The
last quarter of the 20th century witnessed the emergence of the
systems perspective in contrast to the reductionist approach that was followed
earlier. The reductionist approach
viewed phenomena by their parts and treated them as such. For example, if you have a headache you kill
the pain with an Anacin ignoring the harms done to the body by the drug. In the systems perspective, you look at the
whole rather than the parts. You use
available knowledge and technology to find out the root cause of the headache
and make the whole system healthy.
Any
system such as the human body or a society is not just the sum of its
parts. A system is a complex and
inter-related network of interacting components. Relationships among the components are of
vital importance in any system.
India
is not just a sum of its states and union territories (Gujarata-Maratha-Dravida-Utkala)
or a sum of the various religious communities (Hindu-Muslim-Sikh-Isai). Any nation is much more than such sums. Today, people's identities are not
straitjacketed by nationality or religion or language or any one
parameter. Parameters cut across one
another making a complex network which transcends the sum of the parts. Any leader who fails to understand that is
sure to be a millstone hung around the nation’s neck.
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| Leader: of a System or? |
One
of the questions that is shot at me frequently by different people nowadays is
why I question the BJP so much when other political parties have been worse in
many ways. Yes, the other parties were
steeped in corruption. Their politicians
were selfish and filled their pockets and their Swiss bank accounts with more
zest than looking after the nation.
Greed and selfishness are normal human vices. The BJP is guilty of a vice far more vicious
than greed, jealousy, and the normal list of vices seen in moral science
textbooks.
The
BJP and its numerous allies like the VHP pervert the entire nation, the
nation’s imagination. Consider, for
example, the interpretation given by the VHP to the Prime Minister’s statement
on the need for communal harmony in the country. The
Times of India quotes the VHP joint general secretary Surendra Jain,
"The Prime Minister did not say 'minorities' nor did he mention any
particular religion. The news traders are misreading his message to suit their
agenda. When he has not taken any names, you have to see in what circumstances
he has made the statements. The supposed attacks on churches have been going on
for a while now but the PM never came out and spoke. He spoke only after the
Delhi Police pointed out that 206 temples were attacked. He spoke on a day a temple
was vandalized in the US."
People
like Surendra Jain create their own truths and shove them down the throats of jejune
people who are more than willing to swallow whatever is given to them provided
they perceive some benefit in doing so. People
like Surendra Jain replace truths with myths and falsehoods. Such people should found new religions and write
scriptures. Instead, in India today,
they enter politics and mess up the social networks in the country. They bring fragmentation where there is
integration, strife where there is peace, hatred where there is tolerance. Worst of all, they fabricate a new history
for the country. Murderers of mahatmas
and perpetrators of genocide are canonised and put up on pedestals in
temples.
Perverting
a nation’s psyche is a crime that is far more vicious than stealing from the
nation’s coffers or even using people as vote banks.
That's really true... All these attacks on churches and temples have had a drastic impact on BJP and our religious communities too. People will believe what they want to.
ReplyDeleteBJP accused the Congress of pseudo-secularism because of its vote bank politics. What is happening now is much worse: dividing the entire country into more pieces than the British could have done!
DeleteI agree, Sir. Like you mentioned in the post, you are taking something without realizing the side effects it will have in the long run.
ReplyDeleteOur politicians want only short term results, Saru.
Delete