Time to speak up

Its the time to stop being silent and say something...

What is happening in the country today is scary, at more levels than one. And it has forced more and more people to get out and speak up. Leading them of course are the students across the country. But things have to be really messed up for South Delhites, Bombayites, IITians, WIMWIans to protest (I know them all 😋). And things really are...

Here are my thoughts why I think what is happening in the country is very scary, and does not bode well for the future:

Polarisation of society: We've heard this for a long time, that Modi and his government has polarised society. I did not really get this for a long time, but now I am starting to understand what it means on the ground. Our society is split, into the ones who are pro-BJP and the ones who are anti- BJP. A lot of people are no more capable of looking at an act on its merit anymore. So either you support the govt, whatever they do. Or you don't, whatever they do. This has stopped being able to have any meaningful discussion between the two sides. Both are stuck where they are, and refuse to move. And this is dangerous.

Nothing in life (or politics) is black or white. So support also should never be black or white. But that's what it is now. And that is what is dangerous and scary right now.


'Us' vs 'Them' view: I am seeing a lot of 'us' vs 'them' discussions in living rooms now. Discussions I had never heard before. From people who never said things they are saying now. And most of it is substantiated by data from whatsapp forwards (90% of which I checked and proved to be wrong in some such discussions).

But the fact is this propaganda has been going on for so long that people are convinced of 'them' being wrong and anti-nationals. What I saw is similar to the situation I had read in history books, about the kind of propaganda Hitler did in Germany against the Jews before the WW2. And this cannot lead us to any place good.


No place for disagreement: Protesting is everyone's right. No one should be that defensive that protests can scare you. And the BJP is doing just that. So scared of protests that they are acting in ways which are clearly incorrect. Beating up students crosses the line. Really, it does.

BJP needs to understand that to be in power in a democracy, one needs to accept that some people may not agree with you, and its fine. Some people will protest against you, and its fine. And sometimes, you may be wrong and have to take a step back. That's fine too. But trying to quell all protest with force is not fine. At all. And if they continue doing what they are doing, they will lose a lot (if not all) they gained in the last few years due to their good work.


Lack of unbiased information: The Indian media is biased, so clearly. Depending on which news channel I watched on any given day, even I alternated between feeling very strongly that the protesters were anti-nationals to that the government had been high-handed in their handling of the situation. And this is not helpful at all. If people don't get to see unbiased news, their opinions will never change. And the situation will go from bad to worse.


Secular or Hindu rashtra: This post isn't over without a reference to CAB. I sympathise with wanting to help fellow Hindus suffering persecution in neighbouring countries. But does that give us the right to start discriminating based on religion? The question is, are we a secular country or not? If yes, then this discrimination is illegal. If not, then call our country a Hindu rashtra and do whatever you want to do. Till then, in my eyes, the CAB law is illegal and against the principles of my country.



One of the biggest reasons why students had to stand up now is the lack of an alternative. Rahul Gandhi and Congress don't cut it. The smaller regional parties don't either, given their own games of power. So the students, the young, the educated, the ones who rarely vote had to come out now, to stop our country from moving in a direction which is against our principles. To stop it from becoming a country none of us will recognise.

I don't know how this situation will solve. Will it die down, or will it continue till one day it brings change? I don't know. All I can hope for is that we can stop our country from going down the direction it is going right now.

We are not a Hindu nation. None of us were born in such a nation and none of us want to live in such a nation either. Maybe that's why the protests are being led by the young, not the old. The ones who have lived in this positive India, and don't want to lose it...


P.S. For the record, I voted for BJP in 2014, and supported a lot of its moves (GST, demonetisation, Section 370) but have lost all faith in them after the last 2 months