As we draw closer to the Lok Sabha Elections 2014, a lot of people still seem to be confused as to who deserves their vote. A new party raises its voice against corruption and enters into politics claiming itself to be honest, but soon loses its credibility. The ruling party tries to appear Honest, secular and pro-development but its track record speaks otherwise. The opposition's PM candidate though has a track record that speaks for itself, the party also has few members that face corruption charges. Other parties that aspire to rule the Nation as 3rd front, have their own closets full of skeletons. In short, no party is spotless. Those who plan to vote based on religion and caste, or for some other personal gains, have little confusion. Ignorance is bliss, right? And equally true is the corollary - 'He who increases knowledge, increases sorrows.' The ones that know the true value of their vote and are aware of every party's blots are left disillusioned. The desire to find an 'ideal' party, with spotless track record and that can solve people's problems immediately, turns this disillusionment into utter confusion. Such 'aware' individuals are thus not able to pick a side. And even when they do, they don't let their choice spare anyone from their criticism. Blindly following any party is dangerous and Criticism is good...BUT timing is crucial. Most of such individuals fail to realise this.
This predicament reminds me of a story from Mahabharat- The most powerful of all the warriors present at the beginning of the great war was Barbareek (बरबरीक). Barbareek, Grandson of Bheem and Son of Ghatotkach, after completing his education, had Promised his Guru that he would only fight for the weaker side in a battle, and so, in the beginning, he joined the Pandavas. Pandavas rejoiced while Kauravas were alarmed. But it was only Shree Krishna who was able to see what this really could lead to, and hence Barbareek was prevented from joining any side. Why was the most powerful warrior present at that time, who could have finished the war in matter of minutes, not allowed to join the war? because his promise to his Guru would not let him remain on one side. He would join the weaker side and kill warriors of the other side till the stronger side is now reduced to the weaker one. And so, he would again switch sides, till all are killed and only he remains. Powerful enough to change the course of the war, but too confused to pick a side and stick with it - Barbareek represents today's aware, disillusioned and confused individuals. Such enlightened minds are excellent when it comes to constructive criticism. But is this the right time for such discussions? Pick a side and join the battle.
Before I express my views, let me first make it clear that I'm not an AAP supporter. I try to look at things from an unbiased perspective. Lets be honest, we all laughed when Teena Sharma slapped Ajaz Khan in a debate on India News. It was amusing to see two members of the same party stooping to a new low on a national news channel. BUT, was that the real reason for the chuckles? No, don't answer the question yet. Let us use our imagination and reverse the roles of Teena sharma and Ajaz Khan. This is how the scene would proceed -
From the initial conversation we assume that Teena Sharma was answering a question and Ajaz Khan interrupted her.
Teena Sharma : आप मुझे बोलने देंगे या बीच में रोना रोयेंगे के...(will you let me speak or keep crying about...)
Ajaz Khan : SHUT UP!
Teena Sharma : (ऊंची आवाज़ में )आप तमीज़ से बात कीजिये, आप बदतमीज़ी कर रहे हैं। (In raised voice, almost screaming) behave yourself, you are misbehaving.
The News/Debate Anchor intervenes, apologises to Ajaz Khan for the misbehavior and demands the same from Teena Sharma. Teena Sharma calms herself down and tries to duck the situation by denying any misbehavior.
Suddenly, Ajaz Khan slaps Teena Sharma, on camera!
Outrageous, Right? Is this scene still amusing? Will you still laugh after the roles were reversed? Now, let us come back to the original question. What was the real reason for the chuckles? - A MAN getting SLAPPED by a WOMAN in public. That's funny. Isn't it? The reverse would be outrageous, but this was funny.
The host demanded an apology from Ajaz Khan for raising his voice, but why was Teena Sharma spared the same when she slapped him? For a raised voice, shouldn't Teena Sharma, or for that matter anyone else, reply verbally? Had it been Ajaz Khan to slap Teena Sharma, the man would have found himself behind bars. I wonder what action will now be taken against Teena Sharma. Nothing and nothing at all justifies physical abuse, regardless the gender of the victim. Sadly, our society identifies only Women as victims of violence and abuse. If a Man complains about physical/mental abuse by a woman, he isn't man enough, and hence shall be laughed upon. Right?
Muzaffarnagar riots were political. - Ajit Singh, Chief, Rashtriya Lok Dal. It all started with Rahul Gandhi's interview, where he blamed Modi for Gujrat riots of 2002; and one after the other they started to riot over past riots in the country and pointing fingers at each other. The above mentioned personalities weren't the only ones to participate in the chicanery, spewing venom against the other parties and trying to establish themselves as the protector of the minorities. Those who understand politics, would know that more of such drama can be expected in coming days, as we move closer to the Loksabha Elections 2014. Meanwhile, srrounded with all the cacophony of the Crows (politicians) and Vultures (Media), it was interesting to note that no one bothered to make even a small mention of the Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pundits from their homeland, Kashmir, in 1990, nor the recent Assam (Kokrajhar) riots. It was like they never happened; and I so wish that they never had! But since they did, why the silence? Is it because, these were the incidences that affected the people belonging to the Majority of the Nation? Do lives of Hindus don't matter or is it that since they exist in majority, a loss of few lives can be considered negligible? These are uncomfortable questions, but someone has to ask them. They must be answered. Its sad and unfortunate to even compare human suffering, and that is exactly my point. If the sufferings of the minorities find cries for justice, why are the majority's tears ignored? That is when Mancur Olson's The logic of Collective action answers the question -
"In Democracy, a well organised minority is Majority."
While setting aside the differences between the different sects and casts and subcasts, the Minorities fight together for their issues, the majority continues to be divided not only into different casts and subcasts but also through language and region. The people comprising the majority in India have clearly not learnt the most obvious lesson from their History; and unless they do, they are doomed to go through it all again.
Every well informed person in India today knows what the Khirki extention case stands for, and for those who aren't, the media did everything to bring it to their notice. For past one week now, MLA Somnath Bharti and AAP has been under fire from media, opposition (BJP) and ally (Congress) alike for their role in this case. Bharti has been even charged with molestation and labelled 'Racist' by the Ugandan woman accused of drug trafficking and Prostitution. Delhi CM Kejriwal supporting Bharti demanded suspension of the Police personnel that refused to carry out the MLA's directions and with his supporters once again went for a Dharna. The whole Fiasco seems to have ended for now after sending an SHO on leave for a week. While Somnath Bharti has been made into a villain in this whole fiasco, He remains Hero for the residents of the Khirki extension. Now that the file seems to have been closed on this matter, lets try to look at it from an unbiased perspective. NB: Those who are pressed on time or low on patience, may chose to jump to the 'Summary'. What was the Police doing before Somnath Bharti? I saw Yogendra Yadav while defending Bharti mention about prior complains by the residents of Khirki Extention. The same is also mentioned in AAP's website. Even with Three written complains and numerous verbal complains about alleged illegal activities (including sale of Drugs), why was Police not doing their job? With ABP News' video of the residents supporting the same argument, there remains no doubt that the Police were knowingly turning a blind eye on the matter. It does not take a lot to figure out the reasons for the same. Now, does it? Confirming the complaints by the residents: While defending his actions and complaining about the inaction of the Police, Somnath Bharti mentioned that he had confirmed by sending a man in guise of a customer. Also, while they raided the place, the Nigerian girls were caught red handed. No FIR, No Lady Police: every video run on all the news channels against Somnath Bharti mentions that there was no FIR, and without an FIR no one can be arrested. Also, not a single Lady Police was spotted in any of the videos at the time of raid. This is exactly where Somnath Bharti lost the cause. Being a Lawyer himself, he should have known the procedures. Urine sample on road? Molestation? Racist slurs? There have been initial headlines about one of the African women being made to urinate in public. In the same article, its alleged that they were forced to give urine sample in public and later taken to hospital for examination and then allowed to return home. Isn't consistency missing here? Though the charges are grave, they keep changing from urinating on road to Providing urine Sample; which soon even escalated to charges of Molestation and hurling Racial slurs! Though I do not dare to speculate that the charges are totally false, Clearly there is exaggeration. Threat to women's safety? Somnath Bharti was soon summoned by the Delhi commission for Women on the charges of threatening women's safety. At this point it is interesting to note how quickly the women that were allegedly running a sex racket now had turned into innocent victims. One of the women even made Bharti sound like the notorious Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and reported, "They said we should leave their country or else they would kill us one by one. Is being black a crime?" clearly, this statement was to get sympathy and thus escape the charges. SUMMARY:
Even if motives of Somnath bharti are not questioned, his methods definitely bore disastrous consequences for himself and his party. Especially when the Nation is emotionally super sensitive with women's issues, the matter demanded a very delicate handling of the whole situation. Agreed that the Police did not take required action when the residents filed complaints; Bharti being a lawyer himself should have resorted to other legal means to get Police to file an Fir first. Nalin Kohli of BJP in a debate on Zee Business channel on the same issue pointed out that Bharti could have in this case got Police to file an FIR through a court or a Magistrate's directions. The least Bharti could have done was to carry out a sting and ensure that there were Lady Police during the raid. Instead Bharti along with the residents decided to carry out a witch hunt. Lets get a little Bollywood-ish and try to imagine the consequences if someone influential could get a mob to complain about a certain person to an MLA for personal vendetta? On the other hand, while we debate about Bharti threatening safety of women charged with running Sex racket and drug paddling, shouldn't we dare ourselves to explore the consequences should the charges on the women prove to be true? How many pointing fingers on Bharti would really feel safe living with their family in a locality with a Brothel? Will any woman feel safe while even crossing such a place? Wouldn't this be again a threat to the resident women? Shouldn't we be pointing fingers at Delhi Police too? Arvind Kejriwal defending Somnath Bharti demanded suspension of the Police Personnel involved. With his this demand, he went for a Dharna; which he couldn't have timed worse! It all appeared that it was all just an ego clash between the Police and AAP. Also, the language being used by few of AAP's leaders add to the misery. I do not question AAP's intentions, but I do doubt their caliber. More than serious leaders, they act like rebillios teenagers, who instead of trying to untie the Gordian knot, cut it into pieces. Time and again with their sloppy handling of matters have only strengthened my doubts on AAP's capability; but while we criticise AAP, let us try not be irrational.
