There have been so many discussions around what happened recently
in JNU that I have lost track. One thing is for certain, everyone has a
different perspective to the whole issue and from that person's standpoint his/her
perspective is THE perspective and the only one possible. That is my biggest
worry. We are not looking at things objectively but just as how we would like
to see them.
The most irksome behaviour is to target and malign parties and
individuals and not offices of responsibility. Similarly, people have developed
loyalties to parties and politicians that blinds them from an objective and
unbiased analysis of the work those parties and politicians do. The result is
catastrophe. Detractors will continue to see the wrong and blame the person/institution.
There will always be detractors for everyone. In the end, everyone will be
wrong and bad.
We need to learn be objective in our evaluation. Recognise and
laud good 'efforts' and criticise the not so good 'efforts' – not the person/institution,
but the work he/the institution does. If there is something wrong that the
person does, criticise, as vehemently as you can. If that same person does
something good, recognise that as well. Most of us fail miserably at that.
For instance, I have many friends on Facebook who are anti
Kejriwal. They attack him for the slightest wrong. None of them laud something
good that he or AAP does. Ask people of Delhi about the odd-even formula and most
will say it was a great initiative. Yet, the anti-Kejriwal camp would find
flaws in it. More so, those who have no link with Delhi at all, would also
comment on the initiative and try and rubbish it. The vice versa is also true.
Everything not so right that Kejriwal did, people who like him as a person or
those who stand by his ideology, kept silent about it or found logical
explanations to prove that it wasn’t actually so bad. They used the Red Herring method to
divert the discussion.
Similarly, there are haters of Modi and ‘worshippers’ of Modi. Even
when Modi does something right, his detractors start with finding flaws in it.
When he does something not so right, his admirers adopt red herring and divert
the discussion. They try to protect his image and his honour even if it is by
insulting or maligning others.
It isn’t and must not be about Modi vs Kejriwal or any other
person against another one. It is and must be about India and people who live
in this country. Anything that goes against it, we must all stand together and
condemn it. Anything that works in favour, we must all stand and applaud.
We need to learn to become fans and haters of acts and not the people
behind those acts. It is easier said than done, but it is the need of the hour.
In the past few months, I have witnessed so much hatred in this country, it
just makes me sad. Hatred for the sake of hating people; not looking at the bigger
picture.
When with the people we love most - spouse, parents, children - we
can be so objective in our evaluation (“What you did was not right”, “I don’t agree
with you”, “This could have been done better”, “Let me help you improve this”),
why not with people and institutions who run our city, state, country? Only
when we applaud the good and condemn the bad will they also become more
accountable and get to know what is right and what is wrong. Till such time,
they will be right for their lovers and wrong for their haters. And in such a
case, who would you listen to more? In the end, it is a stalemate and a cause
of huge concern for the country!
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