Those Who Are Asking Khan-Market-Gang To Shut Up, Don’t Understand Why They Speak Out In The First Place

We are against terrorism. Aren’t we? I don’t remember anyone defending Ajmal Kasab. Or for instance Masood Azhar. But now I doubt we were against terrorism then or are now with respect to Azhar for instance. We have just elected ‘Sadhvi’ Pragya Singh Thakur, an accused awaiting trial in the 2008 Malegaon bombings nonetheless with astounding margin. That doesn’t fit into fighting terrorism, does it? There are other things to read from this and previous elections too. By and large, we all despise hate speech and also to an extent hate religious fundamentalism. Remember Zakir Naik? He was hounded and rightly so. But then we have just elected Ananth Kumar; again with a huge margin, yes, a man well-known for hate speeches. And in case we forgot, we have Ajay Mohan Bisht aka Yogi Adityanath, the less talked about him the better. What do these tell us? This doesn’t say much about us hating terrorism or despising hate speech; in fact, it shows us warmly embracing it. Then there are people, not one or two but the large crowd that supports rapist Asaram. I mean, is there anything that we collectively stand against? To me, it appears as if we stand against anything that is wrong only and only when the perpetrator belongs to ‘other’ fold. Otherwise, we find that one loophole and there always is for the diligent mind, to defend our own. For instance, whenever someone mentions Modi and 2002, they are shouted down saying that’s in past and we should move on. But in the same conversation if you ask these bullies why did they then take down a mosque (or support taking down of a mosque) for an alleged demolition of a temple, an event that (?) took place 500 or more years ago, they will forget all the gospels of forgetting the past and moving on.

This election was mostly about Modi. “If not Modi then who” was running theme of many conversations. But why do they support Modi and why do they discard other leaders? All the reasons they provide to discard say Mamata, Rahul, Akhilesh, Mayawati etc stick with Modi as well. For instance, they ran full-blown propaganda in 2014 to portray Rahul as dumb in which they were hugely successful thanks to Rahul anyway but then if one has seen Modi’s News Nation interview, one cannot miss how dumb and incredibly confident of his dumbness Mr Modi is. Add to it, he is confident lier with his accounts of using email and digital cameras in an age where they didn’t even exist. So all the reasons his supporters give of not supporting his rivals do not add up. Why then do they support Modi? What is that he means and stands for and others do not? Think for a while. There are corruption charges on him, then there is him never appointing Lokayukta in Gujarat or Lokpal in centre (two posts that are supposed to look for wrongdoings in respective govt), he’s close to corporates, he has legalized corruption with electoral bonds, there were terror attacks in his time, there was farmer distress, there was the pathetic and Tughlaqi demonetization that devastated economy, killed people and like. The reason people like and support him has nothing to do with what they complain about other leaders. It is something else altogether.

Well, just have a look at the candidates he fielded. Modi is like Indira, this election was fought and won on his persona and charisma by and large. In other terms, if he had fielded any candidate and campaigned for them, they would have won. Then why did he field say a terror accused Sadhvi Pragya Thakur? Or hate-monger Ananth Kumar? The answer is in our face. That is the kind of politics he represents and the kind his supporters cheer him for. To say anything otherwise is running from that fact.

Since Modi won spectacularly, yes his win was spectacular, there is no way of saying it not, I have received messages like “how are you?”, “you need burnol?”, “hope now you will stop crying”, and many others. It is as if because I was and many others were critical of Modi and his government’s actions, policies, the politics they played at large, we are now supposed to shut our mouths. That we are to shut up because Modi won again, that we have to stop because people in large numbers voted for Modi and his party. These people forget why people criticize the government, why some stand up to tyranny, why people speak out without giving much thought about any consequences that they might invite from that speech. They don’t understand that if five people back a murderer and say he did not murder while one says he did, the numbers don’t alter the fact that he killed a person. Truth is the truth, it does not change with numbers and stats. Thousands or millions coming on the street and asserting how the sun will not rise tomorrow will not make the sun stop from rising. The crowd that gathered and shouted when Asaram was taken to court did not prove that Asaram was innocent. He was and is a molester. So to say people should stop now, they should stop calling out wrongs, stop condemning killings of innocent people over rumours and respect ideas from god-knows-what-age, or stop questioning the government over its policies or its orders that put country’s security at risk, or their leaders celebrating killers is plain nonsense. Those who speak, speak out of a deep desire in their hearts to speak, they do not speak because they have others to back them or for any other reason except for the wrongs to stop once and for all. Until that happens, people in the right mind and their hearts in the right places will continue to speak. The only way to stop them is to murder them. Like Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi were murdered. But then again, you stop them from breathing, end their physical self not their ideas or soul. They find their way into others. For instance, sorry to admit this but I didn’t know three of them before they were killed. Not only am I aware of their work and life now but I have also bought their books and have read them. Govind Pansare’s “Shivaji Kon Hota” (it’s been translated into many languages. It’s titled “Who was Shivaji” in English) is great book to know about the great Maratha King Shivaji and how his present day supporters betray his legacy. It will open your eyes to many things that run in Maharashtra and in some parts of India today. Then there is Narendra Dabholkar’s “Timiratun Tejakade” (translated into English as ‘The case for reason’) which is a must read for every Indian to understand how wide the spread of superstition is. I have also learnt about his NGO Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (popular as ANiS) which now has around 310 branches located in rural and urban Maharashtra, Belgaum in Karnataka and Goa. They respond to people’s requests across the length and breadth of state to reveal the science behind magic and miracles, answer them logically, unmask fake babas and swamis and lot more. They have saved so many lives and have helped Maharashtra pass the anti-superstition bill. I have heard so many of Dabjolkar’s speeches and have got hugely impressed and inspired. Soon I intend to pick Kalburgi’s work too. (Readers can suggest if they have read any of his work and would like me to start with anything in particular.) So if you ask me, if I will stop asking justice for their murders, my answer is no. Will I stop questioning right-wing terror organization like Sanatan Sanstha whose members have been linked to these murders along with the killing of fire-brand journalist Gauri Lankesh, hell not. Modi or BJP’s win, will not and should not silence these questions, in fact, those voices that seek justice should only get stronger by each passing day.

No one’s win, however large should be a reason to justify murder and silencing of any voice by force. Should women get entry into temples? Yes. Should ANiS continue their fight against superstition? Yes. Should liberals fight for liberal ideas? Yes. Should you and I continue asking questions of our government? Of course, yes. Women’s right to their body, Dalits right to a respectful life, Muslims right to their country and its resources, citizens right to free speech, labour’s right to right labour, farm distress and farmer suicides, each one and more are all issues that are needed to be raised. Like Manmohan Singh winning the second term did not stop people from questioning his government, Modi winning another term will not stop the questioners too. In fact, if UPA-2 is any example then those questions will only get stronger and louder as days pass.

One last thing, this business of calling names and trying to defame a certain set of people who are at the forefront of resisting any anti-people moves of those in power is getting old and stale now. They were once called urban-elites, Lutyens-gang, jholawalas, leftists, liberandus, and many colourful names. But that didn’t stop them from speaking. Then came a failed director and popularised urban-naxals, he made a film that didn’t run well, he wrote a book that wasn’t sold well, he even made a list of these people he was targeting like in a Nazi Germany. The ‘urban naxals’ came out only stronger and continued to speak out, against him and his ilk. Then came the godi media with its tukde-tukde-gang moniker. Lo and behold, that word gave us Kanhaiya Kumar, Shehla Rashid and Umar Khalid. Comrades that brought down the charade of many close to power and only made the voices against power stronger than before. When everyone and everything fizzled out, came the monarch with pink lotus, shiny cheeks and white hair with his “Khan market gang”. I don’t see that sticking either. With each moniker and derogatory term that is wielded out to silence people into not speaking, people find ways to stand up and speak. Take, for instance, Gurmehar Kaur who was bullied and hounded for advocating peace with Pakistan. She not only came out stronger after a few days but went on to give a TED-talk and write two books! So if you think you will silence people into submissiveness and to kiss those in power, you are absolutely wrong. They never have and they never will.

You see, sometimes it takes a little longer for the truth to make room and register itself. But eventually, it does. It has always has been and it always will.