We touchy Indians

As India ushers into a new age, celebrates its 60^th republic day I wondered as to how many of us actually understand the meaning of being in a “republic “country. We are a country that has a huge and varied population, coupled with apparent illiteracy. Such conditions are very effectively used by the power mongers to create situations of unrest and anarchy in various parts of the country, and why are they successful ? Because of our “touchy nature”

I was going through the news paper a few days back and read an article regarding such an issue. It gave my thoughts regarding these issues a stronger support. We are a people that does not just respect its leaders but give them the god status. Apparently this seems to be good, but it is these touchy sentiments that are being exploited. Such exaggerated love or devotion creates more problems then solutions.

I remember when the movie ‘Subhas Chandra Bose – forgotten hero’ was released there were a number of controversies that were created out of thin air. First people protested that he is not forgotten, secondly and most importantly people took to streets protesting over the fact that the movie actually told about his German wife. Ridiculous as it is, I don’t understand that how does a title ‘forgotten hero’ cause any harm. The most irritating part is why is it not possible for a national hero to have a German wife, can’t he fall in love or have an affair, after all he is a human being, but no—for us he is GOD.

This is not the only incident of this sort. The year was 2001,a respected historian published a book which said that Hindus did consume beef in ancient times and that in medieval times laws became stricter. When our ‘touchy’ public got to know this they burnt the books and Hyderabad civil court even banned it. Ultimately the book was published in America and England. In 2004 Sambhaji brigade, a Marathi youth wing vandalized a research center in pune because the centre had given access to an American writerto the various manuscripts of the time and he inferred that may be Shivaji’s family life might not have been very happy and that might have influenced his political views. These are not the only examples,in the year 2000 arun shourie;s book created a huge uproar as it questioned Dr B.R.Ambedksar, which angered the dalits. Same thing happened in Orissa because of some controversies regarding Bose.

It is one thing to love and respect your idols and another to create such hullabaloo. I wonder why is it not possible to let everyone speak his mind, after all its his opinion, its not like someone is standing on a podium and abusing your “demy gods”. Why cant we be a bit more liberal. Its high time that we understand that if we love or respect someone it must be true, from the heart. If your love and respect are so weak that a book or a movie can dilate it then I think it will be safe to conclude that all your respect was just a show, all you want is to be famous and become a overnight star. It is for educated people like us to make sure that these ideas don’t settle in our minds ,logic must always prevail over emotions in such cases, and tolerance is our gift to the world, yet we are so poor in showing it.