Engage, India!
We do not have an opposition in Parliament (the quorum to be recognised officially as opposition in the Indian parliament is to have 10% of the total strength of the House — no single party has currently has this).
The parent organization of the country’s ruling party is one of the world’s largest paramilitary organizations.
Though states may protest, Article 256 of the Constitution effectively gives the Centre the right to enact any law they please across the country, without consent of the states. The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019; Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, tailing the abrogation of Article 370, the Ayodhya verdict and the recent handling of incidents of rape based on the privilege of the rapists, is more than just a trailer of what is to come.
If this does not tell us we are no longer a democracy, we’re playing deaf.
If this does not reveal the beginnings of a holocaust, we’re acting blind.
If this does not make us act towards what we wish to create and live in, we only deserve what will unleash.
Being apolitical is not a luxury we have or deserve now. Engage! In whatever form or manner you can and choose to, engage. Just not as a spectator. Democracy was never a spectator sport. We’re responsible for what we’ve created. We owe it to ourselves and to posterity, to act. Not out of fear or reactivity. But out of connection and responsibility. Not to fix what is not working. But to create a future that works for all.
