{"id":66351,"date":"2019-05-07T01:52:03","date_gmt":"2019-05-06T20:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=66351"},"modified":"2019-05-07T01:52:03","modified_gmt":"2019-05-06T20:22:03","slug":"season-of-poison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2019\/05\/07\/season-of-poison\/","title":{"rendered":"Season of poison"},"content":{"rendered":"

Communal Speeches<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\nBy Poonam I Kaushish<\/strong><\/p>\n

Democracy is a conflict of interests masquerading as a contest of principles in this theekha-dhoondhar election season. A saying which aptly nails our politicians\u2019 lies as they go about spewing vitriolic accusations, threats and coercion against their rivals spiced with the right caste and communal combinations. All depending on which side of the Hindu-Muslim coin one is. Swaying to the heady tinkle of money, cheap thrills and seetees, with the devil taking the hindmost!
\nThe power of rhetorical public abuse by our candidates underscores political discourse is only rabble rousing, devoid of substance, spreading hatred and widening the communal divide on religious lines to garner votes. First of the mark was UP Chief Minister Yogi who asserted Hindu and Muslim voters are in an \u201cAli-Bajrang Bali\u201d contest and then called an SP rival \u2018Babar ka aulad\u2019. Countered BSP\u2019s Mayawati, \u201cI want to make an open appeal Mere Muslim bhaiyoin apne vote humain de\u2026.Ali is ours, so is Bajrang Bali.\u201d
\nStepped in Prime Minister Modi, \u201cRahul is scared of contesting from constituencies dominated by the majority population and is taking refuge in places where the majority is in a minority\u2026.Hindus will teach the Congress a fitting lesson for coining the term \u201cHindu terror\u201d. Adding fuel to fire BJP President Amit Shah wondered whether Rahul\u2019s Wayanad rally was in \u201cPakistan or India\u201d referring to Congress ally Indian Union Muslim League\u2019s green flags. Later tweeting: \u201cWe will remove every single infiltrator (Muslim) from the country except Buddhists, Hindus and Sikhs\u201d
\nMore communal-speak. Union Minister Maneka Gandhi said she would be disinclined to help Muslims if they do not vote for her. \u201cI am winning the election\u2026But if I win without help from Muslims\u2026.Then when Muslims come seeking jobs, I will think let it be, what difference does it make? After all, jobs are a kind of trade. We are not like Mahatma Gandhi \u2014 that we will keep on giving, and then keep getting beaten in elections.\u201d
\nResponded AAP\u2019s Kejriwal, \u201cBJP considers minorities as \u2018infiltrators\u2019\u2026.mob lynchings is taking place in the county under the guise of cattle theft which is actually organised murder.\u201d Added Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao, \u201cThese (self-proclaimed) Hindus are useless and disgusting\u2026They want to stoke fire in the country and belong in the gutter.\u201d
\nPunjab Minister Sidhu went a step further and brazenly solicited Muslim vote as did J&K Congress leaders who asked voters of a \u201cparticular religion\u201d to vote for the Party. Topped by SP leader Azam Khan\u2019s repugnant remark on BJP rival Jaya Prada, \u201cshe wears a khaki (RSS colour) underwear.\u201d Sic.
\nPurely shock value? Scoring brownie points? Not at all. The nastier and hateful a speech, the better. In one fell stroke all trashed the Election Commission\u2019s Moral Code of Conduct clause: \u201cThere shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Mosques, churches, temples or other places of worship shall not be used for election propaganda.\u201d
\nUnfortunately, instead of asking rivals what they bring to the table and their vision about India\u2019s future all are falling prey to poll exigencies. Nobody wants to address questions on why discourses are becoming more venomous and toxic? Can such intemperate language which blatantly deepens religious cleavages by pitting Indians against each other be condoned as said in \u2018the heat of the moment\u2019 or dismissed as all is fair in love and war?
\nClearly, the blame for this descent of political discourse lies squarely with Parties. Quick to crack the whip and complain to the EC all shy away from demanding the same discipline for crude and repulsive swipes at rivals. Barring a warning or ban on electioneering for two-three days the EC\u2019s action against communal hate speeches totals a mere rap on the knuckles.
\nWho does one fault? Given our netas have perfected intemperate language to inject poison in society over the years. Namely, dangerous and diabolical machinations of vote-bank politics, pitting Hindus against Muslims, creating fissiparous tendencies resulting in a communal divide.
\nThe Congress accuses the BJP for engineering a Hindu majoritarian communal style of politics in India by using tactics like attempting to electorally marginalise Muslims to patronising communal violence, especially around the emotive issue of cow protection and love jihad. The Hindutva Brigade slams its rival as a \u2018Muslim party\u2019 part of the \u201ctukde-tukde gang\u201d which protects terrorists and is \u201cworking on Pakistan\u2019s agenda\u201d and belongs there.
\nUndeniably, we are watching cut-throat communalism at work. Whereby, our netas have made nationalism and the Hindu-Muslim vote-bank the tour de force of politics. With every leader propounding his self-serving recipe of \u2018communal\u2019 harmony harbouring the same intention: To keep their gullible vote-banks emotionally charged so that their own ulterior motives are well-served. Never mind, the nation is getting sucked into the vortex of centrifugal bickerings.
\nRaising more questions: How does one control the hate mongers and blunt them? Has our polity realized the ramifications of their actions? Would it not only further divide the people on creed lines but is also antithetical to hope of narrowing India\u2019s burgeoning religious divide, thereby unleashing a Frankenstein.
\nClearly, in a milieu of competitive democracy, if caste politics ensures convergence of electoral booty, politics based on religion has better chance of polarising voters via vicious poison tongued speeches inducing raw emotions of hostility and hate. Who cares if it is destructive and stokes communal violence and sows the seeds of rabid communalism.
\nImportantly, no quarter should be given to those who fan hatred among people and communities. Be it a Hindu \u2018messiah\u2019 or a Muslim \u2018mullah\u2019. Both are destroyers of the State, which has no religious entity. Thus, our moral angst cannot be selective but should be just, honourable and equal.
\nIn a mammoth one billion plus country there would be a billion views whereby one cannot curtail people\u2019s political beliefs and rights. One is free not accepting another\u2019s view as it is a matter of perception. A statement objectionable to one might be normal for another. However, no licence should be given to anyone to spread hatred or ill-feeling towards any community or against atheists who do not see themselves as Ram-Rahim-Jesus children.
\nIn this dog whistle politics of surcharged communalised election campaign with dangerous ideas expressed in fissiparous and communal language which appeal to baser emotions and promises unapologetically sectarian and communal beliefs, the time has come for our petty-power-at-all-cost polity to think beyond vote-bank politics and look at the perilous implications of their insidious out-pourings which inject poison in society.
\nToday, the country is facing an existential crisis \u2014- a pluralist, inclusive India is defending itself against communal divisive electioneering. Our new representatives in Parliament should adopt a zero-tolerance stance on offensive and disruptive language. The message has to go out clearly that no leader belonging to community, caste or group can spew hatred, and if they do, they lose their democratic right to be heard. Such rhetoric has no place in a civilised polity.
\nIn the ultimate netas need to realize a nation is primarily a fusion of minds and hearts and secondarily a geographical entity. India is a big country with enough room for all to live in peace and goodwill. The aim should be to raise the bar on public discourse, not lower it any more. India could do without leaders who distort politics and in turn destroy democracy. They must desist from using caste and creed as pedestals to stand on to be seen. Will they heed? \u2014\u2014 INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Communal Speeches By Poonam I Kaushish Democracy is a conflict of interests masquerading as a contest of principles in this theekha-dhoondhar election season. A saying which aptly nails our politicians\u2019 lies as they go about spewing vitriolic accusations, threats and coercion against their rivals spiced with the right caste and communal combinations. All depending on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-66351","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66351\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}