Truth is a fabrication.
Barrows Dunham, American philosopher who was dismissed from the Temple
University for his liberal views, wrote that “truth has been suffered to exist
in the world just to the extent that it profited the rulers of society.” The
rulers fabricate truths for their own benefits.
We are not speaking about
scientific truths like water boils at 100 degree Celsius under normal
temperature and pressure or the sum of the three angles of a triangle is 180
degrees. We are speaking about truths given to us by our political leaders. And
religious leaders. And quite many other leaders. Leaders, in the final
analysis. Leaders often soar on the wings of fabricated truths.
Kerala is passing through
the most tragic catastrophe it ever witnessed since the creation of the state. The
state government’s rough estimate is that ₹35,000 crore will be required to
rebuild the state. The central government initially promised ₹100 crore which
was eventually raised by ₹500 crore.
The Modi government has a
natural disaffection with the Pinarayi government due to ideological conflicts.
Right versus Left. But such considerations should not affect the efforts to
survive catastrophes. It is the central government’s duty to look after the
citizens whatever their political affiliations are. It is the right of every
state to get required assistance from the Centre while dealing with calamities.
Modi and his supporters
chose to give fabricated truths to the people of Kerala, instead of the much
needed financial assistance. They called it national pride. India is capable of
dealing with the calamity without any aid from outside. It is against India’s
national pride to receive aid from other countries. They went to the extent of
quoting a policy made by the previous UPA government. Seeking policy support
from UPA was highly ironical since Modi’s NDA has always striven to prove that
UPA was a national disaster. However, Modi has no qualms about quoting anyone,
even Karl Marx, if it suits him.
The real truth is that
the UPA government extended the required assistance to states from the central
coffers. In spite of all the corruption that existed at various levels,
financial aid was extended as required. Modi has not only refused to extend
such help but also rejected offers from other sources. Kerala’s finance
minister Thomas Isaac rightly called it a “dog in the manger policy.”
National pride is one of
the many truths that Modi has fabricated in order to rouse up the rabble that
shout passionate slogans for him. Modi is sustained by many such fabricated
truths. Gau raksha, Vedic science, Sabka sath sabka vikas, job creation, presstitutes…
it’s an endless list. There is a whole
army called IT Cell that is devoted to fabrication of truths for Modi’s sake. A
whole lot of lies are propagated by them in the form of nationalist ideals. Modi
is such an expert at this job of fabrication that social psychologist Ashish
Nandy described him as a “classic, clinical case” of the “authoritarian
personality” with its “mix of puritanical rigidity, narrowing emotional life”
and “fantasies of violence.” To that list can be added messianic fantasies.
All the systems founded
on such fabricated truths collapsed sooner than later. Fascism and Nazism are well-known
examples. Will Modi’s version of Hindutva survive beyond him?
Evil succeeds for a
while. It is only goodness that will make its permanent mark in history. Truth
alone triumphs [Satyameva Jayate], as India’s national motto proclaims.
The mounting protests, presentations,
satire, cartoons, etc against Modi in various media indicate that there is hope
for real truth still. The following video presentation is an example. It has
already clocked more than 38,000 views and 1000 shares on Facebook.
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