SOCIAL DISCRIMINATION : GET REAL ... SOON

 

In the media recently been the news on incidents of Muslim youths denied employment or residence ; regardless of points of merit , since media channels have become more entertainment than news channels , this is a juicy matter for TRPs  . These days on TV news channels you find more ‘ debates ‘ than news  --- debates which are uncontrolled shouting sprees without a purpose or a conclusion

So was this time another aimless debate on this topic which I happened to watch today . That these channels , in their relentless pursuit of TRPs , give easy platform to various political dispensations to highjack any topic to paint the other side black , without any commitment to cause concerns me ; but what affects me more is the hypocratic , consciously superficial discussions on topics related to religion ,more so when it is about what gets referred to as ‘ minorities ‘ …. Instead of grappling with the truth it turns into a competition to speak ‘ politically correct ‘ language . My concern is that such superficial talks do not help bridge the gap ; they actually perpetuate the drift .

Here are my heartfelt observations and reflections

# Merit point in this case is very clear & beyond doubt . Discrimination of any kind is not just unconstitutional for us , but it is immoral & inhuman …. Whatever be the considerations , there is no justification & the guilty be punished … Period . It does not even need a debate to conclude that this is how it should be

# The larger & even worser point is that India is a country of discriminations across various parameters … caste , creed , religion , skin colour , language , geography , economic class & the worst monster of all : Politico – Criminal class v/s the Aam Aadami  . The even larger point is that it seems intrinsic to Human race to discriminate … seems compulsive and almost genetic characteristic of the human race …. Take a look around the world , if it is not one kind of discrimination , it will be another ; the moment you get rid of one cause human mind finds a new cause to discriminate , because no one wants to be ‘ a part of the crowd ‘ … everybody wants to be ‘ apart from the crowd ‘ & hence compulsively searches a new parameter for discrimination . This relentless urge to be ‘ one up ‘ from others will deter human race from being ‘ one ‘  ; the moment you douse one fire , there is another eruption .

# Hence to take every opportunity to generalize everything to religious platform & get into ‘ Hindu Bashing ‘ … because it comes cheap & sounds politically correct is very unfortunate . It does not help reduce the divide , it only serves nefarious purpose of antisocial elements and some zealot religious organizations who have malafide ‘ strategic ‘ agenda against India . Why play into their hands ?

# While without a question & without a second thought , the guilty in this case must be punished & every such case be arrested ; we should not get too carried away with certain political agenda to drift into superficial exchange of words without addressing the root cause

# In medical treatment , while it is urgent to handle symptomatic relief for immediate purpose , the disease is cured only when one treats the root cause , armed with a proper diagnostic analysis . In these cases of social discrimination against Muslims , unless we ask ourselves as to what is causing this unacceptable behavior , we will be condemned with speaking superficially & nothing will fundamentally change even with punishments … after all how many bodies can we punish , without addressing & cleansing the minds ?  

# Is this happening because Hindus are doing it purposely but without a reason , are they consciously targeting Muslims , because there is a generic , wide spread religious agenda in driving away Muslims . Quite honestly it does not appear to me , there is if at all evidence against such a hypothesis … other wise the same ( Hindu ) community wouldn’t have madly loved some of Icons – who were Muslim by religion across field of Art / Music / Movies / Culture / Sports . Hindus have never had qualms of humming Hindi film songs with words like Allah or align sounding Urdu words – such things will never happen in Pakistan , Hindus have had no qualms of worshipping some Muslim pilgrimage places . In fact , India – with majority Hindus is probably the only place on Earth where there are instances of non –Hindus occupying highest posts across fields , with so overwhelming regularity . I do not know a single country with this magnitude … do you know ?

# It should therefore be important & interesting to ask & know , when it comes to social transactions that we find instances of discrimination , because unless we find out why , we will never be able to resolve it permanently .

# It is important that we scientifically research the factors , but for now , based on my exposure & understanding , let me hazard a guess . I feel it is the deep seated distrust & fear that causes the suspicion & the divide . At least knowing the psychographics from ‘ this side ‘ I can say that Hindus have deep fear of Muslims coming from the deeper ‘ memories ‘ of atrocities brutality from the then Muslim invaders . However what adds suspicion fuel to this is the neo terrorism , claimed to be a religious cause by their perpetrators . I think Hindus fear & avoid either living around Muslim localities or passing through ( like how Behrampada in Bandra East become in riot times ) The fast spreading , religious based terrorism has only increased the divide and added Suspicion to Fear . And while people involved or related to terrorism may be a minor % of the total community , since you can not make out by the looks as to who is linked to terrorism & who is not , the mind over simplifies the matter by avoiding a particular community 100 % . And when Hindus see no attempt being made by Muslim scholars & religious leaders to turn Muslim youths back from straying on the wrong path , it does not help to reduce distrust which prompts the mind to the primitive thinking of avoiding everybody from Muslim community when it comes to close dealing

# If even if a trace of what I’m guessing is true , has anyone tried to understand & address this issue … which could actually be the core issue . Has anyone made any attempt to reduce the trust deficit & help cleanse the minds . Has any body from the Muslim community shown the courage & character to stand up against terrorism in the name of religion & worked to turn the tide … How on earth then we expect weak minds of a lay man to show courage not to discriminate

# And if we do not ( want to ) address the core issue how would minds transform by punishing more bodies ; we may continue to speak superficially on this matter , but then nothing will change ; it may just get worse . The choice is ours ! 

Are we a NATION … or an unruly crowd of self gratifying individuals

• There is a difference between a cohesive group and a group of unconnected individual

• Currently our ( money focused ) greed has much driven a wedge between us as individuals & also between individuals & the nation . Since we are grossly engrossed in maximizing self advantage at the earliest and at the exclusion of everything else …. Everything else seems to have been diluted to an extent of apparent irrelevance …it’s like when we drive on the  road , as if either the road belongs to us or that there is no one else using the road at that time 

• We have not only lost touch with reality , but lost connection with our community , our nation – even losing connectivity with self ( absolute no Self –Awareness )

• We are living on the ‘ surface ‘ in a ‘ fast food ‘ mentality --- an absolute superficial life ,with no depth . GREED makes us purely transactional with no sense of Purpose . There is hence no ‘ Greater cause ‘ in life , there is no  ‘ National agenda ‘   , we are moving disjointedly in different directions – often at cross purposes . Since national objective can not be best served by individuals independently maximizing advantage ; there is so much dilution of National direction , pride and purpose & it invariably results in dissipation of resources / energy 

• People driven by money lose purpose immediately & money too eventually ; where as money follows those who are driven by purpose . The sad part is that this simple irony of life is missed on those who lose their self –awareness to GREED .

• My friends , we don’t need to be awaken by external disasters to get us together to respond ; just our individual and collective awareness can galvanise us into a ‘ wholesome ‘ coherent body of being for a greater cause of Nation Building – You only need to Wake Up !