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Hate Politics

Illustration by Copilot


Hatred is what dominates the social media in India. It has been going on for many years now. A lot of violence is perpetrated by the ruling party’s own men. One of the most recent instances of venom spewed out by none other than Mithun Chakraborty would shake any sensible person. But the right wing of India is celebrating it. Seventy-four-year-old Chakraborty threatened to chop the people of a particular minority community into pieces. The Home Minister Amit Shah was sitting on the stage with a smile when the threat was issued openly.

A few days back, a video clip showing a right-winger denying food to a Muslim woman because she refused to chant ‘Jai Sri Ram’ dominated the social media. What kind of charity is it that is founded on hatred?

If you go through the social media for a while, you will be astounded by the surfeit of hatred there. Why do a people who form the vast majority of a country hate a small minority so much? Hatred usually comes from some form of insecurity. Why would 80% of the population feel threatened by the other 20%? That too, when the entire political power, government organisations and agencies, judiciary, education system… all are in the majority community’s control! Most perplexingly, why would a government itself support violence against a particular community?

There are a lot of images on the social media now which show similarities between Modi and Hitler. The implied connection is that like Hitler Modi is driven by hatred of a particular religious community. There are ample utterances made by Modi in the past to justify that implication. But the question still remains: why such hatred, especially since Modi and his party are driven by religion primarily?

What use is any religion if it engenders so much hatred and violence? Isn’t religion supposed to make us gentle, kind, humane? At least basically ethical?

I have been observing a lot of right-wing people in India in the past few years. Some of these people call themselves Yogis, Godmen, Gurus, and so on. But their actions [Karma] are far more venal than those of some hardcore criminals. Their hearts are devilishly wicked. Why has it come to this? This is what I am trying to understand. Why are villains being glorified and angels being vilified?

By ‘angels’ I mean certain good people who died or are dying in custody – like Prof G N Saibaba and Fr Stan Swamy.

I have no answers to that question and will be obliged to anyone who can help me with answers. Why does a whole nation support a bunch of villainous people who pretend to be saintly heroes? In the meanwhile, as I wait for answers, I shall be reading Saibaba’s poems: Why Do You Fear My Way So Much? Poems and Letters from Prison. 


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Comments

  1. Yamini MacLeanNovember 1, 2024 at 7:22 PM

    Hari Om
    All good questions and concerns. I am no more able to provide an answer than you...YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 1, 2024 at 7:40 PM

      Answers are difficult. Or maybe they're too obvious.

      Delete
  2. Liz A.November 2, 2024 at 1:06 AM

    That seems to be the way of late. Did the rise of social media bring out the right wing? Or is this just part of the normal cycle of civilization? By that, I mean that it seems like this fear-mongering and scapegoating of groups seems to bubble up every so often (like 100 years ago), and a new generation has to throw it off. Or attempt to. We've got similar issues, and it's like these people who follow that viewpoint just revel in being terrible.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 2, 2024 at 7:13 AM

      Social media brings the hatred as well as protests against it to the public. But you're right, this sort of hatred and violence always existed. Some reformation happens once in a while.

      Delete
  3. magiceyeNovember 2, 2024 at 7:06 AM

    To the power crazy politicians religion is nothing but a means to achieve/retain power at the cost of humanity. Right wingers are on the rise all over the world as it is much easier to bait people on the issue of religion than any practical reason.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalNovember 2, 2024 at 7:14 AM

      Right-wingism has become a fad now. Ironically, however, there's more migration and miscegenation. There's hope, it means.

      Delete
  4. vanderloostNovember 2, 2024 at 5:55 PM

    Very timely post. Tolerance is out of religious scriptures now and politics is gory.

    ReplyDelete

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