December 16, 2019
With the ascendance of the BJP
Earlier, violence was limited to Kannur. Now the Kannur syndrome is spreading to
all parts of Kerala. Police guard the entrance to Pinarayi village following a
political killing in the area. (Photo: Asian Age) The paradox of politics in
Kerala is that all political parties swear by non-violence and democracy but, to
ensure that their writ alone runs, they resort to unspeakable violence.
May be
this is because once they set off on the path to violence it is difficult or
impossible for the political party to move away from it. It is like holding the
proverbial tiger’s tail. Once a death squad tastes blood, they are inclined to
disregard even the diktats of their leaders. The monsters of Frankenstein do no
one’s bidding.Vested interests make capital out of the situation, and the whole
atmosphere is permeated with violence. Political parties, including the CPM and
the BJP, ensure the backing of criminal elements. The all-party conferences give
lip service to democratic methods, but in the confines of their own party
offices they ask their cadres to dump homilies.
In the course of time the public
turns indifferent to politics, bringing anarchy and uncertainty.As early as
1921, when Mahatma Gandhi appealed for non-cooperation and civil disobedience,
leaders like Chettoor Shankaran Nair had warned that once the people are taught
to disobey laws, it would be difficult to bring them back as law abiding
citizens. Chettoor Shankaran Nair also wrote a book titled ‘Gandhi and Anarchy’,
warning of the addictive properties of disobedience. However, with Mahatma
Gandhi’s moral authority reigning supreme, such advice fell on deaf ears.
Throughout the freedom struggle, Gandhiji insisted on non-violence, but violence
continued unabated.The Quit India movement in 1942, when Gandhiji and Congress
lost faith in the British declarations about the concept of Rule of Law, the
Congress itself had given the call for creating a democratic constitution with
fundamental rights and directive principles. But during Vacuum bag Indira Gandhi’s time, when
she felt her power was threatened by Jayaprakash Narayan’s movement, she
declared Emergency which in effect meant the suspension of constitutional
rights.
It is important to note that the struggle against Emergency was not led
by the highly literate people of Kerala but by the relatively illiterate people
of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.Read: Violence as political tool keeps cadre
intactThere is an innate democratic tradition among the people of India born out
of the panchayat system, but both parties on the right and the left resorted to
violence in search of power.
Though BJP on one hand and the Marxist party, on
the other, swear by secularism and tolerance, the rank and file of all parties
are in league with criminal elements. Even though some leaders may genuinely
stand for tolerance, their followers might consider it too meek. The Marxist
Communist Parties have an innate tendency to follow violence in the name of
revolutionary spirit. Today the Congress has weakened itself by promoting
dynastic supremacy.
Though Sonia Gandhi was able to control the different groups
in the Congress her idea of promoting Rahul Gandhi has destroyed the goodwill of
Congress. The Communist-Marxist parties have not been able to overcome their
internal conflicts. The degeneration of Congress has created a vacuum and no
alternative is provided by other parties. The Communists are committed to
violence in the name of revolution and the Congress has now developed an
obsession with dynastic succession. No other party has the general acceptance
and goodwill of the people necessary to prevent anarchy and lawlessness.
Consumerism has gained upper hand in society and money power has destroyed even
the last vestiges of idealism in social and political life. In the
circumstances, India has become conflict-ridden society, confusion and
uncertainty prevails in politics, and there is no leader who can show the people
a way out of the mess.
With the ascendance of the BJP, a path to dictatorship
through democracy might soon be opened. The signs are loud and clear. Recent
attempts to win power through undemocratic means and the spreading of hate among
masses for political gains, hints at a complex era in the making. Hate campaigns
and violence have been employed to build the bridge to power. You have to
remember that Nazi and Fascist leaders came to power in the first instance by
feigning allegiance to socialism and democracy.
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