The recent ruckus over the recital of the poem “Hum Dekhenge” written by Pakistani poet, communist and revolutionary Faiz Ahmad Faiz in IIT Kanpur indicates to a fast-spreading toxic culture of ‘issue building’ over nonissues and pathetic undemocratic intolerance. It is indeed amusing that, as to how a poem written in 1979 as a form of protest against Pakistani military dictator Zia-ul-Haq has anything to do with hurting religious sentiment, when the intent of the poet was something else, this is by far the best standard of interpretation.
It seems, those who talk about absolute absence of intolerance are more or so contributing to it either out of ignorance of fact, history and law or are part of a deliberate design to destabilise the social harmony and to exploit the consequential socio-political-religious unrest to earn rich political dividends.
Many of us by virtue of our births are Indians and Hindus, but certainly have inculcated the Indianness, the virtues of Hinduism, the philosophy and ideology of being a liberal, by understanding and acceptance; so therefore by choice are Indians, Hindus and liberals. We don’t believe in radical perspectives of any side, we refuse such concoctions; refuse to blindly believe that, CAA, NRC and NPR are against the interest of the nation, or totally in the interest of the nation; we would rather choose to watch the way the Government is going to take it forward. We refuse to believe in violent protests but certainly would support the fundamental right of meaningful dissent vented through the right forum. We also have concerns on what shall happen to our minority brethrens post NRC, but at the same time would like to wait and trust the assurances given by the Government for the time being after many fellow citizens have expressed their strong dissent, but shall not prefer to withstand hooliganism and vandalism in the name of protest.
A positive national discourse has a lot to contribute to boost the national spirit and inclusive growth through inclusive participation. But unfortunately, we have completely ignored some of the undisputed positive stories, mainly on the legislative side. As no one has significantly discussed or celebrated some of the important legislative developments. For example, the Personal Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2018, that was cleared by the Parliament to remove leprosy as a ground for divorce, which has given a more humane approach to the personal law covering marriage and divorce. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019, which was cleared by the Rajya Sabha on November 26, aims at protecting the rights of transgender persons by granting them recognition and making welfare provisions for them. It prohibits discrimination against a transgender person, including denial of service or unfair treatment. Further, it criminalizes denial of use of public places to transgender persons , removal of transgender persons from household, villages etc. Apart from the above, the Consumer Protection Bill, 2019, which once notified shall replace the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. This bill was passed to strengthen consumer rights, considering the modern day issue such as e-commerce, direct selling, tele-marketing etc. It also provides a range of legal recourses from class action suits to liability for celebrity endorsements.
So, the point that is being tried to be made here is, that we as a nation, which also includes the opposition and ideological opponents of those who are in power, need not always be obsessed about our dissent on many issues those bother or concern us , so much so that we completely lose sight of the positive stories that are imperative to be celebrated, not just to encourage the Government to do further good work but also to encourage the entire governance mechanism and various stakeholders in the various walks of national life. Not everywhere you stand in opposition, some of the decisions are for common cause and what we need is constructive opposition and not obsessed dissent, not a rioting minds but strong and calm critic.
The one who is an Indian, a Hindu and at the same time a liberal, has a prism and a perspective to look through; we don’t believe in being a devotee and singing glories for the regime but certainly would dislike an opposition which is far from being a true critic on real issues, who complains of the Government, of hiding its fallacies in economic decisions behind CAA and other populist strides but at the same time running behind and inflaming over the same issues. The question is why don’t you pick up the more meaningful ones and prioritise on what to raise and when to raise.
Being a Hindu is not anti-islam, or for that matter not anti-anything or any ‘ism’, rather it is synonymous with the ‘idea of India’, as long as it is all encompassing, taking every belief, faith and religion along; and rooted in the true doctrine of humanism and participatory and inclusive growth. It doesn’t compel the other to believe in any fixed tenet or faith, hence, it is far from proselytising.
Being a liberal is about believing in liberty, consent of the governed and equality before law, but it is also about accepting the many forms of culture and tradition within its own space and certainly with dignity. And being an Indian is about tolerance, robust conscience but certainly not dogmatism; it is about a cascade of knowledge, culture, literature and best of human traditions, but it has its own follies and fallacies spread by generation of opportunists, however meaningfully resisted by the class of the enlightened beings over the generations. It is about optimum dissent and at the same time acceptance and a peaceful convergence of both, a melting pot of various manifestations of humanity.
The India in 2020, like before shall have its own share of populace, which includes the engaged, the enraged and the indifferent, and it shall have among others the Indian, the Hindu and the liberal, but common national cause is a must, irrespective of the differences. We would love to participate in national growth, criticise the Government and at the same time wait and afford opportunity to the Government to rectify its mistakes, refuse to give in to the clutches of political opportunism and keep national interest above anything and everything.
(The writer is a lawyer and can be reached at sjyotiranjan3@gmail.com)