All those tags—secularism, unity in diversity, the largest democracy, land of spiritualism— attached with India have become big jokes today. In a trying time such as this when the low tolerance between groups is making things very difficult in the country, playing up religious sentiments the way certain vested interest elements have been exhibiting at Jawaharlal Nehru University is a dangerous presage. In fact, political parties and their affiliates are feasting on the JNU issue instead of making attempts to assess why such agitations are common in today’s India. There must be reasons beyond Rohith Vemula, Kanhaiya Kumar or the sedition issue for such ugly events. However, reading too much with preconceived notion beyond the obvious is the problem. Another big concern is the uncontrolled enthusiasm of the Hindu Right. This coloured enthusiasm blurs their vision.The best example of such is pointed out by Kalpana Kannabiran, Professor and Director, Council for Social Development, Hyderabad.According to her, the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha observed Republic Day as a ‘black day’ in Meerut and has been consistently organising protests against the Constitution of India. According to Kalpana, the leaders of this group have also declared their intention to install a statue of Nathuram Godse. She said that this was a public show of strength in the service of a Hindu Rashtra widely reported in national newspapers — but clearly none of our ministerial compatriots saw this either as an assault on national interest or as an incitement to violence.
“Yet, when Rohith Vemula organised a protest against the execution of Memon and JNU Students’ Union president Kanhaiya Kumar spoke out in defence of the Constitution of India, our parliamentarians and ministers rose to defend the nation”, according to Kalpana Kannabiran.
Here, what we have today is that such continuous assaults on people’s sentiments are gradually altering our perception of India. It is that great Indian nation that may no longer be that great body to digest the plethora of issues especially the communal slant. It is high time the government starts reading beyond the obvious loaded with reasons. 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. The credibility of the government lies in facing the reality or acting responsibly in the face of it.
The fact, the government mishandling such issues is changing not only the socio-political contours but also the idea of India. Antagonism is growing and it is high time we check whether the ground work for the balkanization of the great nation has begun.
