Life is beautiful: BEING OPINIONATED

Life is beautiful: BEING OPINIONATED: Of late there has been much brouhaha about “growing intolerance” in the country. Actions reactions and what not!! Being opinionated is one...

BEING OPINIONATED

Of late there has been much brouhaha about “growing intolerance” in the country. Actions reactions and what not!! Being opinionated is one thing and being partisan is another and being a partisan celebrity wielding BIG, POWERFUL words/phrases such as “intolerance,” “not being secular,” “worst crime as a patriot,” “growing despondency” openly in the public is seriously an act of irresponsible citizenship!!!!

Our constitution provides for the freedom of speech but it also warns us to use it prudently and not to ignite disharmony amongst the masses. Having said that, I must say that both the sides - Amir Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and the like, and  Yogi Adityanath  and the rest, both are contributing to the confusion, disturbance, furore, brouhaha, anger  and angst amongst the masses.

By saying this I do not imply that people should not speak up about the problems in one’s own country, or that speaking about insecurities in public should be banned. However some things should be taken into consideration: One word coming from the mouth of a celebrity is taken very seriously by the masses, the biggest example is companies minting money just by getting a celebrity for endorsing their brand!!! People buy Boroplus thinking that they will look like Kareena Kapoor and Amitabh Bachhan!!! And one of the reasons why India could dexterously eradicate Polio was because Amitabh Bachhan in his characteristic baritone showed them the way. So a person in such a position should be careful while speaking in public and not hurl words which would make the entire nation upset.

Moreover, a celebrity living ostentatiously, having securities hovering around them 24x7 claiming in public that his wife feels insecure because of some untoward happenings is something which is not true, and they themselves know while making such statements that this would be sensationalized beyond limits!!! And then they start ranting about the sensationalism, which they invited and wanted so badly!!!

Many people have argued that what Amir and SRK did was just a way of discussing and voicing out the current situation in India and their fears. Just like we too do when we are frustrated or disappointed about something, isn’t it? Oh yes, that is true. Just the other day I was complaining about the bad roads in Kolkata and the government which is doing nothing about it and the Bengalis who are tolerant about everything. But the fact is neither have I called a press conference to voice that out and create a ruckus, nor will people react to what I say being a commoner that I am.

What do they expect they hurl BIG words generically labeling the entire nation and putting them under one roof and they will escape the wrath, the fury, the questions?? What exactly are these luminaries doing by returning their awards?? What purpose would returning an Award serve?? I am clueless?? What kind of a protest is this?? Do you think people would really care for an award that you have returned or would it actually really matter to the one’s returning the award, if not for the fact that they are being googled at an alarming rate at this juncture and their fame is sky rocketing?? Had it been that they marched for justice, observed the Gandhi way of fasting (though I do not approve of it), even then I would have applauded their efforts as something really caring for the nation and its people. All of these influential people will never do that….they would never leave the confines of their comfortable homes.

The killing of MM Kalburgi and Mohd Ikhlaq is condemnable and action should be taken against the perpetrators of crime. But this kind of mob eccentricities were present and triggered every now and then time and again. Why was there no protest when Taslima Nasrin wrote Dwikhondito she received the same treatment and had to leave India, why were no questions asked when Ram Swaroop’s book Understanding Islam through HADIS was banned owing to furor in the Muslim community and its publisher arrested, why was nothing said when Salman Rushdie’s book had to be banned, and many more, why nothing happened then?

What is SECULAR according to our constitution? The word secular in our constitution is used in sense of the relation between the government and the people and it means equal freedom and equal respect to all religions. India is a secular country and always will be.

INTOLERANCE is a BIG word and it cannot be used generically to define the entire Nation that is India. And just the way SRK had said “MY name is Khan - Khan from the epiglottis and I (We) am not a Terrorist”. Similarly I am an Indian, and just because of the mistake of some rowdies, I (we) are not INTOLERANT. We are a very tolerant mass of people.