Caught in a semantic dung
Believe it or not, all ideologies are similar but some are more similar than the others. If one digs deeper into those who swear by their political leaning, it’s quite obvious how none of the ideologues are immune to human frailties like hypocrisy, superiority complex, biased thought process and excessive pride in their respective icons. If this sounds disappointing, the gap between actions (rustic) and words (urbane) are immense, yet, most ideological facets remain eternally lost on commoners. A majority of the followers don’t have the means or the inclination to embark on independent studies of what is supposed to be believed in.
Blind faith is contagious for a reason.
Nevertheless, one can witness these extremes—where words and actions unite — in India almost everyday. Here, we know something is going on but we never know why. Folks who are meant to ask the questions often don’t and those seeking answers end up with conspiracy theories. If you can’t give them the truth, you can’t blame them for creating truths on their own either. The division between the supplier and the provider, nonetheless, stays stainless. Our country is diverse not just in geography or culture but also in its absorption of reality. Nobody can predict anything right here anymore. This must have something to do with what i call the Sanjaya Complex. Like the gifted character from Mahabharata, these so-called experts and armchair candies think they can watch a battle as long as there’s nobody to verify what they saw because they are the only ones who see what they claim to see. The others are practically blind like Dhritarashtra; they can’t invest time and effort in finding out the facts for themselves anyway. In other words, we rely on the media to do the hard work for us. The tragedy being, the T in TRP doesn’t stand for trust.
Speaking of journalism, how tough is it to cross the Rubicon and stick one’s neck out for the public? Seems very tough, actually. This paradox is best exemplified by those who themselves are stuck in an alternate reality and want others to do the same. The finest specimen are those who don’t miss a beat to remind the world that India is poor but somehow overlook that poverty has a different dynamics altogether. Indian Poor, particularly in the Cow Belt, adhere to an agrarian code that the city-dwellers can’t fathom. It’s ludicrous to assume in comfort what discomfort must feel like. The chasm between words and actions is stark naked when we are talking about the cattle class; people who are primarily farmers and depend heavily on the weather as much as their domesticated animals. They are the ones who are singularly in majority, with about 50% of the workforce employed in agriculture today, and they know what’s going on and why. If only anybody bothered to ask them their views!
Take the recurring episodes of gau rakshaks for example. The mainstream media likes to use the word ‘cow-vigilantes’ for the violent pricks who take laws into their own hands. A few of them even have blood on their palms. A terrifying prospect if you check the calendar and note that it’s 2017, not the medieval age. But there’s a more staggering development in place: Why doesn’t the centre or the state issue a statement condemning the gau rakshaks?
This is where the gap between nouns and verbs is prominent. Turns out the whole controversy has become a matter of semantics, not just politics. Putting a blanket condemnation on gau rakshaks would be going against BJP-RSS’s core values. To understand cow vigilantism, before it acquired a bellicose personality , one would have to hitchike to history and check where gau rakshaks hail from.
For a lot of ignoramuses, gau rakshaks are a recent phenomenon. Something that cropped up because of Moditva but that’s far from true. Gau rakshaks have been active since 1920s, immediately after the failed Khilafat Movement, and their agenda used to be simple: Cows need to be taken care of because they are not only one of the defining symbols of Hindu identity but also a basic economic unit. Yes, like hatred, you can’t escape economics anywhere. Farmers can’t do without a milch animal, now, can they?
The gau rakshaks have been around even before we gained independence. In fact, their movement was actively supported by the Congress back then. So much so Gandhi was at the forefront, applauding them for their bovine concerns like feeding stray cows, building gaushalas, etc. His approach to gau rakshaks was how ours would be to those who love and help house lost puppies/homeless dogs on social media.
The problem arose when some self-appointed cow vigilantes started brandishing their zeal to “punish” those who “are going to kill their mothers”—cow being mother, conveniently forgetting that India became the world’s largest beef export on the strength of buffalo, bullocks and ox — and the resulting episodes have not only been embarrassing but also horrific. These individuals are evidently political but they belie the historic fact that gau rakshaks were never organized. There was no need whatsoever in the first place. No, Bhartiya Gau Rakshak Dal (founded in 2012) doesn’t cut it. At best, they are misappropriating an innocent movement for political gains. Groups like these enjoy encouraging youth fervour in order to create an atmosphere of terror.
Again, going back to the initial question, why isn’t the center/state saying all the right things against these few goons? Wouldn’t that solve the problem for them once and for all?
Well… this is where the semantics gets into motion. To those from the Right-Wing clan, condemning gau rakshaks would be tantamount to condemning millions of non-violent gau rakshaks who have nothing to do with the recent reports. To them, putting everyone in one basket would be unfair. Just like the way calling all Muslims terrorists just because some carry out suicidal picnics would be. The curse of generalization, if you may. Hence the restraint to condemn everybody in one blanket statement.
A magnificent dilemma indeed.
Now, let’s move to the bigger question: What is the law and order enforcement agencies doing about the situation? The usual. They are doing the same thing that they always do — act AFTER the incident is reported. So, expecting them to save anyone from getting lynched or stop a mob violence before it’s mediated would be too much to ask for. Our national track record is unsurprisingly pathetic.
Since we started with ideologies, let’s get one thing out of our way. It begins with L and ends with C. Logic doesn’t stand a chance when feelings are involved. No wonder the Right has gau rakshaks while the Left has mao rakshaks. Both are equally blind. And this socioeconomic tumour is a love child of ignorance (thanks to those who want the govt to condemn blindly) and semantics (thanks to the govt as it continues to pretend to care about the cows).
