Hope we must, even though Albert Camus may suggest to abstain from hoping in this revolt called Life.
I had neutral feelings for protestors against CAA gathering all over India. Agreed that women of Shaheen Bagh were making a point. The BJP tried to discard, malign and oppress the voice of dissent and continues to do so. It is using all the institutions at its disposal to push its nationalist agenda.
The world has joined their voice to that of Indian women. The Economist's cover story was titled Intolerant India and talked about the threat that Modi and his party BJP pose a serious threat to India's democratic society. To back this up there were data driven reports which reflected India's slipping ranks in numerous indexes. For example, The Economists' democracy index, in which India slipped by 10 ranks.
International media has reported on the catastrophic state that India's journalism is in today. And the latest news is coming from the European parliament which will table and debate six different resolutions on the Citizenship Amendment Act. The ruling party's IT cell and its leaders have been on work. From discrediting the international media and all reports, the Speaker of India's lower house has now written to the EU Parliament, advising them to not interfere in India's matters.
Then I read this article from Indian Express which is melancholic in its tone and stresses that the protests will die out if they are not organized, without a leader and not centralized. In the past, people have used protests to gain fame and launch their political careers, like Arvind Kejriwal did through the India against Corruption movement. If politicians centralized the Anti-CAA protests, people will once again be rendered voiceless by the shouts of these leaders to be.
But no, if youngsters like Kanhaiya Kumar, Shehla Rashid, Kannan Gopinath or Bhim Chandrashekhar Azad were to become the central voice for these protests, wouldn't it lead to a new party, an actual alternative to the other parties? In fact, they are addressing large rallies all over the country. These protests may eventually lead to some freshness in the clogged dark Indian political system.
Thinking all about how these protests may lead to nothing fruitful in terms of political pressure I felt sad. Today I heard Ravish Kumar's address at Jaipur Literature Festival, where he said these protests are about the citizens claiming back their social space and rejecting the fear and hatred spread by the powers that be. It is about realizing what it means to be an Indian Citizen. He hoped that if we're able to define that identity based on the values promised in our constitution, we will make policemen who will not hurt dissenting students, judges that will deliver impartial judgements, leaders that will contest on issues of development.
And hence, I believe now more than ever, we have to be hopeful that through public discourse we can win back our nation from the ideology of division and hatred. We have to trust in our freedom fighters' aspirations for a free India.
I had neutral feelings for protestors against CAA gathering all over India. Agreed that women of Shaheen Bagh were making a point. The BJP tried to discard, malign and oppress the voice of dissent and continues to do so. It is using all the institutions at its disposal to push its nationalist agenda.
The world has joined their voice to that of Indian women. The Economist's cover story was titled Intolerant India and talked about the threat that Modi and his party BJP pose a serious threat to India's democratic society. To back this up there were data driven reports which reflected India's slipping ranks in numerous indexes. For example, The Economists' democracy index, in which India slipped by 10 ranks.
International media has reported on the catastrophic state that India's journalism is in today. And the latest news is coming from the European parliament which will table and debate six different resolutions on the Citizenship Amendment Act. The ruling party's IT cell and its leaders have been on work. From discrediting the international media and all reports, the Speaker of India's lower house has now written to the EU Parliament, advising them to not interfere in India's matters.
Then I read this article from Indian Express which is melancholic in its tone and stresses that the protests will die out if they are not organized, without a leader and not centralized. In the past, people have used protests to gain fame and launch their political careers, like Arvind Kejriwal did through the India against Corruption movement. If politicians centralized the Anti-CAA protests, people will once again be rendered voiceless by the shouts of these leaders to be.
But no, if youngsters like Kanhaiya Kumar, Shehla Rashid, Kannan Gopinath or Bhim Chandrashekhar Azad were to become the central voice for these protests, wouldn't it lead to a new party, an actual alternative to the other parties? In fact, they are addressing large rallies all over the country. These protests may eventually lead to some freshness in the clogged dark Indian political system.
सभी देशवासियों को गणतंत्र दिवस की हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ। 🙏🙏 70 साल पहले आज के दिन संविधान लागू हुआ था। हमारा संविधान केवल एक लीगल डॉक्युमेन्ट नहीं है, यह एक सपना है, एक सोच है, प्रगतिशील विचारों का एक फ़्रेमवर्क है, जिसको हासिल करने के लिए हमारे पुरखों ने लाखों क़ुर्बानियाँ दी। pic.twitter.com/yXA4rxENmk— Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) January 26, 2020
Thinking all about how these protests may lead to nothing fruitful in terms of political pressure I felt sad. Today I heard Ravish Kumar's address at Jaipur Literature Festival, where he said these protests are about the citizens claiming back their social space and rejecting the fear and hatred spread by the powers that be. It is about realizing what it means to be an Indian Citizen. He hoped that if we're able to define that identity based on the values promised in our constitution, we will make policemen who will not hurt dissenting students, judges that will deliver impartial judgements, leaders that will contest on issues of development.
And hence, I believe now more than ever, we have to be hopeful that through public discourse we can win back our nation from the ideology of division and hatred. We have to trust in our freedom fighters' aspirations for a free India.