The feeble political forces trying to find a relevance in the toughest time they have ever faced and their desperate attempt to lead us into illusion…

Over 40 months now for the government in center and till date we have an opposition that has just one issue to talk of: Intolerance.

2014 General Elections in India were far more historic than they are hailed as. That basically proved to be a start of collapse for the biggest and the oldest political party and ever since then, Congress has fallen irrelevant and has only seen downward spiral, mostly. The liberal positioning with a barrage of corruption charges and severe allegations over PMO in 2011 Coal Gate scam is not something that differentiates you from the common perception of Politician and Political Parties by large in this country. (Of course, a marketeer in me had to come up with Marketing Jargon like the one used here ‘Positioning’, ‘Differentiation’ etc.)

But one funny thing about marketing is the fact that though it is done to create ‘perception’ among the “target audiences”, it should be based upon realistic facts and figures so that you do not fool yourself in the process of trying to impress others. So here are a few facts brought to the light of the day to break out of the myths here. Myths created by a weak and fragile opposition, who didn’t do any good when they had the power and are still acting delusional, even after years of repetitive failure.

Starting up with the Intolerance issue, recently we saw a rather sad demise of a senior journalist Ms. Guari Lankesh at her Bangalore residence. By and large, it has been assumed that it was her ‘leftist’ columns that led to a fatal attack on her and that it was probably abetted by right wing sympathizers. Now if you look at it closely, first thing that strikes you is the fact that this being a security issue, where were the lapses in the whole set up to begin with? Given the federal structure of our country and its administration, the internal security is a matter subjected to states and not central government. Bangalore is the capital city of Karnataka, a state governed by Congress, the major constituent of opposition at the center and the city is one of the richest financial hubs in India. The security lies directly in the hands of State Government and if there were any lapses, which there definitely were, first question must be asked of the CM and the State Government. If a top-notch journalist with years of experience in the Media is not safe at her residence, how does anyone feel safe in the city? Interestingly, hailed as a hardcore critic of Hinduism and right wing, who spent years writing articles for & in support of Naxalites and against Hindutva (portraying it as a Discriminatory System of Castes rather than a religion), Lankesh had recently only written an article against the leftists, where in she had asked the Naxalites to surrender and encouraged them to seek a more peaceful solution. Rings a bell?

Just to provide a peep into the past and some trivia, Lankesh was also one of those journalists who in the past received notices from publishing as well as media houses she was associated with, for deliberately taking an anti-national stance in her articles. So much so that even her own brother, Indrajit had his differences and called off their association for Lankesh Patrike. Guari was also convicted in cases of defamation and was penalized monetarily and sentenced an imprisonment for several months as she failed to provide the proof for various charges made on some of the leaders through her article.

Moving on to many such instances, where asking of the actions from State Government was a no-brainer but people just kept on blaming Central Govt led by Modi and inclined to right wing approach. Be it Dadari Lynching, taking place in the state of Uttar Pradesh in 2015, when the incumbent government in the state was that of Samajwadi Party and Congress, then again the parties forming opposition in the center, or the Bangalore Bus Fire in Karnataka this year itself with a Congress government in the state. Both these instances came just before two of the most crucial state elections in India that have a great bearing on formation of majority in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the parliament that plays a crucial role in decision making and getting a bill passed to create an act. The biggest chaos in the series was the Suicide of Rohith Vemula. The 26 years old Ph.D. student, who sadly committed suicide after university stopped his fellowship after being found (allegedly) guilty of engaging into Anti National and Casteist activities, when he was found protesting the hanging of Yakub Memon, a terrorist who was charged and tried and eventually hanged for his involvement in 1993 Mumbai Bombings after 21 years of judicial process which saw 7 Prime Ministers assume office and 8 governments change in the center.

The death of Rohith Vemula cannot be justified and the loss of his family and his people is irreversible. But in here, one must deep dive and look into the post math of political drama to co-relate to the political equation developed thereafter. Records present a case that indicates that Police was not allowed into the hostel until 6.30 AM the following morning and there was a considerable delay in the examination of the body by the doctor. Then again, a classic case of students taking an allegiance to the political group that has a clear directive from the higher commands of the political parties they are associated with, to raise a protest against a certain ideology out of a given state of affairs, just to create an environment of distress and chaos and an apparent intolerance at very micro level, because the incumbent in the center is a party with ideology 180 degrees out of phase with them. That too, done in a state wherein the incumbent government is of the party sitting in opposition in the center, positioning itself as leftist, the core opponent of current central government.

Central Government can only issue directives related to internal security; to follow and implement the same is up to and is a sole responsibility of State Government (s). If only, the set of people in this country, who claim to be intellectuals could put in a basic thought on the issues they raised, the entire gas around these matters would fizzle away. The basic premise my friends, here is, the WHERE part of the deal. No one is saying that Center doesn’t hold stake in here in such cases but blaming Central Government just for the heck of it, is foolish as if they are directly responsible for it. Then, at the very first place there should be no federal structure and all the powers and authority should directly be with Union Government or let’s just have presidential rule all over (which to me being a sane person makes no sense). The thing is, government in the states in each of these instances, be it Dadari Lynching, Rohith Vemula Case, Bangalore Bus Fire or Gauri Lankesh; refrained from assuming the responsibility and acting at the Prima Facie, only to create further chaos and gain political benefits out of the whole thing.

Dadari Lynching brings us to another burning issue in hands, that is of Beef Consumption and Ban. If the Article 48 of Constitution of India is to be followed, Cow Slaughter (not to be confused with Beef, as Beef finds several other meanings as well), is banned across the nation. The cattle that are allowed to be slaughtered and are categorized under the Beef category can be Yak, Buffalo, Bulls, Bullocks, Ox etc. Additionally, system also empowers states to pass laws and ordinance at the very executive level to ban or allow any kind of cattle slaughter in their respective territories. Out of 29 states, 24 have banned cow slaughter with an exception to Kerala, West Bengal and Some of the North-Eastern States. However, other Cattles can be slaughtered and consumed if the same is allowed in the state policy. Now there are different so called (and self-proclaimed) “Gau Rakshak” groups that act upon various cases of Cattle Slaughter without taking a notice, whether the same is legal / illegal in the state as per the policy and then there are some pseudo intellectuals that see such an action as dent on one’s liberty without investigating enough and blame directly, the government in the Center for the same without realizing that they are making a fool out of themselves because the first and the foremost responsibility of preventing the same or controlling it, lies with the State Police and its mechanism.

Be it in University of Hyderabad concerning the Rohith Vemula’s case or JNU wherein, there were sounds of anti-national slogans and chants, the politically inclined students’ groups in here (whether it is ASA in Hyderabad or AISF, SFI, DSU, AIRSF) find their association with the Left Wing of highest political strata and they are trying to engage their party’s high command’s agenda or rather, the propaganda at the very micro level, even if it is Anti National or Communal in nature and makes a dent into the sovereignty of the nation and brings threat to peace and communal harmony, so long it creates a political gain for them. They do not hesitate to distort the very facts, disregard the rules and regulation and take to violent means to achieve the same objective. What they are basically trying to do, is to mislead people into the falsehood and make them believe in the illusion called intolerance.

Laureates, Awardee, Celebrated Authors, Writers, Scholars, Opinion Formers, Thought Leaders, Page 3 Personalities of our societies, who all have spent their life in ensuring their wealth and asset creation, have suddenly turned core leftist and socialist ideological leaders at a stage post half way of their lives and are pitching in for the new system in place with an idea of demolishing the currently existing one, that of Democracy. Initiatives like “Not in my name” are laughable & desperate attempt of finding some pertinence in the ongoing scenario and series of events and public verdictsin elections which have made them fall flat on their faces. Left saw Ousting in Bengal, other parties in third front suffered the same fate in Uttar Pradesh. Congress has lost its entire ground except for Punjab and Karnataka and is doomed which is a reason enough for the oldest political party in India to sought to any mean which might revitalize its brand and help its desperate re-positioning as a flag bearer of Republican ideology, entire crux of which went for a toss, last time they held power in center.

As said earlier, it is a trap. Don’t fall for it. It is a desperate attempt by political forces to find relevance and survive in the toughest time they are facing that questions their very existence. It is an attempt by all of them to lead us into an illusion. The illusion called ‘intolerance’.