Standing under a cold
shower, you hurriedly turn the knob to beat the mounting heat. A jet of cool
water gushes out, but then fine streams of water harmlessly roll off because of
the showerhead nozzle in place. In the absence of this perforated shower head,
the water flow would have never been divided. The flow would have been one
solid jet and its force could have been quite threatening rather than harmless.
What’s amazing is the replication of
this very apparatus in our caste politics, the trap that almost all of us have fallen
into, time and again.
Now isn’t this very free-flowing water; in its elemental
drive just like us: the masses, the massive Indian electorate?
And
there stand our political parties, very aptly playing the role of the nozzle;
dividing the gullible electorate on the lines of religion & caste.
And finally, out we run from the showerhead through the well-laid channels of
castes and religions meticulously created for us, thus ensuring their win
through our support, well-formulated, in advance by them.
Just like the jet, we could have been formidable, had all
been together. But, today the world’s largest democracy lays shambled, embodying
rivaled factions.
So, we could all very well conclude the above-mentioned
routine to be a battle-tested conspiracy of the nefarious politicians. We can
satiate our appetite for politician-bashing by engaging in the same and then,
call it a day.
But then, this
division works, doesn’t it? That’s why they do it, because it works. And why
does it work? Because such provocation unleashes a mind-set suppressed
somewhere deep within all of us.
These political parties merely mirror the divisiveness that
dwells within us. We, the great Indian
minds, still have our biases. We still have our prejudices, and our
pre-conceptions. For the majority of the
voters, a man’s identity starts with his caste. Since it prevails within us
subconsciously, all that the politicians need to do is tap into it opportunely,
and resultantly, cash on it.
In the end, the sole
objective of fighting the elections is winning. To meet that end, they simply
chose expediency over moral driving us spirally deeper into the cesspool. Thus,
them having studied the great Indian mind well, our consciousness of caste has always
been meticulously vivified and brought forward at the time of elections,
driving the wedge deeper.
Thus, India’s political parties do not need to conjure any novel
strategy to win after making a caste-based selection of candidates. Because
mere caste-based selection of candidates is the time-tested way to win.
As a case in point, consider the remote areas of states like
Maharashtra where the count of uneducated electorate is large enough to
influence strategy. Here, the naïve populace looks up to a representative of
the same caste and soil, keeping fingers crossed for the Promised Land. Factors
unfortunately almost never considered when endorsing the candidate are his
ability, education & nobility of intention. Often, to sharpen the barb of
the campaign, the caste and religion is propagated to be in danger of
subjugation, which helps the candidates win the trust votes, in desperation. Consequentially,
post-elections, what almost never changes is the ground-reality. The misled await
their promised tomorrow, hat in hand.
Caste not only has survived all the milestones of the
nation’s modernization; it still holds potency over merit & competence.
More than a quarter of India’s parliamentarians have some criminal case
registered against them. But another fact is that they have been voted to power
by us, albeit the absence of merit.
We pay our taxes. These taxes are to be utilized; not
misused, by the government’s representatives. These same representatives are
the ones we, the very same people vote to power. In short, we choose the people
whom we are to trust our money with. And when we choose people known for running
chaos, should we not expect a greater chaos when they assume the seat of power?
Maybe, we cannot eradicate caste from the hearts of all. But,
we can all contribute to the nation’s progress by just voting for the deserving
candidate, by making a choice driven solely by merit. To begin with, we should at least give the
meritorious a chance.
Our vote holds power only when it sticks for performance; or
when it swings away due to the lack of it.
To say it all over again, Caste definitely can’t be allowed
to be India’s destiny.
He would have died to believe the above
sentence to be factual. Or at least remotely close to it. But yes, he did die.