Even as our political leaders exchanged pointless barbs on communalism, which, no doubt, received much attention on prime time television, the successful flight of ISRO’s Polar Satellite launch Vehicle, which placed into orbit five satellites, was largely ignored
One of the things which needs to be reconciled before this nation can afford to talk of development with confidence is the use of contradictory categories. Irrespective of pretentious claims, glibly-mouthed, it is no news to anyone that secularism defines much of the current political demagoguery. One should ask how secularism is the corner stone of development. Development is an economic concept. It can also be a social concept but how it can ever be stretched to become a religious concept beats imagination. Hence, there is the confusion of categories.
I only have information that’s in the public domain, but till date I haven’t heard a political leader of any standing claiming to be anything but secular. The battle-lines are about secularism, pseudo-secularism and the like. However, the bitterness with which this battle is fought seems to be only deepening. One wonders if the battle is about secularism at all or is it about something else that no one wants to accept.
By definition, secularism is an emotive word. It generates more heat than light because it stokes the embers of righteousness. It is a condemnation of all points of view which are not that of the speaker. Even if there are differences in the understanding of secularism or disagreements on the origin of the concepts in the Indian ethos, a democratic framework is expected to work through samwaad (dialogue) and a healthy exchange of ideas.
Instead, one is not only noticing undignified accusations but indeed virulence which could lead to violence. This can be dangerous — at any day, anytime, anywhere. It is doubly worrying if it starts contributing to the corrosion of institutions which are the pillars of civil society. The price of such corrosion can be so high that it may be self-destructive for the perpetrator and anarchical for future generations. The astonishing thing here is that, barring a few media channels, nobody seems to be speaking about this. Is it because apathy has numbed our sensibilitiesIJ A wise friend told me that these were the “signs of the time”. Be that as it may, it does not mitigate the extent of catastrophe which it could cause.
Mouthing gross statements, expressing opinions which are positively wild and then trying to camouflage it as only posing a question, does not reduce the negative impact. To believe that such gamesmanship will be positively rewarding is naïve.
On July 12, the 17th flight of the Indian Space Research Organisation’s versatile Polar Satellite launch Vehicle, PSlV-C15, was launched from Sriharikota. It was a huge success and a matter of national pride. It placed into orbit the remote sensing satellite, Cartosat-2b (an advanced remote sensing satellite built by ISRO), and four other satellites after a perfect lift-off from the spaceport. It was a 54-hour countdown for the 44.4 metre-tall, four stage, PSlV-C-15 costing Rs 260 crore. All the satellites were put into orbit one after the other. Yet, this did not merit any major national reference, let alone public celebration.
The launch took forward a worthy tradition. The multiple spot scene imagery gathered by the satellite will be useful for village-level resource assessment and mapping, detailing urban infrastructure planning and development, transportation systems planning, preparation of large scale cartographic maps, preparation of micro water-shed development plans, and monitoring of conditions in remote areas.
Perhaps, we do live in an era of naïveté.
If anyone can ignore the current fate of the rupee, he has a unique reality contact. If the law and order situation is seen as something which can be relegated to the background even as events of genuine national achievement are overlooked, while the chant of ‘secularism’ becomes more intense, then there is cause to pause and reflect.