Hindu Pakistan- A reality not far away

If they are able to win a repeat of their current strength in Lok Sabha, then frankly our democratic constitution as we understand it will not survive. Because all the three elements they need to tear up the constitution of India and write a new one are there. And that will be a new one that will enshrine the principle of a Hindu Rashtra, that will remove equality for the minorities, that will create a Hindu Pakistan.

– Shashi Tharoor (MP)

If you are a resident of the great nation of India for the past several years (past 4 yrs to be precise), it won’t be hard for you guess what followed next in this chain of events. If you are new then let me clue you in, Shashi Tharoor’s office got vandalized with black engine oil and protesters shouted slogans demanding Tharoor leave for Pakistan. Tharoor later clarified that he still stands by his statement and that they were made in his personal capacity and not on behalf of Congress.

Why did such an academic and learned person with a career in diplomacy make such a statement? Usually, these kinds of statements are just political banter which is to be ignored like the rest of the things that go in our country unless it is associated with Pakistan in some way because then it is a matter of national security and patriotism. Since this statement was related to Pakistan it did require further scrutiny.

“So far what is preventing them is that they need three things to change the constitution. They need two-thirds of the Lok Sabha, two-thirds of Rajya Sabha and half the states. You know, right now they have two-thirds of the Lok Sabha with the NDA alliance. They have more than half the states. They control 20 states and they are in coalition in 2 more out of 29 states. The only thing that they don’t have is a majority in the Rajya Sabha. But because they have so many state governments and the state assemblies elect the Rajya Sabha you can be sure that in four or five years they will have a majority in Rajya Sabha. So the great danger then is that if they have been able to win a repeat of their current strength in Lok Sabha, then frankly our democratic constitution as we understand it will not survive because all the three elements they need to tear up the constitution of India and write a new one. And that will be a new one that will enshrine the principle of a Hindu Rashtra, that will remove equality for the minorities, that will create a Hindu Pakistan. And that is not what Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Maulana Azad, Sardar Patel and the great heroes of our freedom struggle fought for,” Tharoor said.

Now we know the context and all of a sudden, this statement does not seem as offensive as it did earlier. If only the vandals had read this and properly understood the context of this statement before going all out on a member of parliament, things could’ve been different.

According to 2018 World freedom of press index by  Reporters without borders suggests that India ranks 138 and shockingly enough Pakistan ranks 139 out of 180 countries with both countries scoring 43.24. To get more perspective on this ranking, Norway has topped with a score of 7.63 North Korea has flunked with 88.87. India ranks lower than some of the absolute religious monarchies of the world like Qatar, Oman, Morocco. Even if this isn’t shocking enough, we rank lower than a complete terrorist (Taliban) state with no stable government, Afghanistan.

It is shameful that a Socialist, Secular, Sovereign, Democratic  Republic and the largest democracy in the world has less freedom of the press than a war-torn country with a totalitarian regime and terrorist rule. As if this wasn’t worse enough, we even slipped two places in the ranking from just last year whereas countries like Afghanistan and Palestine gained two places.

Saying that India has a near totalitarian control and sense of fear wouldn’t be an understatement in the light of these facts and doing nothing about it only makes our situation worse. If we want to become a global capital of culture and freedom, we have to give up our right to get offended and enact to some level, Right to offend because in order to be able to think we have to risk being offended. We cannot have a meaningful dialogue or reach a conclusion without both parties taking certain offences.

Being offended is a beautiful thing as it gives us insight into what matters to us deeply and how it matters to us. It creates outrage but it also creates a window of dialogue where we connect to our human side more than ever and at this juncture of humanity we will edge closer to finding solutions that matter, to problems that matter.

Our Politics Can Use a Little Humour

Gone are the days when Indian politics used to have a sense of humour about things. Politics is and always was a source of entertainment but over time, it has changed its genre from light-hearted daily soap opera to a hardline, intense reality tv. Where once the entertainment industry was complementary to the political news and happenings; It has now distanced itself from it.

Let’s take political cartoons, Great cartoonists like K. Shankar Pillai and R.K Laxman were artists, activists and Journalists fused together. They gave the common people a perspective other than the one presented by the media in that time and hence a respite from the constant negativity and political blah blah. Their cartoons were not only funny but also always had posed a deeper, more serious question or a take on politics. Journalism always means hardline facts but sometimes it’s just a different and more meaningful take on the happenings in the society which can be in any form be it written, news, cartoons and even news comedy.

Our political leaders have increasingly grown thin-skinned when it comes to remarks made against their stature and in this process, we miss out on one key ingredient of democracy, opposition; democracy without opposition is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. TV news has become trivial and TRP driven in a sense that they are completely impervious to the real essence of journalism which lies not in pleasing the authorities or entertaining the public but in going to any means to uncover the truth and lay it out to the world in any medium possible. Its job is not to feed into fears or anxieties of the masses but to rather drive behavioural change by instilling into them one key habit, the habit to question everything and everyone.

What we need in this country is a little bit of humour when it comes to politics because humour stands for more than just laughter, it stands for the ability to question because when we question, we hold them accountable and when they become accountable they become responsible. What the politicians of this country need to learn today, is the art of debate, the skill of listening and the manners to disagree with respect. This very idea to question each and everything around us is the true spirit of journalism and not just reporting the facts. Reporting is only a small cog in the bigger machinery of journalism. Journalism is a pillar holding the temple of democracy without which there is no expression, no growth no real power to the people.