. There is a difference between a politician and a leader. Not every politician can successfully transcend into a leader. The days of Gandhis are gone. 

Today we have less of leaders and more of dealers. The alphabet remains put but a little anagram and the meaning changes. We are in for a bitter reality and the funny thing is we don't find it bitter anymore. We are sort of immune to the political idiocy. If a leader in a corporate company isn't performing well, it exhibits his lack of authority over his team-members. The blame could either solely rest on the leader or the members or both. The bottom-line is, all are accountable. In politics, we never get to peek through the veneer of the structure and hence the only person we get to pinpoint is the one at the top – the pseudo-leaders.

Fourthly, participation in political process is the key. We can keep playing the blame game but that won't work, in the long run. Our country is presently what it is today just because our leaders are not what they should be and neither are the citizens. We need to know our enemies before we go to battle. In this case, though, the enemy could be our strongest friend. Yes, I'm talking about our scam-laced politicians. If only we monitor the white-clothed people who flock to our doors before election time, things can improve a lot. If only the politicians realize that we'll not only be looking at their report card but also their progress (or prognosis). We cannot fool ourselves by believing the politicians won't run for office just because he can't run the office. They are worse. It's like a disease and needs cure. And the best part is, it's not that tough. All we have to do is be conscious and use the power endowed on us by the Constitution and use RTI. Yeah, it's easier said than done but someday we'll get tired of saying.

Leaders who can't run the country ruin the country. As simple as that.

Shashi Tharoor resigns to political designs

For those who follow current affairs, must be knowing by now that Shashi Tharoor won’t be having an easy sleep tonight. He offered his resignation as Junior Foreign Minister and quite sadly, the Prime Minister accepted it impromptu.

Let me state first that I’m a huge fan of Mr. Tharoor. I believe he’s a fresh breath of air for Indian politics that is mired under the hopeless weight of decadence. Before entering political field, Tharoor was serving for United Nations with an impeccable record and almost clinched the Secretary General post, had it not been for United States’ meddling. Soon after, he left UN and headed to his home state Kerala and decided to contest general election from Trivandrum for Congress. Astonishingly, he won Parliament seat and was made Junior Foreign Minister under the UPA government. With senile SM Krishna at the top of Foreign Affairs, no one would doubt that he was to become India’s next Foreign Minister.

But one thing stayed firm: He was a political outsider who won’t have it easy with his western demeanor.

People say he puts foot into mouth and speaks out of turn. I don’t buy that. Unlike most other politicians, he has opinions, opinions that matter and he isn’t afraid to put them forth through mass media. If that is wrong, then the very idea of India adopting democracy is wrong.

The only time I felt he went out of sync was when he got himself into the big bad money spinning world of IPL which is headed by the egoistical Lalit Modi. Tharoor voiced his support for Kochi’s inclusion into the franchise for next season. He wanted Kerala to be on the cricket map and considering the lack of investment in this predominantly “Left” state (that is famous for infamous attitude towards any sort of revenue generating idea), IPL was a welcome move.

We are all well aware of Tharoor’s love for the gentleman’s game but that decision was the beginning of undone for him. The episode started with Modi questioning the identity of multi-crore stakeholders in Kochi team. After a week-long hue and cry with the opposition party accusing him of deigning to secure his girlfriend‘s stake in Kochi team, Tharoor gave up and resigned.

I can’t say Tharoor is clean or not but I can surely say that he paid a huge price compared to other people on the dais who have the audacity to judge him now. I don’t want to sound political but the whole Parliament reeks of distasteful scent of corruption and no one gets hurt there. Every one of them is safe thanks to their clout. On the other hand, Tharoor was left alone to defend himself against charges in Lok Sabha. Not even his home party voiced any support. The biggest surprise was the lack of any warmth from his home state for which he supposedly used his “influence”!!

Tomorrow’s newspaper will have interesting headlines but nothing will change the equilibrium of common sense. For we all know that unlike the spiteful politicians we are so used to, Tharoor inspired the new generation to think about our country for once. Unlike them, he practiced what he preached. And most importantly, unlike them, he paid a price to an open question of whether he was truly guilty or not. He is a role model for millions of Youngistanis and I’m not talking about Twitter alone. His reach towards youth is par expectation and something not seen since the days of our freedom struggle.

Shashi Tharoor resigned with no fault of *our* own. But the fact of the matter remains that he's still a parliamentarian and an able one at that so I wish he comes back stronger than ever and don’t give up this easily to unfair sagacity.