LET THE PEACE PREVAIL UPON THE "TROLLS"

Disclaimer: I am not writing this blog, "My Keypad" is doing so. So trolls, I want no hounding whatsoever. 


The recent furore in the social media over a video gone viral of a 20 year old DU student invited my attention. Such was the controversy that, there were even talks of the girl being influenced by some "anti national" elements. My curiosity led me to research about the girl and her video. I took to google. To my amazement I found a page full of news reports,articles, blogs,open letters and even a Wikipedia page dedicated to her. I found that the girl is already a celebrity by now. But my research proved to give me futile results, as all these reading materials available on the internet failed to provide a clear picture of the events. So I finally took to YouTube to look for myself the real unedited version of the video.
                         I found the video on a channel named " Voice Of Ram" run by Ram Subramanium, an ad film maker who started an online campaign named " Profile for Peace" a year ago.The video which was titled "Soldier of peace" dates back to 2016. That's almost a year ago. The campaign was a peace initiative between the two Nations.The video displayed a young girl displaying some messages on placards one after the other. The messages were plain and simple. It was an emotional confession and an appeal for peace from a girl who had experienced a personal loss from the War. After all who can better feel the pain,agony,horrors of War and realize it's perils than the loved ones of those martyred.
                       The point to be noticed here is that a snapshot of only one statement out of a series of statements contained in the video which read " Pakistan Did not Kill my dad, War Killed him" was circulated all over the internet.The rest of the girl's silent speech went totally unnoticed. Can you smell some selective targeting here? The placard that created all the furore was obviously not a stand alone statement, but a part of the series of statements which actually constitute an emotional peace appeal.Now what on world is " Anti National" about that? If you ask me, war mongering and jingoism is "Anti National" as it advocates deploying and diverting a nation's resources,wealth and time towards war. It effects the Nation's health.
                      Coming back to the controversy, lets examine as to how did the video resurface just in the middle of a campus brawl between two rival student outfits? The answer lies in the fact that the young girl was part of the Save DU campaign run by one of the two outfits.The campaign was a protest against the violence perpetrated in the campus by the other outfit. Upon sensing the online campaign gaining strength and garnering ample support, the trolls got to work. They mined some data from the social media and selectively identified some excerpts from the video that could be used as a targeting tool against her. These excerpts were then circulated all over the internet. What followed was an orchestrated hate campaign on the social media.Though the troll campaign was masqueraded as an effort to silence the 20 year old "Anti National" girl, it appears there were some ulterior motives. One of them could be to divert the public attention from the on going violence and ruckus created at the DU North campus.
                    Now let us examine the political undertones of the messages in the video. Talks of peace and war mongering have been going hand in hand since the last 70 years now between the two Nations.It has always been a "Love-Hate" relationship. I admit that jingoism and war mongering has fetched a lot of votes for political parties in both the nations, but peace is not an easy option.Let us also acknowledge that there has been a good amount of sincere efforts put forth by past and present governments on this front. But the reason we still do not have a solution are some lingering issues which needs to be settled first. Diplomacy isn't a cake walk.
                   Nonetheless I would not like to enter into the ceaseless "Anti National Vs Patriotism" debate as of now. All I want form "You Trolls" is to first get a proper job and help build your nation instead of just creating brouhaha over everything that seems remotely in opposition to your opinion and perception of things. And if for some strong reasons you have a craving for creating a ruckus everywhere, go take it all out on the streets.Let your so called " Anti- Nationals" live at peace on the social media at the least if you can't tolerate them on the streets.LET PEACE PREVAIL...
                     

THE AAM ADMI ENDEAVOUR

                      The Aam Admi party is all set for their parliamentary elections debut slated to be held in a few months from now after being catapulted from street agitations straight to the Delhi cabinet. The unexpected results in Delhi have forced the conventional parties back to brainstorming sessions. The results have left most political pundits dumbfounded. The reason that most pundits failed to or rather chose not to consider is simple. AAP is intrinsically different from all other conventional political parties (Barring of course the Loksatta) with the party having being founded on the planks anti corruption and transparency.

                         With radical, unconventional, innovative and inclusive methods of street campaigning in the age of extravagant “Million bucks Flamboyant Rallies” AAP is seeming to strike the right chord among the masses by being austere and people friendly. From rigorous door to door campaigns to “Jharu chalao yatras” to “Call Delhi campaign” have provided the party the necessary people connect and base.  In times of unbridled rampant corruption, crony capitalism, politico-mafia nexus, stashed Black money, embezzlement and siphoning off of welfare funds, arrogance of the political class, police terrorism, muscle power, inefficient system, vote bankism, riots, communal politics AAP has maintained a position of  a political maverick. This has earned them a core following as this rookie party offers solutions to end the dirty and unholy practices in politics.

                          The people of this country have off late realized that the Corruption is responsible for most of the ills that plagues the country. Corruption has implications on every class of the society and practically in every field. The citizens of this country  grapple with it each passing day. Thus there is an urgent need for a strong anti corruption ombudsman. The citizen of this country is disenchanted with the present situation of despair and is highly cynical of the incumbent political class.  As AAP was born out of the Lokpal movement (Which pitched for a strong anti corruption ombudsman) and vows to bring about a change, the party has its appeal among all the classes of society in the urban areas. The mood among the urban voter is restive. They are relentlessly in search of scrupulous politicians to take the center stage in the politics. With having vowed not to give tickets to people with criminal background and offering people a more transparent and democratic candidate selection process within the party, AAP is an obvious choice.

                       The issue of lack basic amenities affecting the people directly or indirectly is one of the main reasons behind the party’s grass root connect with the masses in Delhi. The party has tried to forge the aspirations of the middle class and the imaginations of the working class into a single mould in their agenda. The idea of direct and participatory democracy is another great aspect of their ideology. This idea proposes to bring the participation of people in governance and development rather than them being mere spectators of their fate getting decided by a coterie of handful of people. In a way this idea may also help to bring more accountability in the system towards the people and bring in another set of checks and balances. So such ideologies helps AAP to further bolster their people connect. The party’s emphasis on issue and development based politics will go a long way in forging unity in a country where identity, religion, caste and language based politics still pervades the popular political culture. This gives the party an edge over the conventional political parties. Moreover AAP has over one year since its inception has always maintained a liberal and humanitarian stand on various issues without worrying about the conservative opinion (As India is largely a conservative society so conservative votes forms a large vote bank). This liberal stand has earned them popularity among the liberal, intellectual and informed classes.

                       Notwithstanding all the points stated above, to have a popular appeal in the rural hinterland of the country will be a herculean task for the rookie party. The urban voter is well informed, has exposure to the media and is not much affected by caste and creed biases. The rural turf is plagued by muscle power, caste and creed bias, widespread destitution, illiteracy, lack of education and awareness. Also most of the rural India has no access to the media. So there may be many places in rural India where the masses are unaware of such a party. Moreover various issues of corruption may seem irrelevant to them due to lack of any awareness and education. So to bring about a popular sentiment in favor of AAP would require prolonged and relentless awareness campaigns for a few years.

                         Adding to this are other problems in context of rural India. Often political vendetta takes a violent turn in areas dominated by muscle power. Fielding candidates against powerful politicians of that area invites antagonism from them. This sometimes results in life threatening situations for the candidates. In such a situation to find candidates who would dare to stand against those “Dabang Politicians” would also be an uphill task. Also in such areas the voters who vote against the powerful politicians live in a constant fear of being persecuted. So efforts will also have to be made to counter such practices in rural areas.

                     Nevertheless the foray of “Aam Admi” into the political mainstream augurs well for our democracy. And with the dogged determination of its National convener, AAP in the years to come may being about a paradigm shift in the political roadmap of this country. Above all the AAP endeavor may put the “Mango Man” back into the political firmament of this great Nation.  

INDIA'S LAST HOPES:

 The Indian Politics has truly become a power grab game, where one party does everything in its capacity be it legal or illegal, ethical or unethical First to Grab Power and then when in power to Exhaust the Nation of  its wealth by engaging in more corruption In order to keep Itself in Power. Plus the Infamous "VOTE BANK POLITICS". And when I say Vote bank politics it includes the communal politics played by the BJP and the so called secular politics played by the congress, the samajwadi, the BSP and others. The minorities have become pawn in the hands of these parties. One has made a vote bank by using them, and the other has done it by instigating the majority against the minorities. What this has  evidently done, is to Divide people of this country as the vote bank politicos don't speak for the people of this country as a whole, they speak for their Vote banks. This should alarm us as the direct or indirect implications of this style of politics will be the vulcanization of our society. This style of polity is even worse than the separatist movements and terrorism in regards to the damage done to the Nation as these two can be the byproducts of Vote bank politics. We are no better than our neighbor Pakistan when it comes to power grab politics. The difference lies in the methods adopted. While in the case of Pakistan its "THE GUN" that does it, where as in India the politicians have evolved themselves more potent and effective weapons namely "VOTE BANK" and "MOOLAH POWER".

                              Considering all these puts me into a dilemma. That I think most of my fellow citizens share. Whom do I vote for in the coming elections??I m really worried. With the BJP trying to project Modi as Prime Ministerial Candidate, given the communal record that he has, Its dangerous for the secular ethos of our country to bring a man like him to the most important executive position in the country. Given the fact that he is lobbied by the Radical, Extremist Sadhus who demand construction of Ram Mandir makes him even more DANGEROUS for us to choose as Secularism(one of the main principles of The Idea Of India) would suffer.

                           On the other Hand is Congress .The Party that once Defined India has now decided that party funds and personal greed and gains for its ministers and allies are more important than The IDEA of India which was postulated by the same party. Hardly any week passes without A Breaking News Entitled some kind of SCAM OR SOME GATE.

                         The Third alternative is the coalition of regional parties which is unlikely to be successful as consensus among them is difficult to achieve with each regional party considering their owns regions as priority rather than having a pan India Outlook.. Such a government is difficult to last. Even if it lasts the decision making in such a government is difficult. Also this alternative may give rise to even more corruption given the fact of eroded credibility of regional parties and the rampant corruption at the state level that these parties engage in.

                         Last but not the least WE have Our Hope: The Aam Admi Party. This is the only party in Resonance with the Idea of India that our Constitution Upholds. This is the only party which has intellectuals, social activists, professors, students in contrast to The Goons, The bhaiyas, The Bhais and The Dynasty which comprise the politics of today. And the style of politics which i would call “Lokneeti” instead of the usual word “Rajneeti” that the Aam Admi party along with parties like Loksatta part in Andhra Pradesh proposes to practice is our only hope. Delhi elections might prove their litmus test. But practically it’s quite early to predict the emergence of AAP as a party which would assume power in the forth coming Lok sabha elections 2014.It may emerge as one of the well represented parties in the parliament which may prove to be the stepping stone them for a majority in Lok sabha elections 2019.

                      So let’s hope that the eroded values in the Indian Political scene be restored by the emergence of the new wave of politics of Lokneeti so that we can deal with the social problems, the human development, the poverty, the economy, the infrastructure, basic amenities etc. so that we lead our country into making AN INDIA THAT OUR FOUNDING FATHERS DREAMT OF.AN INDIA WHICH SHINES IN EVERY ASPECT, AN INDIA:

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls

Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom

(Dr. Rabindranath Tagore)

INTROSPECT

"WE WANT TEN HEADS FOR ONE"..Is this a responsible statement to make on National Television on the part of The Leader Of Opposition Of the World's Largest Democracy?Have capitalizing on the public anger and using that to gain political mileage become a trade mark of the Great Indian Political Class,even if it results in Jingoism?Why to blame only the political class,when even The media (not inclusive of the whole media but a portion of it) continues to monger war and advocates breaking even the cultural and sporting ties with our Neighbor.
      The Political class of our country rests primarily on vote bank and political opportunism and it has less to do with the cause of people which each party tries to portray to be dealing with.So we can Hardly expect from them.But shouldn't Politicians realize their onus towards the society as well as the country before making public statements? Is it expected from a person of the stature of  Ms. Shushma Swaraj to issue statements which encourage feelings like "Eye for an Eye"? At the time when we are concerned about  sensitizing the police don't we expect a sensitive and responsible response and remarks from our political class?
      Now Consider the Media.Large portion of the media(Especially the Electronic Media) again, focuses on the popular public mood.Many channels for instance have adopted a jingoist approach into the current issue of ceasefire violations,which probably helps them to boost up their TRP ratings.Rather than conducting a ground investigation and having a neutral stand on the issue,they spend all of their energies in finding the subtext of the statement of our Army generals and politicians and later interpreting it to the people in a way which keeps the sensational quotient High.Shouldn't The media concentrate on presenting and unraveling the Real truth and address real issues instead of indulging in sensationalism and War Mongering? 
     But the point to acknowledge is That the political class and the media are part of the same society we live in.So Its time to Introspect : Have we as a society become so self obsessed with our vested interests that we refuse to consider our responsibility towards the society and the nation as a whole?IT SEEMS THAT WE HAVE.