Upon discussions (about failings of the present government) with my friend who happens to support the present dispensation at the central level (as do I), I was pushed back by being advised to be restraint in my criticism. This discussion was going on during a WhatsApp conversation. This naïve medium has often been ruthlessly exploited by cult peddlers, serving as a weapon of mass-disinformation. Learned men argue that the more you interact with people who you disagree with, more refined your arguments get over time, and you accrue more knowledge. On the contrary, such disagreement may also arm individual with “template replies” which are able to shut people off without the need to engage in critical discussion. Think of these template replies as a more sophisticated form of, “if you don’t stop, something bad may happen to you.” Why bother using grey cells in your brain, when you are able to command memory to regurgitate some apt video which would counter what the person is saying. The bane of research and development in India is that we have paid more attention to memory and rote learning than actually engaging in the faculties which would help yield some new insights. But that is a topic for another day.
However,
in this conversation: a video of Mr. Sadhguru was forwarded to me. In this
video Sadhguru laments and says that tea sellers in India have an opinion on how
the PM should conduct policy, and on how Sachin Tendulkar should play, but the reality
is (Sadhguru goes on to explain) that the person who is giving out the opinion does
not even know how to make good tea. This video might have been actively watched
by my friend because it is of short duration. Therefore, I thought that it did
merit a reply. And since this is something that I would not be able to say to
this person (read “friend”), it might be a good idea to go ahead and craft a
reply which might bring some peace to me, and maybe some good to the world.
Logic of
such blatant protection against criticism for Government’s is faulty at several
level. But prior to elaborating on that, let me qualify the situations which I am
not criticizing. If an individual is doing something, in their personal life,
which does not concern me and is not reneging the rights that I possess, I do
not have any problems with the person. Such a person can go ahead and do what
he/she is doing without being judged or bothered by my opinions on his
existence. However, this logic does not find much merit when the mismanagement
of the present government at the planning levels results in the biggest death
toll the country has seen since the last pandemic. For the last pandemic, we
could consider British mismanagement and racism to be at fault. But current “nationalist”
government vowed to protect and preserve the constitution and thereby protect
and preserve India. This promise has fell short and India burns!
Some of
the areas where I do think that the present government created avenues which
resulted in current situation are as follows:
1.
Not
bothering to check the current status of critical projects like PSA oxygen
generation plants.
2.
Not
cancelling panchayat polls in UP even when the pandemic’s second wave was
officially on the move.
3.
Not
placing a bigger order with the vaccine manufacturers so that they could plan
their capacity likewise.
4.
Not
investing in the vaccine’s production capabilities, a year before the second
wave hit
5.
Not
cancelling West Bengal rallies once it became clear that pandemic is fast at work.
There are
several other points which could be criticized but let us just stop with these 5.
The topic of this post is not to criticize the present government, there are
several ways of doing that, and a lot of able people are doing that anyways. The
topic of this video is, “why it is important to criticize the ruling dispensation.”
The ruling
dispensation is not your parent. It is not your sibling. It is not an
individual. It is not even a regular group of people. They are not holy. They
are not beyond fault. They are not your Godfather. They are not above reproach.
Come to think of it, ruling dispensation of any country, because of demands of
people management and centrality of power, are one of the most corrupt and insane
group of individuals you may be able to find in that country. Because we know
that the government is by definition are suspect primarily because they attract
the worst of humanity, it is completely beyond reason to think that they cannot
be criticized. They are made from you; they derive the power from the people. They
are reflective of the society that they are part of. The people give the power,
and the people may take them away. The people have the right on criticizing how
long the government remains in power, the people have the right to criticize
the working of a government. The people as a collective are supreme and the
only way people find voice are through individuals who reason and provide
mirror to the governments of the day.
It did not
even dawn on my friend to think twice before sharing a video which cites the example
of tea seller as criticizer. Our present PM humbly finds his roots in selling
tea at train station. Opinions on Sachin’s (or any other player in cricket)
batting may help us win the next cup, but honest opinion about ruling dispensation
might just help you get the oxygen that you very literally need for your survival.
