BEARING THE CONSEQUECES OF YOUR WRONG CHOICE

I WISH THIS LETTER REACHES THE INTELLECTUALS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

TO,

All the intellectuals returning their awards.

Date : - 5^th November 2015

I am poor pathetic soul, I have neither awards nor medals which I may return or surrender and be a martyr in the cause of tolerance. #AwardWapasi seems to be the only possible way out of the prevailing ruckus in our country and since I do not possess any national award, I guess it’s probably not my cause to fight for.

However, on closely analyzing the modern trend and means of fighting chaos, I wouldn’t use the term intolerance, I find that it’s actually a blessing in disguise that I do not possess award(s) because lately all those who have been possessing awards have gone bonkers and therefore I thank god for saving me from this curse. Bonkers because their judgment of what they are doing and why they are doing is completely illogical, senseless, hypocrite and anarchic.

This letter, I hope it reaches its designated recipients, is a proof of the senselessness that surrounds the entire movement of returning awards in order to fight what they deem to be religious intolerance. This letter is for all those, especially M/s Arundhati Roy, who believe that their act or returning their ‘prestigious’ awards is anyway justified and is, in any manner possible, going to promote the national interest.

Before I go ahead with the letter let me tell you who I am.

I am the common man, the man whose first love is his country, the man whose only house is in India, the man who for his sustenance relies upon the opportunities created by his country, the man who is not the sole representative of his country, the man who would choose stability over anarchy, and the man whose life is being disturbed by the anarchic acts of the so called intellectuals of his country. I am the man who does not even know if his views would reach out to the public for he lacks the sources and resources necessary for the same as they are currently possessed/owned by the so called ‘intellectuals’.

The only means at my disposal for the spread of my views, no matter how good they are, are the social networking sites and today for the first time I would like to test them and would like to reach out as to many people as possible because, the man wants normality back in his life.

Given below are numerous points which logically prove how illogical our intellectuals have lately been and how stupid (sorry for not sugar coating my slang) their #AwardWapasi movement is.

1.      Are you particularly blind to intolerance?

Today in India I see only two forms of intolerance and surprisingly enough, only the second kind of intolerance is visible to the intellectuals of our nation. These two forms are,  

a)      Ideological intolerance – This refers to the intolerant nature of the opposing parties and parties which have ruled (not governed) our country for a major part of its post independence era. These parties are desperate to safeguard their regime and are unable to tolerate a person who does not come from their family and does not possess their ideologies in power. This form of intolerance is prevalent in our country ever since may 2014. But sadly the intellectuals of our country failed to notice it.

b)      Virtual intolerance – There have been laws, ordinances and bills which have created disturbances and turmoil in our country even in the past.

I do not support beef ban and it is one of those laws which are bound to create disturbance and people have the right under our constitution to protest against such a law. Here what I oppose is the fight against beef ban under the banner of Intolerance. If you are intellectual enough you would realize that the problem is with ‘a law’ and not with the attitude of the government. Thus, fight if it so concerns you, but fight under a proper name. And if this virtual intolerance is so evident to you then why is the actual ‘ideological intolerance’ not? Are you sure that you are fighting for the country and not for … You know what I mean!

2.      An activist or an anarchist?

If the intolerance that you say prevails (I still doubt if it does) let us consider for a moment that it does, then I believe it is also the cause of all the political chaos that exists today in our country.

Now, dear intellectuals of my country, do tell me how do you plan to go about with this movement of yours? Because as far as I see, there is no plan of action of this movement. What do you plan to achieve and how do you plan to achieve this.

Do you also not, just like me, believe that by giving up your awards you are simply contributing to ever prevalent confusion in the Indian politics and the Indian society?

I see you more as an anarchist and less like an activist. Do tell me, if this reaches you, what you really are!

3.      The point of improper investigation

It is the job of the police to investigate the crime scene and not of the government or more specifically of Mr. Narendra Modi.

Now, M/s Arundhati Roy, said that she believes the Dadri lynching case was poorly investigated and that the police took samples of the dead man’s food and not of his dead body. That’s a well made point and the police must know how and what to investigate. Point duly accommodated.

However, what I fail to understand is, our police has a reputation of improperly and poorly investigating the crime scenes, that has always been an intrinsic quality of our police, this improper investigation was done not just in the Dadri lynching case but also in the Arushi- Hemraj murder case and also in numerous other cases around the country. The police must definitely be blamed but I fail to see the point of dragging the government into this. And if you really think it is but a fault of the government then where were you when thousands of other cases were similarly poorly investigated?

4      The censorship clause

Censorship can be categorized under two heads

a)      Censorship of audios and videos – under this I would only say, what censorship do you blame this government for? The trailers of Hate Story 3 are still running on our television sets, pornography is still on, it has certainly been banned for pedophiles, but it’s still on.

b)   Censorship of writings - this form of censorship has always, always been there. Congress banned the books which could have dented their reputation. So you cannot specifically blame the present government for any kind of censorship.

5.      Why being so judgmental

The intellectuals even say that they were certain of such acts on the part of the government given the ideology of BJP and their past.

It’s but wrong to be so judgmental about organizations, parties an people. Just imagine what would have happened had the mob been similarly judgmental with the congress? It would have been a dead party after the emergency they cursed our country with.

Do not judge organizations by the past they had. Else most you wouldn’t have even got the national awards which you today plan to return

6.      You do you truly plan to achieve?

This is one of those movies where the hero wins over the heroine’s heart by sacrificing here to the man she loves. Remember ‘Hum dil de chuke sanam’ and ‘Namaste London’. This is exactly the same scenario; the intellectuals are giving up their very beloved and prestigious awards in the name of our country, now by doing so they have dual benefits to bank. One, they are becoming great social activists who for the sake of their country gave up their coveted national awards and, two, they by giving up their awards are leaving an everlasting name, something which even their national awards did not get them, they would be remembered.

It’s more of a personal cause than a national cause.    

7.      There is no chaos and turmoil in our country

You say there is enough political terrorism and religious intolerance in our country; some of you intellectuals have even gone to the extent of equating it with Syria.

Now, first of all, India isn’t Syria or any other disturbed country in the world. India is India and it is peaceful enough. Had India been Syria and had RSS been ISIS I can assure you that the opposition would have been dead the very first day this government came to power, but they are all hale and hearty, in fact if you remember, it were a couple or more of the BJP politicians who died unnatural deaths in 2014. So India isn’t Syria, RSS isn’t ISIS and Modi isn’t a terrorist.

Further, I request you to think before you make such statements regarding our country because such statements have consequences, consequences which would not affect the well off people like you but it will certainly affect the lives of poor people, people for whom you are supposedly running this entire cause.

I know it would be hard for your rich brains to make out how, but worry not; I’ll clear it out for you. When people like you equate India with a terrorist state and that to in social media, it is bound to affect a number of sectors.

Let us take tourism, tourism will drop and as result the poor people who run their shops near tourist destinations will have to suffer the scourge of it. And that is just a tiny bit example of the repercussions your statements are bound to make. So think before you make a statement.

8.      Why don’t you just surrender your award peacefully and quietly?

What is the point of press conferences, I mean if you have an award and if you seriously wish to give it up for the genuine cause of our country then just go, complete the necessary formalities and get over with it. What is the point of advertising your sacrifice? It seems more like a campaign to muster the long lost or maybe never attained popularity of the national award winners.

Tolerance or intolerance is the personal choice of an individual. Individuals who are in majority and the ones who form the mob. The government cannot do much in this regard nor can your ill targeted movement. I accept they must frame more sensible and accommodative laws. 

Award wapasi movement is just another chaos creating movement through which the perceived intellectuals aim to achieve god knows what. For some it must have been a genuine cause but it is only degrading every passing day.

My humble request, backed by 8 logical reasons, is that this movement must be as soon as possible, abandoned because it is disturbing the life of ‘THE REAL COMMON MAN’. I am not saying that you are anti nationals it’s just that you can also be wrong at times. The common man and the poor man must not bear the consequences of your wrong choice(s).

I hope it reaches you and it reaches you soon.

P.S. – Those who have even previously returned their awards must be knowing that this is a useless and a fruitless way of protesting.

With regards

A poor pathetic soul, The real Common Man