PERSPECTIVE: Politically de-motivated or lack of faith?

PTI reports:

"Politics in India has always had a deep relationship with religion in this country. I, on behalf of the BJP, want to assure the seers that maligning of their name by the UPA will not be tolerated by the party," Rajnath Singh said at a Sangh Parivar conclave.

The lack of political discipline in India has been epitomized by this insufferable statement from the President of the BJP itself. How did Singh have the nerve to indulge in such blatant oversimplification of the relationship between politics and religion when it is supposed to be his moral duty to keep the two as separate as possible? Marvelous impudence, I must say.

India’s political class has shown a sheer lack of courage to embrace the secular ideals of the country that, to an extent, the people have adopted already. The BJP has shown its communal face in all respects with an almost compulsive patronage for the Malegaon blast accused in these testing times.

Singh even goes on to add:

"These investigations are inspired by political motives," said Singh.

It is a shame that pro-communal politics of this kind is deliberately leading us to a loss of complete faith in the institutions that deserve a chance to prove themselves, like the Anti-Terrorism Squad. The squad is an independent body of the Mumbai Police and it would be wise to refrain from accusations of all sorts that only go on to malign their efforts.

How can we even contemplate a terror-free India if such irresponsible statements come up from men (and women) that ultimately lead to mass influence and a complete loss of faith in the system and society in general? How can justice be delivered to victims if the people in-charge of the system are involved in rabid manipulation of investigating schemes and label anything and everything as “politically motivated”, leaving us as de-motivated as ever and them as firm as ever in pursuit of partisan interests behind such woeful rhetoric.

What do they mean by “protect the interests” of the “saints”? Is the BJP keen on providing protection for practitioners of the Hindu faith who indulge in terror attacks? Even if proven guilty by the ATS and the courts? No religion advocates killing as a means of “defending the faith”. Not Hinduism. Not Islam. But if certain anti-national elements, irrespective of whatever their faith is, indulge in mass killings then how can they be “protected”? Only because they share the same faith, is it?

This way, I now have a fair idea about how politics functions in this country. There is a ruling Government, that apparently sells party tickets to the highest bidder making leadership a full-fledged inner-party auction and democracy a vilified punch bag, and there is an Opposition that goes beyond the dictionary definition of the word oppose and stands up to accuse independent security agencies of “being influenced” by the ruling party every now and then, in a pursuit of their faith but un-secular national commitments. In between, people die and religion is associated with politics and so-called “defenders” of their faiths resort to ridiculous accusations of all democratic institutions in the country, including the law.

So what does the average Indian do? The aam aadmi faces a complete loss of faith in the system, does not trust respectable institutions like the Army and investigating agencies, is misguided by petty politics and doubts God simply because of lack of unity and solutions. Whom to believe in, you ask? And I say, I don’t know. I don’t know whom to trust. I don’t know how to have a settled mind. I don’t know how to keep the faith. I am blank from within.

I just don't know.






If you liked this post, you might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS