Parliamentary Election - Some Pointers
The parliamentary election to be held in the months of April & May is important for the citizens of the country to rise up to the occasion and cast their votes since it is only by exercising the fundamental duty of the citizen could he/she claim his/her right in the country.
This is a very important election which would have lots of impact on the country both within the states and beyond. Since we don’t have the power to see what the future will be and who would form the government, we could only pray that the citizens choose who they think the right person is.
There is no doubt that democracy is one of the most precious gifts of modernity. It is because of the principles of democracy, the citizens have the right to choose who should rule them. At the same time the candidates who pursue to become their rulers have the right to pursue the citizens to vote for them. It seems that there is a fair deal of democratic negotiations before the elections. But these days the discussions have become simple rhetorics mixed with lies. People have mastered the art of rhetoric to make them believe what they say is true rather than what the truth is. Rhetoric in fact is a threat to democracy.
Candidates have started using catchy phrases and statements. We are easily caught by these tag-lines. It is then the duty of the hearers to find out the truth. Would you believe if I attach here a photo of myself standing in the Moon? You would certainly know that I have morphed the photo. Instead, imagine that I post here my photo taken in front of Taj Mahal; you would start believing that I had gone to Agra to visit Taj Mahal. But the truth is that I have not gone to Agra so far in my life. But I can very easily make you believe that the second photo is true since you would not go deeper to analyse the authenticity of the photo. Even if somebody says that the photo in Agra is a morphed one, some of you would still believe that photo to be true and the critics speak out of jealousy.
In the election time we will have lots of morphed speeches, morphed images and morphed statistics like my morphed photo of Agra. Unless you take extra efforts to know and understand who says what and what the truth is, you will never know the falsity of the statements they utter.
Some might argue that only now our country has developed after independence as though people had not been eating so far. Some might claim that the country had never been significantly known well in the international arena for the past 60 years. Some might still argue that there were no Abdul Kalams so far in the country and only now we have come to know about rockets. The election campaign does not seem to rest on what has been done in the past four years – it simply rests on what they say has been done in the past four years. It is one thing to say that the country has developed and it is another thing to say that the government says that the country has developed. Statistics claim that demonetization has not served its purpose at all. However the government is making contrary claims.
The media are supposed to be the guardian of truth and they should take the place of the opposition party. However things have changed in the past four years. Every press and television seems to simply echo the voice of the government and missing the critical eyes. There may be a reason for this.
One should know that the present government has spent almost 4880 CRORES on advertisements alone from 2014 to May 2018. Roughly it has been spending 1200 crores per annum for the advertisements. If the calculations are correct, in the past five years the government must have spent 6000 crores on advertisement alone. Why should the media speak against the government when it creates regular income for them. It seems then the duty of the citizens not to be carried away by what they see in the media but should try to understand the matter using their rational debates and looking for the truth of what is being said.
Candidates may try everything possible to capture the attention of the citizens. Recently a minister prostrated at the feet of the mother a solder - respect shown to the soldier! Our prime minister washed the feet of the sanitation workers. There is nothing wrong in symbolically showing their respects for the soldiers and workers. But what is important to know is that when thousands of farmers were in Delhi wanting to see the prime minister, he did not have time to meet them. We know that it is the country of the farmers. We might well be easily be deceived by these symbolic gestures forgetting what had happened in the past. I think that the citizens have to become aware of this.
There are more hatred speeches in the country now. A leader in Tamil Nadu openly said that they would not support a muslim or a christian candidate even if they are official candidates of the alliances with BJP. Leaders of these sorts are anti-nationals. There was no media which condemned it. There were no actions taken against him - neither the state nor the election commission. If this sort of voice is raised what will happen in the country tomorrow. Imagine that one wants to fly, will he has to check the Athar Card of the pilot and make sure that he is neither a Christian not a muslim. Imagine if this is extended to language and other areas of life in India.
Well. How should we respond to these sorts of speeches when the whole media is silent. Should we oppose them? Should we take a protest rally? If we probably respond to the hatred speeches of these minority extremists, then the whole media will project us to be working on religious grounds. The best thing now would be to engage in as much rational debates as possible and to discuss with people of good will on facts and figures. We need more people who can expose the rhetorics and morphing in politics. It is time that everyone becomes the media who can question the popular, corporate and advertising media. Only then could we be truly able to exercise our rights as citizens of this country.
There is a new tag-line which is becoming very famous or made famous - chowkidar, which means watchman or gate keeper. Let this be their slogan. It is true that our leaders have to be our watchmen. Because we, the Indians - hindus, muslims, christians and every citizen belonging to every religion and race - are the Maliks - the owners of this country. The watchmen are supposed to serve their masters, the citizens of the country. If they fail in this duty of being a watchman and behaves as a boss, it is time for every citizen to add the tagline - I am Malik and you are chowkidar. We will have to tell them how they ought to be watchmen. That would be possible if only you cast your vote and if only you think before you cast your vote. By the way, ask this question - how could a chowkidar wear a four lakh suit while the Maliks are wearing only langoti [loincloth]?
Cast your vote - but find out the truth behind the Rhetorics and engage in rational & meaningful debates before you cast your precious vote.
[Written for the voice from the East - V C]
