JNU: No To Politics but Yes to Dissent
I have been very vocal against politics and strikes in Colleges and Universities across India. Specially when they are being subsidized by the taxpayers. Education and not politics should be mantra in Campus. If education is hampered, it erodes the nation building.
There are a lot of ways to control politics. Student body elections can be abolished. If not, then students getting only Top 1% marks should be allowed to contest student body elections. This will incentivize students to study more, if they want to run for elections. And there are numerous methods by which politics in Colleges can be controlled so that Education stays Supreme.
At the same time, I am also an advocate for dissent at Colleges, if students do not cause physical harm to anyone. What has become of JNU over the years is a mockery of Education. But there is a reason why Police do not enter Colleges and College authorities are the first responders and adjudicator for most issues.
College is a place where most students are developing their identities and gathering their beliefs. College years are the formative years when students search for what they want to be. Students decide what they want to become in life, they decide their political ideology, they decide which economic school of thought they want to follow etc. Students become part of heated debates; dissents etc. to open up their thoughts, get 360 degree view and enhance their understanding in life.
If students at JNU were in touch with sleeper cells or Hafeez Saeed then it is one thing, but the anti-national slogans by students does not mean sedition. They are coming to know of most things that were not known to them. They are understanding the concept of nation, democracy and many are struggling to decide what they believe in. It is an internal upheaval which they are going through. Do I support anti-India slogan. No. But I don’t think it should be sedition for students. To disagree with the Democracy, Constitution and our Nation is also a democratic right. More so for students for whom these are years to explore these concepts.
If there is a proof that students were colluding with terrorists, please take action and put them behind bars. But if it’s a case of slogans and dissent, I would rather say no to police action. Our constitution of which I am great believer, allows us the right not to have faith in it. Not having faith is not akin to committing a crime. Anti-national slogans should not be akin to sedition. Not at least at College Campuses.
Suppressing the peaceful dissent is akin to saying we live in a perfect world with no room for improvement. It’s akin to destroying the space for discourse.
Why I like US Presidential Election Debates
It’s that time of the year again. In US, the primaries are going on to elect respective party nominee for Presidential Election in November. US elect president directly unlike India where MP’s are elected and then they choose a PM from among themselves.
What I like about US system is the Presidential Election Debates. Candidates come together for televised debates. They present their view and are questioned by other candidates. These debates bring out the real inside the candidate. In India we don’t even know what the projected PM really is. They just do election rallies, where they speak one way with no one to question them.
In US Presidential Election Debates, they are brought to shreds. Their policies, beliefs, everything is dissected. They are made to answer what they stand for. This helps people choose a nominee. But what it does most importantly is, take off the masks. Candidates can’t hide behind a well organized media campaign, they are left to defend for themselves.
This election season, which is unique for US in a lot of ways. Frontrunners for both Democrats and Republicans are people who criticize their own party and party men. Unlike earlier, there is a race to project oneself as an outsider. And debates let them do it better.
Debates help admit old mistakes and set the history straight. But for these debates, Republicans would not have accepted that Iraq war was a mistake. They would never have admitted that current ISIS grew out of that mistake. They would never have admitted that country is under 19 trillion dollars of debt. They would never have admitted that American Dream for Americans is dead and need to be revived. Debates helps admit and address.
I have always believed a leader should be a good negotiator. When you are on an international stage, a lot of deals are broken just based on the body language and talks. Here is where the debates are helpful to filter.
Also it’s too much fun to watch elders taking each other for the cleaners.
Gandhi: To be or not to be
Let’s go back to Circa of Aug 1947, when India got Independence. A new republic was born. And there was one man, Mahatma Gandhi around whom the freedom struggle was fought. There has been a debate over the years about Gandhi, what he did and his legacy.
Fortunately I have been brought up with both sides of the spectrum. My Maternal Grandfather (Nanaji) was a freedom fighter who fought alongside Gandhi. My Paternal Grandfather (Dadaji) was a businessman. Both had differing views when it came to Gandhi. Nanaji was a Gandhian in spirit and in practice. He had a big framed photo of Gandhi in his room. He praised Gandhi a lot for what he did for the freedom of the country. “Desh ko ajaadi dilwayi Gandhiji ne”, he often said proudly. He also related me stories as to how the freedom fighters were tortured in jails during British time.
Dadaji had a family business. According to him, life pre and post 1947 was poles apart. He was no fan of Gandhi. No so much for his role in freedom struggle. But what happened post that. Nehru was the damnation which led to destruction of the nation. Steep inflation and rise in crime rate were two things that he saw soon after Independence. “Son, there was a leadership deficit. He made Nehru PM, who had no plan at all. No plan at all”, he told me. Dadaji was not a political person, just a common man. “Ghee, Dal, Atta ka bhaav aasman choo gaya. Chori chakari, aam baat ho gayi. Angrezon ke jamaane mein yeh sab nahin tha. Kya faida hua?”, he often lamented.
They both were good and honorable man who never tried to impress these views on other people. This is what they thought and told to people who came to have a chat. I think both were true in their own regard. Gandhi was a unifier who brought a fractured nation together against British. At the same time, we all know how that freedom withered away with rampant poverty, corruption and breakdown of law of order.
Disclaimer: These are from my childhood memories to the best of my recollection.
How PC culture has destroyed our Culture
Over the years I have struggled with the PC Culture of being Politically Correct in what you say. When I saw politicians doing rampant corruption on the one hand but being praised in media for being PC, I was left puzzled. Discussions were more on what people said, than what they have done. And I never really was comfortable with this.
We have almost become a nation where media and elite hypnotize common people into believing this too. It’s like if you say, “We should not throw trash on roads”, you are a good man. It doesn’t matter if in reality you do throw trash on roads. Just say what is PC.
I think PC culture has destroyed our Culture completely. What PC does is to take you away from reality and not admit that there is a problem. If you don’t admit to a problem, you cannot address it ever. And that is what is happening.
The biggest of the PC was not addressing the rise of extremism. We have become an extremist country in how we think; there is a lot of anger simmering within. For last 20 years, we were too PC to admit to the rise of Islamic extremism. This led to the resentment and have exploded as Hindu fanaticism.
Our being PC has led to what we are saying today. We ignored the rise of extremism in our colleges, in our society; we let in illegal immigrants and were too afraid to admit it was even happening. One thing is very important here, it is mostly the affluent of the society who tends to be PC. And they are ones who are driving the policies.
There is a lot of resentment among common man against PC culture and has led to the regime change in 2014. People want food, jobs, security. PC culture prevents it from happening. Todays corrupt are too PC. They never say a bad thing. They only do bad things. Hence Modi/Kejriwal are berated for using bad words. But people who do bad deeds are celebrated for being PC.
As they say, you cannot fool all the people, all the time. Time for the demise of PC is here.
The Future of Main Stream Media
Last 5 years have been really tough for Main Stream Media (MSM). MSM has always reveled in taking moral high ground and driving their agenda. It got TRP’s by maligning the political class. It fought for the injustice and got public support. “Media Pressure”, it was called. It reaped results and people were happy. In India, advent of AAP was also attributed to the unprecedented media coverage.
This emboldened MSM further and it began to think itself as king maker and agenda setter. However it was able to maintain the veil of neutrality. In reality everyone was driving their own beliefs and policies. Growth of Social Media removed this veil. MSM was found in bed with the same politicians whom it once stood against. People were left aghast.
So where does MSM go from here? Well, as far as I think, globally it has survived by becoming more political. And this should be the case in India too. We will see more and more news channels aligning openly with one or the other political party in lieu of patronage.
We will see political beliefs of media persons coming out in open. They will start flashing it more openly and not under the veil. This is what they have to do. This is what they will do. Social Media has called out their hypocrisy. Currently MSM is in denial and anger more. It is calling people names in return.
Soon we will see the Bargain/Depression stage, which will soon lead to Acceptance of the truth and coming out in open. MSM can survive only by shedding the tag of hypocrisy. The sooner they do the better. MSM will was/is/will be never neutral. Soon it will accept it.
How do Right Wing win when their policies are unpopular?
First of all, to the uninitiated, what is right wing and left wing? Right wing parties are for open economy, no Govt control, no subsidy, no freebies, all private. They believe competition is better for economy. Work hard and get reward. Left wing parties are for equal distribution of wealth. They believe Govt should take control and provide help to the poor. Basic human right to food and shelter. Top 1% should not get all.
If you see Left speaks for the lower strata of economy, which makes the majority as wealth lies in the hands of top 1%. This makes Right wing beliefs unpopular, correct? Only prosperous people should be supporting them. By this logic Right wing parties should never be able to win any democratic election. But as you will see over the years, they do win. How are they able to get popular vote with their unpopular policies?
This question has confounded me too. But as always, there has to be an answer. Below is what I think. Right wing parties can never win a democratic election with their governance and economic policies. So they downplay these policies during elections. All Right (or center-Right), have a secondary poll plank, which they use to win election. It is either Security or God or Morality. Let me give you an example.
In United States, Republicans are the Right wing. Their secondary plank is Fear of Terrorism. They promise to keep the country secure with heavy hand. They stand for anti-abortion and anti-gay (they say it is anti-God). They have been able to drum up support on these issues over the years and have carried out their economic policies easily.
Even in India if you see, BJP, the Right wing, plays Hindutva card (their secondary poll plank), without which it will not be possible for them to win an election. Widespread corruption has also helped them as of now, to drum up support for their economic policies. However it will be tough in the long run.
I am not questioning either Right or Left economic policies here. What my intention is to understand how the Right has withstood the democracy. This has been the case historically. With time the anti-gay and anti-abortion rhetoric will subside. But playing on fear and immigrants will remain.
In last 200 years or so, with the advent of democracy, Right and Left both has started to move towards center. In my opinion they will become identical in due time. BJP’s decision to continue MNREGA and Food Security points to that. Advent of Liberal Donald Trump as frontrunner Republican in US is another classical example.
Good to have the right Enemies
I recently read an article as to how Donald Trump’s rise has been aided by “the right set of enemies” he has. Sounds a bid weird right? Enemies are meant to take a person down, how come they aid in taking him up. Let’s explore.
I would also make a reference to Indian PM Narendra Modi who I feel too attribute his rise to “the right set of enemies” he had. Both are considered strongman right wing personalities. Because of these traits, they have been labeled by their enemies as dictators, anti-minority and what not.
They both have been known to be against radical islamic terrorism, something that people including media don’t want to talk about. They both bad mouthed media at every given opportunity. They promised jobs and development to the nation. They both talked about things which are not part of main stream discourse anymore.
Their enemies were busy berating them on what they say, how they say, their speeches, tone of their sound etc. When a person talks about helping common man and an increasing set of well off people say bad things about him, common man tends to sympathize. This is what has happened with Trump and Modi.
When enemies themselves don’t have public credibility, their words backfire. There is a lot of class resentment with an increasing income inequality. The enemies are part of top tier of wealthy people. Whatever they say people despise. It is like, “This well off person is against someone who is promising us job and security. Sure, he will have some vested interests”. And as always media, which itself is part of top 1%, was called out on hypocrisy.
It’s always good to have right enemies than no having enemies at all.
What is happening at JNU is not education
What is happening at JNU is not education. Students are being exploited for political gains. Students with political ambitions and teachers with an agenda, are destroying this temple of education.
I don’t remember any political activity happening in my college, leave aside such anti-national rallies. I remember once a pro-swadeshi speaker addressed a talk and the organizer students were cautioned soon after that no such things will be tolerated in the college. I was angst then but now I understand the importance of that reprimand.
I think its time to take a stand. What should the colleges stand for in our nation? Should they be the research wagons taking India forward or should they be ring of political slugfest. It saddens me to say that I see no solution to this epidemic. This situation is going to go grave.
Democracy which was meant to bring power to the people, hasn’t served its purpose. Not just in India but across. What it has done is progress such illicit activities by people wanting to gain power for themselves. Let’s not be too naive to fail to see this is all to win elections one way or the other by all and sundry.
Rule of law has become just an after thought amidst all this conundrum. We can only hope this goes away. However I highly suspect that.
Population Explosion: Root cause for intolerance
This is a clear case of looking at the wrong place. Right wing extremist ideology was blamed for intolerance by self proclaimed liberals and leftists. Then these liberals and leftists themselves went overboard and came out as more intolerant. People kept hurling abuses at each other amidst a polarized atmosphere. But what is the real reason?
Well, the reason behind such confrontations is the population explosion. The root cause! Imagine if India had population of say 2-3 crore. Everyone was wealthy with lots of food, good education and what not. Would we have seen such issues? I think No!
People want more attention and larger piece of the pie. Hardly anyone wants to do social service. Everyone has an agenda. There is no other fight other than the fight for more resources.
The biggest act of intolerance people commit is denying food/house/respect to the poor. But since poor have no voice, there is no talk about these intolerance’s. Instead we see people with full stomach crying from their rooftops that no one respects them anymore, no one likes them anymore. People evoking controversial issues on facebook/twitter and then crying wolf when trolled by equally useless full-stomach people.
We are sick and tired of all this. If you want to help, give all your money to poor. And then we can talk. But I know you will not as I for one will not. I am too selfish. I might cry intolerance to get more attention and bigger piece of the pie. And I will be a hypocrite and not admit it. Even the trolls opposing these cry babies are the same. They hate to see others trying to hog limelight and thus berate them.
Mind you they also do nothing for the problems that ails our country. Just sit in an AC room, eating popcorn, on their macbook and tweet tweet tweet, as I am doing right now. And I can tell you why they like it.
Trump and Cartman: The Super Trolls
Those who have seen animation series Southpark would be able to get what I am referring to. I am big fan of Southpark which is a satirical animation series about a bunch of school friends. It is a big time satire on anything and everything. And the most famous of its character’s is Eric Cartman. I just love this guy.
He is the epitome of satire. He has no filters on his mouth. He can insult anyone and everyone at the drop of a hat. He is so witty and so awesome. Best part is he speaks the truth. To some, Eric Cartman is a racist, anti-semetic kind of guy. But in real what he portrays is the ‘not politically correct’ person.
It’s a humorous show and Cartman is super funny. Not unlike Donald Trump. Now I am no one to discuss the politics of Trump. I want to touch the similarity of Cartman and Trump. I love them both for the entertainment they provide.
Cartman also has the Trumptantrum as they are calling it now. In an episode, Cartman fakes verbal Tourette’s and throws such damn good insults on all and sundry. He is a character much before social media came into vogue. But he is the original troll. And Trump is well regarded as the king of trolls.
Not sure which way USA will vote, but my wishes are with Trump, not because of his politics (which I not know much about), but because he personifies my favorite animation character, Cartman.
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