Dr. John Moan Razu, Professor, Social Ethics,
CTC, Mokokchung
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e are rational being and so our reason should prevail over emotions. Keeping this dictum alive, on the 2nd of October 2014, something emerged a fresh. As usual the PM of India came with another fabulous narrative and many followed suit. What is it? It is the Swachh Bharat Mission a mass move movement that seeks to create a Clean India by 2019, coinciding with Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary officially launched on October 2nd with PM Modi picking up a broom and joining in the cleaning. The nationwide campaign launched even in states that are not ruled by the BJP, urging people to devote 100 hours every year or two hours a week to keeping their surroundings clean.
PM Modi has appealed to everyone, the political and religious leadership in particular, along with mayors, sarpanchs and industry heads to engage in the task of cleaning homes, workplaces, villages and cities. The program will be carried out under the National Sanitation Campaign from September 25 to October 31. “Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan” campaign obviously was well-received striking a chord among all sections of society. For instance twelve-year old Anya wearing gloves was immersed in plucking weeds and cleaning the road narrated her experience: “It’s nice to see my locality clean and so I decided to join my family in cleaning it”.Likewise, for many Bengalureans this Gandhi Jayanthi marked a new beginning: a first step toward a cleaner city. Armed with brooms and gloves, volunteers of various residents’ welfare associations and NGOS got down to the job of cleaning drains and sweeping roads as Bangalureans took to the streets in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a cleaner country. Thousands and lakhs of volunteers across the country joined the campaign. PM Modi wanted this initiative as a nation-wide movement. Cutting across political, religio-cultural, caste-class and gender divides many participated.
The clarion call of our Prime Minister Modi epitomizes civic virtue. Civic virtue seldom comes naturally to human beings. It has to be cultivated and nurtured consciously and constantly. It needs constant, relentless reminding and it is the need of the hour particularly for the Indians and our country. Hence, we are struggling to create citizens out of people. The root word civic originates from ancient Greece and is related to ‘city’ and a ‘civility’. A ‘citizen’ living in a city supposed to be ‘civilized’ person who is expected to show concern for his fellow citizens. When we talk of civilization it is an extension of the word civic. Those without civic virtue in Greece are called idiots, which could perhaps be the origin of the word ‘idiot’. As against this background we should ponder upon: Is the Indian society civic, do we have a civic virtue and are all Indians civilized?
Undoubtedly, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan happened to be India’s most ambitious program in order to bring civic virtue and awareness to its citizens. Narendra Modi had launched on the October 2nd of 2014, which is considered as the biggest drive in India’s history to clean the nation. He hopes to succeed in modernizing the country with a new face “Clean India and Modern India”. The underlying assumption in that is to move on par with universal cleanliness with universal Wi-Fi. Vikas is not only about growth rates according to PMs’ thinking, but also improving the quality of peoples’ lives—and clean spaces add to it. By launching Swachh Bharat Abhiyan Modi probably wants to transform India by changing attitudes and improving the functioning of the state—through better execution and efficient of delivery of services.
Nations could be built on cleanliness. What does PM Modi mean by ‘cleanliness’? What are the mechanisms and modes to translate ‘cleanliness’ in real terms? These are the basic questions to be answered. RSS thinks that Indians should be proud of being Indians and in the process teaches us about nationalism and so on. Modi thinks that he is the harbinger and so it is his moral imperative to instill on the citizens about civic sense. RSS’s view and Modi’s understanding of nationalism is too narrow and parochial. There are umpteen instances where the whole notion came under attack.
In the recent by-elections in UP, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan and in other parts BJP lost badly. Modi-wave was punctured. People rejected campaigns like “love jihad”, “If you take one in return we would take 100 Muslims” and many others. In the given circumstances, the RSS and other ultra-fundamentalist brigands should understand that the civic-minded citizenries will go all out and show considerations toward their neighbors irrespective of caste, color, race and creed.
I still wonder whether the PM Modi did it consciously in solidarity with or for publicity or whatever may be the reasons launched this campaign in front of a Valmiki Colony (Safaikam Karmacharis otherwise called as manual scavengers) in Dalhi. They are Dalits, and are considered as the Dalits amongst the Dalits. For centuries they are involved in cleaning the toilets and clearing human excreta from the dry latrines as per the system of caste. These are the people who safeguard the country from all sorts of filth and pollution. The symbolism goes the other way: the Valmiks clean the pollution and dirt set inside the homes of Indians; while the municipal workers belonging to the so-called “outcastes” clean the roads, pavements, clear the gutters and garbage in the cities, towns and in public places. For decades they are the ones who kept the cities, towns and our country clean.
Apart from the presence and practice of caste in all spheres of our society, racism continues and it is on the rise. Just a few days ago, two BPO employees from Nagaland working in Cyber City (Guragaon) were racially abused and thrashed by eight people at Sikanderpur of Gurgaon last Wednesday. The attack, with cricket bats and hockey sticks, left Awang Neomi, 22, and Aloto Chisi, 25, with concussions and severe injuries, but the assailants did not stop there. They humiliated the two by shearing Awang’s hair before letting him and Aloto with a warning: “We’ll stop here so that you can tell other people from the northeast living here to leave immediately.”
Similar incident happened in the Eastern part of Bangalore almost at the same time wherein a Manipuri engineering student and his two friends at a roadside eatery in an east Bangalore locality. Suddenly they were attacked because these students did not speak Kannada with sticks, stones and chairs kept in the eatery. Hit on the forehead with a stone and bleeding profusely, Micheal started running towards the police station for help. A friend, Letmang Haokip, passing by on his bike, gave Micheal a life. One of the gang members chased Michael on a bike and dashed against Haokip’s. Then he snatched his friend’s wallet and other belongings. At that time a Hoysala (police night patrolling) vehicle came who helped them out. As a consequence Michael’s two friends, Ngamkholem Haokip, 28, and Rocky Kipgen, 25, suffered minor injuries. Intolerance of outsiders is a perennial problem across states.
Many tend to bury the gravity of the issue under the carpet by saying it is an isolated case. I could furnish a series of events right from the year 2012 to 2014. If we analyze the period between one incidence to the other shockingly it is narrowing. So it is on the rise and shows venom and hatred against the Northeastern people. While assaulting they said “You are eating Karnataka food and you should know Kannada. If you do not know how to speak then go to China”. It is ludicrous that they even did not know northeast is part of India, and therefore, are the bona-fide citizens of this country. Whenever I come across incidences of similar types which is ugly reminds us where our society is moving to. Intolerance is on the rise. Hate speech and violence in diverse forms and ways take place regularly. Attacks against northeasterns, Africans and others are nothing, but reflects racist overtones.
Indian politicians and civic leaders need to address racism toward Africans—and northeastern Indians—on an urgent basis. In the next Lok Sabha bills and laws should be passed and enacted in order to protect our citizens in the northeast and other states. The police should be asked to invoke SC/ST/ Goonda Act against the perpetrators of the heinous crime. Above all, racism is a matter that requires the intervention of the government at the highest level. It should be countered with grit and determination. If it is not addressed, it will penetrate like virus and damage all sections of our society. Clean India is possible only by cleaning casteism, racism, communalism, majoritarianim, fundamentalism, regionalism, and so on. Innovative schemes and programs that integrate all sections of society will have to be launched. New efforts without expecting political mileage that transcends narrow parochial overtones and conjectures should be envisaged. Clean India is possible only when we have clean mind-sets. With the current castist and racist mind-sets India cannot dream of becoming a civilized country and a civic society.
