Of politicians, hate speeches and elections

An analysis of the kind of language that politicos are using on the eve of General Elections 2014 convinces even a layman in a slum area that politics as a practice has always been the systematic organization of hatreds in India.In stead of an educative and instructive debate and discourse on major national issues like economic programs electoral reforms,eradication of social ills and evils like the Khap panchayats ,poverty alleviation measures ,healthcare and education etc,we are daily fed on a staple of hate and aggressive sloganeering,invectives and innuendos abominable retorts and recriminations, and above all character-crucifixions.The slum grade language used even by the the well educated thinktanks of all parties is not only shocking but also nauseating.Is n’t high time that the Election Commission effected some strict norms and laid down preventive and punitive measures and warned the contesting candidates not to cross the lines of decorum and decency in their electoral battles.

A few years ago,Rajiv Gandhi dared to traduce the eminent but irascible jurist Ram Jetmalani as ‘a barking dog’ to which the resourceful jurist retorted that’dogs bark at thieves’.Mrs Sonia Gandhi also lost her cool when she described the venerable Vajpayee as ‘a gaddar(traitor).George Fernandes a stormy petrel in Indian politics ,while campaigning in Bellary for Sushma Swaraj in 1999 elections said that Sonia Gandhi had contributed little to the country except’marrying Rajiv Gandhi and producing two children’.’Isn’t it a highly motivated personal attack with out a modicum of decency?Togadia ,a self-styled guardian of Hindu culture and traditions even stooped lower when he ridiculed AntoniaMaino Gandhi as a’barking dog from Italy.Gadkari,former president of the BJP was also so fond of the canine images in his speeches that he lambasted LaluPrasad Yadav andM ulayam Singh them as’dogs’ of SoniaGandhi.He went farther than others of his party in blasting Diggy Raja as ‘Aurangzeeb ki aulad and terming Afzal Guru as the Congress’s son-in-law.Manish Tiwari ,an embodiment of diffidence on the eve of elections at present,could not digest the nationwide popularity of the crusadeof the AnnaTeam against corruption a couple of years ago and in an attempt to curry favour with the High Command of his party even went to the extent of calling the AnnaTeam ‘armchair fascists closet anarchists,and overground Maoists.’An SP leader demeaned not only himself but the entire tribe of politicians of India by devaluing Narendra Modi ,priministerial candidate of the BJP as’a mere tea seller and as such without a national perspective.He was obviously ignorant of the humble origins of the most eminent leaders of India like Dr Ambedkar,Lal Bahadur Sastry Abdul kalaam etal.The Election Commission also slapped notice on Narendra Modi over his ‘Khooni Panja’and Zalim Panja remark Even the innocuous looking Kejriwal who called the entire political system putrid and corrupt beyond redemption except by himself was described by Modi as an agent of Pakistan and AK-49.’’Kyar PM ke daawedar Ko Ye bhasa’use’ Karna Shoba data hai?-was his response to the situation around.The hate speeches even acquired alarming proportions when the LokSabha Congress candidate from Saharanpur ImranMasood threatened the Priministerial candidate Narendra Modi to ‘chop’ him ‘into pieces’.’The intemperate remark led to uproarious protests all over the nation since Modi is already the the target of terrorists across the country.It is also shocking that a desperate congress leader questioned Modi’s parentage and marital status .Not to lag behind is a Karnataka BJP chief who referred to ManMohan Singh as a eunuch.In one of his seminal essays,George Orwell comments that corrupt politics and corrupt language are inextricably linked.Is it not true of Indian politicians and the indecorous and inelegant speeches they spew?

Charles De Gaulle said long ago that ‘politics is too serious a matter to be left to politicians.The Election Commission should step in and see that communal passions are not reignited in national interest and polarization of votes doesn’t take place.