I deeply respect Prashanth Bhushan. I was deeply disturbed, very deeply indeed, when he was attacked by some goons for expressing his views on Kashmir some weeks ago. This was a brutal attack against one's Right to Express.
I do not respect Sharad Pawar as a political leader at all. I believe he has worked largely in self interest and has abused his decades in power to advance his material and political profiteering. I believe we deserve a far better leader than Mr. Pawar heading the critical Agriculture Ministry, especially when official figures admit that over two lakhs of farmers have committed suicide due to farming distress over the past decade. It is truly horrific to imagine that so many dignified farmers resorted to this extreme step merely to save their and their family's honour at not being able to repay really very small loans. ( I strongly feel that the thousands who have so died are victims of a crime, foisted on the millions in rural areas by those who prepare farming polices that guarantee diminishing returns and cause irreversible hurt to families and society.)
When some months ago Anna Hazare was preemptively arrested for his decision to go on an indefinite fast against the Union Government's lethargy on instituting a Lokpal (all ruling parties over the past four decades are indicted here for similarly not taking up this issue seriously), I was livid. Hazare's arrest had strong resonance with Emergency days, a comparison some perceive as needless exaggeration. I disagree. I believe that we lose our fundamental rights and freedoms incrementally, and especially when we overlook or ignore instances of exigence and abuse, considering them to be incidental and minor. All these add up with mathematical accuracy and with disastrous consequences.
To slap Pawar unprovoked is very wrong. In this context, I am very very disturbed with what Anna Hazare has said about this terrible incident: “Yek ee Maraa?” (Just one slap?). I believe Hazare expressed his honest feelings for the senior politician when he so retorted on learning of the slap Sharad Pawar received from a goon. That he later tried to make amends to live up to his “Gandhian” credentials, and actually condemned the “slap” was too little too late.
What is surprising in such behaviour of Mr. Hazare anyway? Only a few days ago he unequivocally stated that alcoholics must be publicly flogged. Then justified it by saying alcoholics themselves begged for such harsh treatment as it reformed them. It is thus rather ironical that Anna Hazare has become an icon of morality, against corruption and for good citizen behaviour.
Intolerance hurts. Whether it is in a school, an office, the Parliament or society, intolerant responses to a person's views are all fundamentally wrong and smacks of absolute disrespect and disinterest in humanism and humanistic discourse. Where divergence of views aren't celebrated and tolerated, condemnation and punishment follows: banishment, extermination, distancing in close relationships are some typical responses. All these are very hurting and gnaw at the very core and purpose of being human.
To me, the Right to Express is, therefore, intertwined with the Right to Live. Without the former, the latter is meaningless - a sterile existence. Living in conformity with an intolerant society is an aberration to being human. For the freedom one experiences with free expression is absolutely more precious than the comfort one could draw materially and socially by not protesting intolerance; which could easily translate into tolerating harsh hegemony itself.
A terrible void results in such situations. A deathly silence invades. Soon this void is filled with bitterness, fear and distrust. A very deep and aching feeling of hurt, despair and sadness follows. Sometimes this reality is masked by laughter and smiles. But such deception cannot cure these deep wounds.
To give in to this void is to give up on living fully. More effort is needed to overcome this hurt. Resistance against intolerance is essential to overcome intolerance. Resistance draws its strength from a deep respect for humanity, while intolerance causes a cold, dreadful hurting.
A “slap” be it against Bhushan, Pawar or an alcoholic, are equally condemnable. I prefer to be alert about such matters. I do not want to take lightly the fact that Prashant Bhushan was attacked for his views and that Sharad Pawar was attacked for whatever be the attacker's reasons. And thus, Hazare is to be condemned as well for his retort on both the Pawar “slap”, and promoting the brutal attack on alcoholics, without forgetting for a moment that he had even advocated capital punishment for the corrupt.
In such a climate of intolerance, I am distressed that Hazare is the hero of progressive reforms in governance. Can a society be happy if it is rid of monetary corruption alone? While it believes strongly that alcoholics and politicians, or progressive lawyers for that matter, can be slapped and beaten? What will this add up to?
As Bob Dylan famously sang, “The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. The answer is blowing in the wind”.
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