From one controversy to another, are we just wasting time?
Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Tuesday, 5 April 2016 AT 02:58 PM IST
For the past few months, the country has witnessed scores of controversies which have divided the country people into various camps. Now in hindsight, one realises the futility of creating and getting embroiled in these useless rows. And yet, there are no dearths of such rows, they are erupting day after day like a series of volcanoes, emitting fire, ashes, engulfing all those who happen to witness them.Soon after the BJP came to power at the Centre, the country had witnessed the VHP-sponsored Ghar Wapsi campaign to welcome back people to Hinduism. The campaign was called off after a fierce reaction from the minority communities. This was followed later with various violent incidents related to the suspicion of possessing beef. This led to the another controversy of allegations of increasing intolerance in the country and the subsequent the long episode of ‘Award Wapsi’ protest by littérateurs and artists. The above rows were certainly related to the fundamental and constitutional rights of the country’s citizens and the ruling party at the Centre had to learn lessons as it soon reigned in those fringe elements responsible for creating unrest in the society.
The recent controversies in the country created by some persons and fuelled further by their rivals however is disgusting. The competition between rival groups to prove their own nationalism, patriotism and ‘anti-national’ tendencies of the opposite ones was one of such rows. The row over compulsion to chant the slogan ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ to prove one’s patriotism fortunately did not last long enough but not without creating a divide on the issue in the society. The rows evoked strong reactions on the social media with persons inclined to either sides of the row expressing their views and leading to hot debates, akin to the loud war of words witnessed every evening on the news channels.What is the outcome of these rows and controversies? Do they serve interests of the people on whose behalf they are purportedly raised or defended? The issues and controversies deliberately raised prior to the imminent state polls may pay rich dividends or boomerang as was proved during the Delhi and Bihar polls. For that matter, a federal nation like India has to conduct polls of a single state or a group of states after a gap of less than a year. And so it may be argued that the people in the country may have to live with these series of controversies - minor or major - throughout the year.
Unfortunately in the din of these rows and controversies are forgotten the woes of the people. Maharashtra State Assembly recently witnessed a ruckus over the refusal of the MIM member Waris Yusuf Pathan to chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, leading to his suspension for the current session of the House. A couple of days before, there was a row over the alleged purification of the historic Chavdar Lake at Mahad in the Konkan. While these issues were being hotly debated in the House, the issues of citizens from the drought-affected parched areas of Marathwada and other parts of the state are not highlighted. There is no end to the series of farmer suicides in the state. But neither the ruling nor the opposition benches are interested in taking up these matters unless it suits them.
The anchors of the news channels however may need fresh controversies and fresh faces on day-to-day basis to increase their TRPs. At the height of the ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ row, BJP veteran LK Advani had refused to comment on the issue, and rightly dismissed the controversy as ‘meaningless’. If there is no end to nonsensical issues and rows, people will be left with no choice but to keep their news channels on silent mode. As far as the elected representatives are concerned, the people will have to wait for their response until the elections.
