“It’s about our country, not religion. Why a fatwa? ” – this was my mom’s first reaction when I told her about the issuing of the Fatwa against singing Vande-Mataram in schools by a cleric in Hyderabad. And I sure it would be the same reaction of loads of liberal Hindu & Muslim brethren across the world.

After reading Islam – A short History by Karen Armstrong, a cognitive analysis that dwells deep into the basic tenets of Islam, I was convinced that dualisms do exist regarding the interpretation of certain laws and ideals concerning god and ‘its’ worship. Yes, survival and unity were questioned in those dark times and a light was shown towards the one supreme entity, Allah. None were allowed to ask questions and there was no room for ambiguity unlike most other religions concerning to where a follower of a particular faith’s allegiance lay. But land, especially mother-land had more to do with the sense of belonging and love than any religious connotations.

Issuing fatwa against singing praises to motherland may corrupt the basic ideology of “one & only one god” of Islam but considering why such a practice of singing patriotic songs is included in the first place, it justifies itself. Most schools are non-sectarian. Maybe minority or missionary but most are non-religious. In most educational institutions prayers are offered to a universal god and uniforms ensure equality. All religions are respected and upheld in the highest honor. Patriotic songs are encouraged because irrespective of our belief systems our nationality is same for everyone. Why conflict then?

Education, the only path to peace and prosperity, if diluted on the basis of religious sentiments will only lead to more dark times. The people issuing fatwa’s are all scholars. Mufti’s and Clerics, men of the highest faith and honor, well educated and well read. Then why are all these non-issues cropping up?

Hey I believe that to reach a place of prominence in any society or faith, one need’s to be very intelligent and logical. Then how come an issue like patriotic song demeans a religion?

An objective analysis may conclude that it’s just for publicity and a few seconds of fame but considering all that’s happening in the society around me, there seems to be a certain friction among people, brothers, friends and relative alike. Issues, trivial in the beginning are dividing people and raising discontentment among men. Fatwa’s, reservations, double-standards in polity, irrational arguments, lack of common sense when dealing with the issues at hand, the list is endless.

It feels like there is a deep sense of resentment among people against their own brothers and friends. Issues are cropping up from long buried graves to create rift among the populace. There is ‘injustice’ being shouted by some section or the other everyday. For the first time in my life I am having a feeling of insecurity in my own land. It’s all alien to me, these protests, and these policies that clearly are against common man and public will.

Education and development is supposed to make the society a much more tolerant, sensible and proactive place. I don’t get the feeling that its happening any more.

May 19^th was one date I was waiting eagerly for. That would have been the day, when a book that caught the imagination of millions and the first of its kind to get main stream appreciation for a secret that so many speak of in hushed tones, was finally being released for general viewing. I was waiting to watch it because as a normal movie buff, I wanted to see how well a director can handle a well written and a much acclaimed book. Its June 3^rd today and there is still no sight of the movie anywhere in my country.

I feel alienated in my own nation these days. Here is a movie that is written, directed, produced and performed by Catholics, a movie that the pope himself is said to have seen, a movie that is running in Rome as well as in Israel but in Hyderabad its banned. It was banned 12hrs before its release here because the catholic community warned the govt of dire consequences if they approve and release the film. How is it not black mail? And why is the government yielding to this sort black mail?

It’s unfortunate that in a country of 1.2 billion people, the most powerful person is a Christian and following this precedent, the people of AP with its population of 100million have chosen another Christian to lead the state. Now, faith does not matter and it is a personal issue but at some level, where is respect for the people’s trust and mandate here?

I know of a hazar movies in Telugu where gods come down to the earth, drink alcohol, ogle at girls of the earth and there was never a word of protest from anyone here. Its humor and it is taken that way. I have seen instances of Ganesha being a part of witty one-liners but these same ministers never even uttered a word against it. But now, for this movie, there are scores of ministers who are taking a moral high ground and condemning it.

The issue at hand is not this movie but the general state of affairs here. A couple of days back a hard working English Professor from Hyderabad committed suicide and in his farewell note spoke about how this system has cheated him for 40yrs and how he has absolutely no interest in living in a nation that disowned him. He never distinguished between OC and BC students but from the age of 15 this man has been cheated every time because of these reservations. Now if some choose to call it cowardice, please feel free to do so and smirk at him, but the general feeling of most people who have to fight it out fair and square for survival here, are the same as that man’s.

In the last couple of weeks, my girlfriend’s been pissed at me because she believes I am running away from this country. She is angry at me because instead of slugging it out here and trying to contribute something to my nation, I am choosing the easy way out to lead a comfortable life in a foreign land. She is right. I am running away and I am not apologetic about it. I am being fucked here time after time and to the government, I belong to the last tier of the community for whom they care.

I cannot stop my car at a sensitive junction to let someone get off my car on a Friday Afternoon because this may lead to a jam and tempers can fly off. There is police everywhere and I don’t matter because there are protecting communal harmony! Parade Grounds, the largest public grounds in Hyderabad are full every Sunday with mass congregations to covert my own brothers! Do you ever find a guard to as much as regulate parking near temples of the holiest of festival days? Nah, our votes don’t matter so why should these babus waste time and personnel?

It’s frustrating at times to see so much oppression taking place. Some of my best friends follow faiths of their choice and this has never come in the way of our friendship. Never did any of us have any differences based on our faith and I am sure that is the case with millions of people in India. We are proud that we are a nation that has public holidays for celebrating festivals of 4 different faiths. That’s how we are and we are proud of that. But does it mean that the majority are the ones who have to get snubbed all the time?

Gujarat is a contentious issue and I don’t believe in those kinds of radical solutions like ethnic cleansing and stuff. But isn’t it a state’s major responsibility to maintain a sense of equality among the populace? Why should we get screwed because of small interest groups who lack education and survive because of corruption and brutal force? Why should my extended family, which for the first time has come together to enjoy a Saturday at the movies, be robbed of this experience due to personal agendas and vote bank politics?

I am glad am getting away from here. For a while I thought I could make a life out here but there seems no way for me but to “run away”. I am angry all the time these days. Reservations, pseudo secularism, and discrimination among brothers, moral policing, and personal agenda’s… it’s getting crazy. Even the community service initiative is not making me optimistic because every time there is someone or the other who questions my commitment and asks me why a simple problem like child labor and not AIDS or Women’s Right’s or Nature or some other issue? What I don’t get is how the fuck does it matter?

Maybe I am over reacting or maybe I am just taking things too seriously, but I am too pissed these days to even think rationally. And I guess only when I clear things up for myself and accept everything around me like the way it is will I get to be peaceful again. And I am still controlling my urge to look for a print online to download Da Vinci Code.

Something that made me laugh out loud. Excerpt from Rediff:

“The other voice, of the pro-quota protestors, is hardly heard at AIIMS.

When a security officer was asked at the entrance, he said, “Pro-quota medical students and teachers come every afternoon. They shout slogans for an hour and then run away. Woh bichaare sharmaate hain. Log dekhne aate hain to dar ke bhag jaate hain.” (The poor chaps are shy. When people come to look at them, they get scared and run).”

Reality, Bites!

That’s what we have to say. The quota issue is not closed as long as justice is not served to the rightful. And in this case it’s the real people who – are loosing out big time – are RIGHT.

I have immense respect for our honorable Prime Minister and I will listen to everything that he will say on this subject because he himself has been an academician for a long time and I believe no one will understand the pain of students more than a professor. But sir, this is unacceptable. Your formula of increasing the seats is in no way going to have an impact of the true hardworking student.

You have only increased the scope of the problem and have in no way tried to solve it. The present trend of leaving the reserved seats empty will continue in premier institutions as long as there is no viable solution or formula implemented where the economically backward do get an admission to such institutions of high caliber and also provide them with financial assistance to afford whatever expenses are incurred.

At present we, as a part of Hyderabad Community Service, are working with a group of 100 young girls who are bright and who have been rescued from child labor. There are amazing at studies and if given an opportunity and assistance want to become doctors and engineers. Give them reservation. Give them place in government institutions.

Don’t test their knowledge through problems from Resnick & Haliday, give them a chance through the testing that you believe is right for a student who has studied in the circumstances that they have, and test them on the info that they have access to, and then show me if you face a protest.

Taking this issue in a different light – Is there a much deeper essence to this protest being allowed to drag on from so many days apart from what meets the eye. The possibilities can be many. Is the direction in which the public is taking an active part pre-emptive of things to come in the future?

For the first time in my life (I was still a small kid during the Mandal movement), I have seen democracy live and Kicking. Elections were but a routine, but these protests have sparked of a debate that is making an impact which if not killed due to intimidation and brutal force, this might be the single biggest achievement of a collective India in all its modern history.

If not for its policy or reforms, thanks to this one issue, the PM Manmohan Singh’s government has been successful in raising the level of public debate in this country to such a decibel that from now on, it will be difficult for any unpopular decision of the government, to go by the people without a clear mandate. Hats-off guys, you have just succeeded in waking up a dormant force – the force of public demonstrations against biased policy decisions.

But, the issue apart, it’s amazing to see the support these guys are getting right from their faculty to corporate houses. Apparently they now have a war-chest that can sustain this agitation for some time to come. Again, this is an indication that a true cause will never die because of trivial requirements.

In the no-confidence motion that was moved by the BJP in the august of 1998 against the coalition govt of Mr. Gujral, Mr. Mahajan got up to address the lok sabha to present the case for moving the motion. Normally the leader of the opposition delivers the speech but considering the gravity of the situation and the enormity and uncertainty of the task( incase the opposition was to fail to garner the required votes at the last minute), the strategist that Mr. Mahajan was, he took it upon himself to deliver a speech of his life.

I watched it live and I would be lying if I said I remember the whole speech but there is one particular remark of his that I remember even today. And this is the only quote of any politician that I ever remembered because the impression that this young politician created on me was so huge that I felt the need to mould my diction on his. The finest orator in my time, this is what he said in a situation so tense which just goes onto show why someday he would have reached the highest pedestal.

“My friends of the opposition, it is not my style to duck questions and I don’t believe in hitting under the belt. So, here is why I believe we should be handed over the reins of the government fairly, even though we have the mandatory numbers but not the law in our favor, because last month when I was in China on a political visit and I was asked by my counterpart of the Chinese delegation to tell me about the situation of democracy in India.

I had no choice but to tell him the truth, rather shamefully because we claim to be the best and the largest democracy in the world, that we (BJP) are the single largest party in the country and are in the opposition. The second largest party (congress) is outside the government but in. The third largest party (JD = SP+BSP+LEFT+XYZ+ABC) is inside the government but out. The 4^th, 5^th, 6^th and 7^th largest parties (TDP + DMK + PMK + TMC + TC + whatever parties) are the government and they run our country. This is the state of the affairs of the country my friends and there is nothing that I want to add in our defense to introduce the no-confidence motion”. All this and more with probably not more than 10mins of preparation.

Most of you reading this may shrug to say so what. But ppl, if you are as passionate as politics as I am and know what it means to maneuver at that levels (I certainly don’t mean I Do!) I would like to add that this man had the balls to and raise and fight in any given situation and boy was he fearless.

I never voted in my life because I never found a man who could set the bar high enough for me to jump of the wall. I believed this man could. I would have voted for him if he would have been on the ticket. He spoke about the representation of the majority being snubbed that day in 1998 and it still exists even today. Every where and all the time. We could have used this guy!

He’s no more and my search will go on…

Rest in Peace, Pramod Mahajan. Too bad that India could not see you SHINING.