They Don’t Talk of Basic Issues

Humra Quraishi

It was just too shocking to hear what BJP’s Anurag Thakur had to say in the Parliament vis-à-vis jaati and his absolutely crude remark in this context, hurled at the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi. During the debate in the House on the Budget, Anurag Thakur, who represents Hamirpur in the Lok Sabha, took a swipe at Mr Gandhi over his caste evoking an instant reaction from the opposition benches.

Today the Right-Wing rulers of the day do not wish to talk or dwell or focus on the severe problems facing the citizens. They seem so busy trying to unleash hatred for the ‘other’ along the Hindu- Muslim strain, that they don’t seem bothered whether the masses, live or die!  

Nah, they can’t see the seriousness of it all, with basic infrastructures giving way, as Nature’s fury is on the rise… unabated the floods and the disasters hitting and killing so many people. They don’t dwell on the rising prices of everyday commodities …rising to such an extent that it’s getting difficult to run the kitchen. They don’t talk of the rising numbers of the unemployed. They do not even acknowledge the fact that corruption has corrupted the education sphere in that dangerous full-fledged way, affecting the future of hundreds and thousands of students. They don’t talk of the rising crime graph. They don’t seem bothered if hate crimes and lynch killings are happening more than often, in the midst of the communal pollution spreading out all around as never before. They don’t seem bothered if hundreds of thousands of people are rendered homeless after bulldozers destroy home after home. This is the plight of the citizens!

It gets obvious that in the midst of this severe crisis cum havoc, all possible ways are being put forth by the Right-Wing to add to the communally tense atmosphere. Today distractions are on, along the Hindu- Muslim strain. Any crisis, big or small, then dragged along are those typical communal ploys to distract and hoodwink the masses. It’s an utterly painful situation. After all, Hindus and Muslims have lived together in this country for centuries. Mind you, co-existed with a certain level of respect and love for each other. Togetherness between communities was intact till about the ’70s; where each community realised the differences and yet lived on par.

Though several of my parents and grandparents’ friends would not eat at our place but they would decline rather too subtly; “aajhamaravrathai/ today we are fasting”. Probably, the non-vegetarian fare cooked in our homes came in a way but it was so gently put through that there was nothing hurtful about it. Refinement or call it sensitivity was still intact, to a great extent.
Today there could be attacks on the food and fruit sellers along the various alibis but we decided to keep away! There could be hundreds and thousands of food bloggers and foodies and food enthusiasts yet not one stands up to voice their disgust at those Right-Wing communal tactics …unsparing even the daily wagers, all those hapless sellers!

Can food and fruit be spread from this Hindu-Muslim thing? I’m reminded of what Sufi Hazrat Nizamuddin said–words along the strain: when our Creator didn’t discriminate between countries and communities and castes and creeds whilst spreading out His bounty–sunshine and trees and fruits and rivers and the air we breathe–then who are we, the fragile human beings, to interfere and throw about those don’ts!

Where are the watchdog groups that could order the communal characters to shut up just there and then, so that they can’t get further, with their communal ploys? Today, it’s getting frightful how television debates take place; shrieks and counter screams, never really focusing on actual issues and genuine concerns of the citizens… Even at the cost of repetitive, let me say only a handful are speaking out…resisting the poisonous unleash spread out by the Right-Wing forces, who seem as though determined to push the already battered shattered communities into some sort of oblivion or towards hopelessness of the worst sorts, where even that basic confidence gets hit.

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Looking back, as a child or even as an adult I wasn’t particularly confident about my knowledge of the various customs and also about the meaning tucked in the various greetings and more along the strain. Though my parents had engaged a maulvi sahib but there were few free- flowing meaningful discussions at home. In fact, I started saying ‘As Salaam Alaikum’ with a certain degree of confidence, only after Khushwant Singh insisted he would greet me with that greeting, after prefixing “Tum kaise Musalmaanho … As-Salaam-Alaikum nahinkahteeho!… This greeting carries such a beautiful meaning–May peace on you.”

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Vol 57, No. 8, Aug 18 - 24, 2024