The intransigence of Islam is being see all over the world. For the Mullah, its “My way or the highway”, be it when it comes to its own people and more so when it concerns other religions and cultures. That’s been the only way they’ve found to control their flock, it appears. The Mullahs have been hard on their own women and children, especially the female kind. Forsaking education, liberties and freedom of expression for an oppressive dogmatic and inflexible rule of Fatwa based on widely varying “interpretation” of the Holy Quran.
Combine these traits with the traps of being human, and you have a head on collision course with everybody else and everything else in the world.
The idea of India is that people of every religion and caste, creed or colour live in harmony working for the good of all its people.
Enter the politicians who quickly figured out that the Hindu majority won’t vote a block but can be made to vote as a caste base. The arithmetic then becomes a no-brainer, considering that the affluent Indian (of any religion or caste) does not vote. Catch the lower, poorer masses and get elected. After that, since these vote banks are less literate and less well informed, do what you want till it’s time for the next election. That used to be the scene.
With TV and the information explosion, that is rapidly changing and good governance has assumed more importance, though still subservient to the caste calculations. However, since the information explosion isn’t linear the use of technology will neutralize the dominant caste based politics of the past. However, that isn’t going to happen fast enough as the vested interests will resist this threat with all its might.
So, back to the topic of this piece. None of the above is “new”. There are no new lessons to be learnt from the Ayodhya verdict. But learning these old lessons will help plenty!
Change will come to India only when Mahatma Gandhi’s “old” sayings are first learnt and internalized by every Indian: Be the change you want to see.
Demand it from your politicians on a daily basis and stand up for principles, not personalities. On a daily basis.
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The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust