At a time when the low tolerance of one group towards another group is making things very difficult in the country, playing up religious sentiments the way the Viswa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia has been doing is seen as a dangerous portent or presage. The VHP supremo has been making controversial statements one after the other. His speeches against the Muslims are too loathsome. The latest odious comment was when he said few days ago that “rather than subsidizing each birth of a Muslim kid, it is must that after two children, there has to be the strictest curb. Perhaps a punishable criminal offence and stopping ration, jobs, educational facilities will streamline the population facilitation towards better development.” The VHP leader added that “India was facing a population jihad and called for the expulsion of lakhs of illegal immigrants from Bangladesh settled in the north-east while also, claiming that Hindus were a “fast thinning” majority, Togadia said Hindu populations had declined drastically in neighbouring countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh.”Here, what we see today is that such continuous assaults on people’s sentiments are gradually altering our perception of India. It is that the great Indian nation—the birth place of Ahimsa—may no longer be the great body to digest the plethora of issues especially the communal slant. It is high time the government comes up with measures to curb the ugly trend. One thing we should mark is, however troubling reality the state of play is, the responsibility of the government is not affirmed by deviating its course from it. In fact, the credibility of the government lies in facing the reality or acting responsibly in the face of it.
We know this is an age of vote bank politics but there are also things called aspects of morality without which the government is a hollow showpiece.
In fact, the callous dealing of the government to such issue is changing not only the socio-political contours but also the idea of India. We are moving away from genuineness and sacrifice. Antagonism is growing and it is high time we check if the ground work for the balkanization of the great nation has begun.
