My day yesterday was spent racing through some of the newly expanded riot-hit areas of Hyderabad. All very exhilarating but also extremely annoying at the same time. Communal rioting has returned as the current flavor of the city and all the regionalists of yore seem to have missed the latest bus of political hooliganism. Politics just as fashion, is fickle.
The social engineering required to generate and sustain mobs is an art that cannot be taught. In these scenarios the street coordinators and leaders show great creativity, adaptability and fortitude. But for such mob-making, a cause is necessary. In India there exists a sometime latent, sometime blatant communal antipathy where the biggest reason for the existence of peace is not common understanding but pathetically, plain survival. In such a context, the instigators are squarely labeled as the villains of the piece every time there is a break down in this delicate peace.
Here I propose an alternative. I say that the villains of the story are in fact each and every person who holds dear thoughts that allow that person to be instigated. Therefore if you hold views that are derisive, condescending, hateful/fearful, discriminatory or bigotry then you are part of the problem. This holds even in the case of such privately held opinions - despite the fact that you may be a fair individual, yet you set yourself up to be a candidate with that 'potential'.
The conspiracy regarding who benefited and who instigated are matters that pale in comparison to the kind of long-term antipathy that these incidents create. People's experiences shape their outlook. So when someone goes through a full blown riot, a glimpse of the barbaric and animal nature of man is observed. This generally brings about a de-evolution of behavior on part of the victim too, who waits then for his turn to play his hand. Thus the language of violence is what perpetuates the relation.
In all this, being secular is no help either - candle light vigils cannot extinguish hatred. Instead, providing for a designated field of battle might actually get better results than wishing the issue away from the confines of a sterilized quarantine that is secularism. The cold nature of secularism, where the religious identity held by the people is brushed under the carpet, is in fact a major cause for conflict. The Indian version of secularism is on the one hand embarrassed by its religious subjects but is proud of the diversity of this embarrassment.
Links:
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/31/stories/2010033161350100.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%282004_film%29
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html?scp=1&sq=flash%20mob&st=cse
The social engineering required to generate and sustain mobs is an art that cannot be taught. In these scenarios the street coordinators and leaders show great creativity, adaptability and fortitude. But for such mob-making, a cause is necessary. In India there exists a sometime latent, sometime blatant communal antipathy where the biggest reason for the existence of peace is not common understanding but pathetically, plain survival. In such a context, the instigators are squarely labeled as the villains of the piece every time there is a break down in this delicate peace.
Here I propose an alternative. I say that the villains of the story are in fact each and every person who holds dear thoughts that allow that person to be instigated. Therefore if you hold views that are derisive, condescending, hateful/fearful, discriminatory or bigotry then you are part of the problem. This holds even in the case of such privately held opinions - despite the fact that you may be a fair individual, yet you set yourself up to be a candidate with that 'potential'.
The conspiracy regarding who benefited and who instigated are matters that pale in comparison to the kind of long-term antipathy that these incidents create. People's experiences shape their outlook. So when someone goes through a full blown riot, a glimpse of the barbaric and animal nature of man is observed. This generally brings about a de-evolution of behavior on part of the victim too, who waits then for his turn to play his hand. Thus the language of violence is what perpetuates the relation.
In all this, being secular is no help either - candle light vigils cannot extinguish hatred. Instead, providing for a designated field of battle might actually get better results than wishing the issue away from the confines of a sterilized quarantine that is secularism. The cold nature of secularism, where the religious identity held by the people is brushed under the carpet, is in fact a major cause for conflict. The Indian version of secularism is on the one hand embarrassed by its religious subjects but is proud of the diversity of this embarrassment.
Links:
http://www.thehindu.com/2010/03/31/stories/2010033161350100.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%282004_film%29
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html?scp=1&sq=flash%20mob&st=cse
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Hey nice blog! and thanks for leaving a comment in my blog....
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