Everything Else is Immaterial

At the outset let me clarify my political positions – I am a moderate, who leans toward left of centre stances. I do not find myself capable of espousing (for any length of time, at least) positions on the extreme left or extreme right. On the personal front, I guess I would call myself a practicing Hindu, although I zealously guard my skepticism. I believe that religion is a private matter – to be kept locked within ones heart, and, certainly,  actively guarded from interference by the state. When religion gets married to political power, it gets completely vitiated. My belief in the separation of sacred and secular power is driven more by my attachment to religion than my political beliefs, although I am quite aware of the havoc that a theocratic state  can wreak on its citizens.

Enough about me.

I am writing to state one very simple thing. Indians are beginning to lose the very core of their being. A core that welcomed but did not assert, a core that watched but did not waylay, that survived millennia through the philosophy of live and let live. Yes, I recognize the heinous sins committed by the savarnas against the outcastes, and the adivasis, sins that continue to this day. Yes, I recognize the treasures that were lost through the waves of conquest, but I am proud of what we gained through the inter-mixing of different ways of being. The highest aspects of our culture are the product of multiple sensibilities at work, a melding of minds, a joining of hearts.

But today, we have lost something, even though we appear to have gained much. Gained in terms of prestige, of power, and importance. But what we have lost is far greater. For we have lost our grace, more valuable by far than the ransom of a thousand kingdoms. We have forgotten who we were, not just who we were for millennia, but who we were seventy years ago, when an old man with a walking stick in hand, and a toothless smile won the hearts of his oppressors.

Merely stating that we have lost our way is not enough. Today it is important to go beyond general diatribes. Today it is important to get to the root.

And so, here it is. I believe it is extremism that is to blame. It is extremism that led to the death of RSS workers in Kerala, and extremism that killed Gauri Lankesh. But the extremism of the left is limited in scope for their power is limited. The extremism of self-styled jihadis is known and even over-blown. But it is the extremism of the right wing, the sangh parivar, with all its splinters and schisms, all its sanctimonies and vitiations that has our society in its grip. Aided by the anonymity that technology provides, abetted by a media that has sold its soul, and helmed by a silent cult figure whose meteoric rise creates the template for a thousand schisms, the right wing is refashioning India in its strident image. It is a travesty of all that India stands for. And so, the time has come to take a stand. Either we are for India or for  extremism. Either we love our country, or we love our power to destroy a compatriot’s self esteem on social media. Either we love with all our hearts, or we hate with every fibre of our being.

This is a fight for the soul of our country. Everything else is immaterial.