I am a failed citizen of this republic where lynching has become white noise

[dropcap]R[/dropcap]eaching Pune even by the latest of night flights has never been a worry. As a single woman living nearly 50 km away from the airport, I rely on the services of a large union of taxi drivers whose blue taxis are available round the clock. I have engaged the drivers taking me home on several midnight trips in conversation on many topics — from the appropriate education and handling of adolescent offspring to rising prices, or the elections in their union ushering in a new, dynamic committee that would guard their interests better than the old, defunct committee just routed. It helps to have these normal sounding interactions when speeding through a sleeping city. As you race on flyovers poised above homes where fellow Puneites are safely ensconced, you can stave off any fear with the momentary camaraderie you have achieved with the taxi driver.

Which is why my latest ride from the airport, in broad daylight, when I had arrived from Bengaluru accompanied by my son, was so disturbing. I am still recovering from the implications.

I was getting into the blue taxi whose driver was a tilak wearing youth when I noticed the stout lathi tucked into the side, long enough to cover both driver and passenger seats.

“What is this lathi for?” I asked the driver as we drove off. “For meting out instant justice on the roads of Pune?”

I felt completely unsettled by the sight of the tilak and the lathi – a combination that spelt the doom of what I had once upheld about my country

The driver muttered something about not knowing what kinds of “prasang” (context or predicament) one could find oneself in these days. When I expressed scepticism, saying that surely there were enough means to defend oneself without resorting to lathi blows, he began a long and garbled story about how a fellow driver from the union had had his taxi damaged by bike-borne thugs and been unable to defend himself. I resigned myself to a ride where the driver would be out of conversational bounds and my son and I would confine ourselves to speaking softly among ourselves. I felt completely unsettled by the sight of the tilak and the lathi – a combination that spelt the doom of what I had once upheld about my country.

With many such incidents reported in the papers in the last month alone, it is obvious that lynching has become just one of the many features of #NewIndia.

Today’s headlines (and yesterday’s or the day before) confirm the awful presence of the lathi, or the chappal, or belt, and its unrestrained expression in the land of my birth. Five tribal men, who had arrived at a weekly market near Dhule, Maharashtra to beg for a few rupees, were lynched by a mob and their bodies laid out in the gram panchayat office at Rainpada on just one such day. With many such incidents reported in the papers in the last month alone, it is obvious that lynching has become just one of the many features of #NewIndia.

But surely, mob violence has been a crime forever. What has prevented state governments from acting against it so far? How have we reached a state where a mob drags the still alive victim of violence under police protection in Hapur, UP?

For now, the Supreme Court hearing a batch of petitions seeking its directions for curbing the violence by cow vigilantes has stated that mob violence is a crime and respective state governments should crack down on it. But surely, mob violence has been a crime forever. What has prevented state governments from acting against it so far? How have we reached a state where a mob drags the still alive victim of violence under police protection in Hapur, UP?

Mob drags the still alive victim of violence under police protection in Hapur, UP | Source: Twitter

 

Since 2014, many of us have abetted those who profit from hate by becoming un-protesting consumers of 24/7 hatemongering. Did we really think enjoying our dinner to a constant clamour of shouting and exchange of vituperation on TV was going to have the sweetest of results?

To me, this cannot be ascribed to the electoral victory of the rabid right wing alone. It represents for me a failure of citizenship by the most empowered and privileged citizenry. As citizens of India who have benefited the most in terms of education and the privileges of class and caste, we have remained silent in the face of mounting instances of social and economic injustice. Worse, since 2014, many of us have abetted those who profit from hate by becoming un-protesting consumers of 24/7 hatemongering. Did we really think enjoying our dinner to a constant clamour of shouting and exchange of vituperation on TV was going to have the sweetest of results?

“Be fiercely competitive” is often the only mantra many young officers have known, other than inherited prejudices against the poor, or the beneficiaries of reservation

We fail as citizens when we emphasise the UPSC exams as arenas of competition, untouched by a drop of compassion. Is it so important for our children to think of the IAS, IPS in competitive terms alone? What are the responsibilities such services bring? How are the officers in government service supposed to acquit themselves? Does any compassion for their less advantaged fellow citizens even enter the picture? Parents pushing their children to enter the civil services usually entrust the entire job of explaining their Constitutional duties to their children to the Mussoorie academy. “Be fiercely competitive” is often the only mantra many young officers have known, other than inherited prejudices against the poor, or the beneficiaries of reservation. A career played out against such a background does not raise any eyebrows when it fails to distinguish itself by a single decision taken pro-actively for the common good.

We fail as citizens when we fight harder for Residents Welfare Association rights to exclude and evict than for Constitutional rights for us and our fellow citizens. We fail when we have stayed unbothered by atrocities on any group or individual in our society, by mere reason of their wearing a different label than the one we call our own. It is years of such conduct that has led to a situation today when the worst cruelty or barbarism is never condemned in universal terms. Instead, each such incident is countered by “But what about…?” queries that are often meaningless and out of context.

Not caring a jot for our history and its icons is another failure of our citizenship. We have not protested sufficiently, or corrected by word or deed, the false claims made about our rulers and people’s struggles, or the appropriation of Mahatma Gandhi, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Sardar Patel, Ram Manohar Lohia and others by those who represent the complete opposite of what they stood for.

It is about the bankrolling of hate-mongering political parties by the business class, unmindful of the fact that business, to grow, must have social harmony and peace as a given

Our failure as empowered citizens has never been as visible as the manner in which we perceive the economics of “development”. This is not so much about the perception of the good and bad aspects of demonetisation. It is about the bankrolling of hate-mongering political parties by the business class, unmindful of the fact that business, to grow, must have social harmony and peace as a given. It is about the salaried class crying about “tax-payers money” being used for the poor, while staying silent about it being used for endless advertising to puff up the achievements of a non-performing government. It is also about such “tax-payers” feigning complete ignorance about how the struggling daily earners of the “unorganized sector” who receive zero facilities from the government contribute to our economy and national wealth.

It appears as if the repeated reference to such poor self-employed people by our present rulers (even as they facilitate their cronies with largesse from publicly-owned banks) has underlined the self-righteous and utterly misplaced anger against the poor among the better off

The recent discourse, initiated by our PM, about pakode walas has achieved much traction among those who are privileged. I had a family member say to me that pakode walas earned more than engineers in his office and did not even pay tax. I was rendered speechless at a 55-year-old man who could not see even now, how a man setting up shop on a pavement had lived a life vastly different from his own, and deserved help rather than condemnation. It appears as if the repeated reference to such poor self-employed people by our present rulers (even as they facilitate their cronies with largesse from publicly-owned banks) has underlined the self-righteous and utterly misplaced anger against the poor among the better off.

I am a failed citizen of this republic where lynching has become white noise, and life goes on as usual

So, as it becomes clear that even in a city like Pune, a young tilak wearing taxi driver is fully armed with a lathi to become a member of a mob within a few seconds of receiving a WhatsApp message, I stay home. And where could I go, if I left? After all, as a failed citizen, I am also a part of unspeakable evil having become a staple ingredient of my life today. I am a failed citizen of this republic where lynching has become white noise, and life goes on as usual.