Alarming identity politics

Even Central Ministers have wondered whether eating practices should be questioned or guided by administrations and governments.

Shiv Sena, a not so trusted ally of the BJP in the NDA, has already accused the Jains of indulging in religious games while opposing the ban. The dangers of politics of appeasement are well-known. Such moves dictated by local political considerations with an eye on the Jain vote bank could lead to greater disenchantment among the population

Have you noticed that in the recent times the airways are only growing thick with metaphors? There is a good sprinkling of metanoia too, where the explicit overrides the implicit. The connotation, however, is the same in the usage of both. The seemingly innocuous statements delivered and the accompanied moves have sent enough alarm bells ringing for even the pluralists and not just the secularists of all shades.

The role of the dominant groups, other than that of those in the government, whom even the pluralists accept, has become appalling. Identity politics are permeating all boundaries. From the latest ban on eating practices of the majority of population in this country, to suspension of license or registration of Setalvad's Trust to the meddling in the Nehru Memorial Centre's affairs to the FTII mess to RSS suggestions to the HRD to give a booster dose to the nationalistic education....something unfair is going on.

The language of the leaders, both in power and out of it, injects into us a sense of unease at the portends. The bit players are only adding to the confusion. Take for example the case of Punjab government which now hikes the pensions for the Bluestar deserters and their widows.

First things first. Should there be a meat sale ban in a city or State during a particular festival period? The question here is not about whether non-vegetarianism is good or not? The larger question is whether one should suffer because the other does not believe in it? If someone extends the logic, say, to a ridiculous extent of imposing his other practices on those who cannot concur? What if somebody says "look, I am fasting..for the next forty days. So please stop cooking at your homes?" Nonsense it is. Is not it so? Habits are a result of compulsions more than any.

The Bombay High Court wondered whether it was feasible to ban meat sale in a city like Mumbai looking into case of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's ban on meat sale for four days (September 10, 13, 17 and 18). These four days are auspicious days for the Jains as they observe "Paryushan Parv" - a holy period.

Losing no time, the Rajasthan government banned the sale of meat and fish on September 17, 18 and 27 on account of festivals, including that of Jains. In Ahmedabad, the city's police commissioner issued a public notification banning slaughter of cattle for a week during the "Paryushan" period.

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court's directive to enforce an 83-year-old ban on cow-slaughter also has the potential to ignite a mass protest. I can vouch for the fact that a majority of the Muslims in Kashmir particularly, prefer mutton to beef and usually avoid the same during the Hindu festival periods. The ban is based on a 1932 ruling document under Section 298-A and 298-B of the Ranbir Panel Code (RPC) during the erstwhile Maharaja's times. In an era of heightened sensitivities, should one be doing so?

All these cases will end up in litigation across the country, no doubt. What about the acrimony the exercise leaves behind? Even Central Ministers have wondered whether the eating practices should be questioned or guided by the administrations and governments. Shiv Sena, a not so trusted ally of the BJP in the NDA, has already accused the Jains of indulging in religious games while opposing the ban.

The dangers of politics of appeasement are well known. Such moves dictated by the local political considerations with an eye on the Jain vote bank could lead to greater disenchantment among the population. These are not isolated incidents. On the contrary, the deliberate moves speak of a sense of urgency inherent to the grandiose design of shaping a certain destiny. The desire to make Yoga universal also smacked of similar tendency.

Various forms of yoga exist in the country and abroad, yet, a particular form was chosen to which some sections have a strong objection. Throw in an element of suspicion here, it is bound to become a controversy. For those who want to thrive on controversies - this breed is growing nowadays – the opportunity was godsend. In India it ended not as promotion of Yoga but as promotion of an individual.

Not just these. We also have been subjected to some unwarranted not-so-sanguine intellectual exercises of some Netas in the recent past on various issues ranging from personal preferences to serious crimes. The majority (among the population) has been repeatedly told that they should raise bigger families to subjugate the numbers of others. When the national population registry got revised, we didn't find any Indians among them, except for Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, etc.

Besides, there are several Senas and their Senanis in this country, who get livid when they see a particular community girl talking or walking with an unwanted person and hence, seek to thrash them in public. The raison d'etre is that such gullible Hindu girls are trapped only to get them converted. Even what starts as a seek-reservation movement, turns into an anti-reservation movement only to end up finally as a movement to "protect the Hindu girls from the clutches of enemies".

Greenpeace is not welcome here. Teesta Setalwad must suffer for opposing the powerful. The Dabholkars', Pansares' and Kalburgis get eliminated. The message is one and the same. Rationalists have always faced problems in any society. Intellectuals like Mahatma Jyotiba Phule faced problems because of his Satyashodhak Samaj. Scientists too, for that matter, suffered a lot for their differing views. Could there be a single perception among us as to which is the best practice or best belief.

The killings of civil rights activists have been going on under every government. Additionally now the names of the RTI activists are being added to the crime numbers in police stations. Elimination of political opponents, of course, has been the practice throughout the world all through the history. I am not getting into it.

It is through conflict of ideas that the human society has grown. It is another issue whether the Congress was right in attempting to have a patent over the history of modern India, perpetuating the memory of those its high command preferred to. It could always be condemned as ridiculous. It is another issue to see politics being played out in the open in the name of "correcting the course of the history".

Agreed that history is always written by the conquerors and not by the vanquished, hence distortions bound to exist. But is it the only job on hand now to do? Setting the history right? Don't we have better things to do with so many problems confronting the country? The leitmotif of politics should be governance, not culture, religion or history.

Those should be left to the societies. There should be only one larger agenda for the governments – development, security and peace. For now, logic in the play of nonsense being exhibited seems deliberately planned and precise.Drawing out a leviathan with a hook may not be possible, but, the monster of intolerance could easily be aroused to become an all-consuming fire of hatred. Majority fundamentalism is far more dangerous to the country.