The distressing times we are forced to live in

These are distressing times because the cow rakshaks are on the rampage. The response has been most sympathetic to the victims, even if the political message being conveyed has been contentiously coloured by those belonging to either side of the spectrum. The liberals got it right in stringing together their multi-city demonstrations on the social media driven, opinion aggregating mode of gathering crowds. No doubt they are a spontaneous assembly of people who feel the gravity of the sad events. And yet in a way they are somewhat Nelson-eyed to other such events that also need to be condemned.

The gathering at Chennai’s “Not in your name’ protests was said to be encouraging while shedding light on the change coming about in generally apathetic city’s emotive response to national events post the Jalikattu Marina phenomenon. The social media has played a big role in this awakening of Chennai even though such events are as selective as other demos of a common hurt at the goings-on. No one in Chennai bothered to condemn the lynching of a police officer in Kashmir, a deed as vile as any in the history of barbarism in India and wall of us know that this is a history that goes back a long way.

What the President said on the subject had far greater depth than the Prime Minister’s condemnation of the excesses of the ‘save the cow’ movement. Pranab Mukherjee has rightly said that these events, if allowed to go on unhindered, will undercut the very basis of the concept of one nation in a country that speaks more than 20 languages and about 200 different dialects, even as it is home to people of seven large religions. The fabric of the sense of togetherness which has kept the country together is what is at risk. Historically, the first to divide us on the basis of religion were the British rulers but then they left 70 years ago.

If partition was the first big cleaving of the country on religious lines, we still managed to cobble together unity for several decades until the second big divisive event came along, which was the destruction of the Babri Masjid. The 25 years since then have not been as peaceful as the country may have been if those Kar Sevaks had not let loose in Ayodhya with even the venerable leaders of the BJP like LK Advani involved in the event, being at the heart of it and directing operations as it were. Suffice it to say that as a country we have not been the same again.

The gau rakshak phenomenon, which the Prime Minister addressed twice in the last two years, has the capacity to eat away at the vitals of what keeps us together. Although this exists only in states north of the Vindhyas, the damage it does to the psyche of the nation is immeasurable. It was, perhaps, not sufficient to say that Mahatma Gandhi would have disapproved, as the PM did in his latest statement against the lynching mob. A year ago, the cow handlers like Dalits were under fire, which means that the phenomenon has hurt not only Hindu-Muslim unity but also inter-caste harmony.

The President’s call to be proactively vigilant and save the basic tenets of the country against irrational mob frenzy that is becoming uncontrollable makes perfect sense. Vigilantism is a cause of the mob frenzy, which is the effect that is destroying the fabric of the community. It was as bad when Kashmiris got together as a mob and lynched the DSP outside a mosque. That went to prove that the mob mentality is no monopoly of any religion. The act was extremely irrational and had to be condemned with the same solidarity everyone is feeling for the victims of the cow protection mobs.

There are political murders taking place in Kerala and in Tamil Nadu where the rightists have been at the receiving end for a while now. It is no justification to say that in the long run the numbers are even in Kerala with as many Marxists dying in this crude war at the grassroots level of politics. The inability of the Tamil Nadu police in catching hold of the offenders in similar political murders, which took place mostly in the western districts around election time, shows up the weaknesses of the system when it comes to being equitable in pursuing the criminals regardless of which religion or group they belong to.

This collective madness of a series of lynching incidents and murders around the country should have us all very concerned about the basic harmony of India. It may be fashionable to bring up one type of lynching while remaining mum on others.

There is no sense of equity in that. It is not a question of Hindu or Muslim, Left or Right, ideologically driven or religiously inspired. The killings must stop. Anyone who does something towards reining in the passions, be it in Kashmir or the Hindi hinterland or in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, would be the leader the country needs the most at this moment in contemporary life.