18th century
French naturalist the Comte de Buffon wrote that the people of America had
small and feeble sex organs so much so the men living there had “no ardour for
the female.” He wrote that and much more
in his much-esteemed book Histoire
Naturelle. America was a land where
the water was stagnant, the soil unproductive, and the animals without size or
vigour, their constitutions weakened by the noxious vapours that rose from its
rotting swamps and sunless forests. The environment
sapped the vitality of even the native Indians who had “no beard or body hair.”
Many writers embraced
Buffon’s views and took them to more readers.
One popular Dutch writer added that the American males lacked vitality
so much that “they had milk in their breasts.”
The views found their way to many European books until almost the end of
the 19th century.
People are eager to
believe the written word. It’s even more
so when the text is something that belittles others. There are many people and organisations in
today’s India who make use of this strategy very effectively especially through
the social media and networks. A lot of
misinformation and disinformation are being spread. There are even government agencies which are
engaged in such activities.
Fake news and morphed
pictures are made use of for creating religious tension in many places. Inane ideas (e.g. the cow exhales oxygen) are
propagated as sacrosanct. History
textbooks in schools are being rewritten.
Heroes of the freedom struggle become villains and vice versa. Roads and buildings are renamed, some of them
rather viciously. Hatred is being
generated wherever possible by distorting history and news.
The process is not going
to take the nation very far. But it
seems the perpetrators have a clear vision.
They want to roil the waters so that they can rule the roost. However, history teaches us the lesson that
all those who made use of this strategy in the past ended up learning bitter
lessons and paying heavy prices.
It is up to the BJP and
its leaders to decide how far they want to take this game.
They cannot destroy us. Only fools, fools with hatred, can think of destroying the strength in diversity, the beauty in amalgation of different faiths, the ease of space present amidst the billions.
ReplyDeleteIt is a phase, a very dangerous phase. We might have to face it, but with unity! Is it possible?
It is that possibility that I'm exploring. Life goes on because there's goodness too. Maybe this is how the process is: the evil keeps mounting and reaches a climax before the need for goodness becomes clear to people.
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