Silence is golden and speech is silver. We have all read about this proverbial saying in school. It is often used in circumstances where it is thought that saying nothing is preferable to speaking. But it is all about the presiding circumstances. The country is going through a phase when silence at the top is deafening and some amount of speaking from “the concerned authorities” would be of immense help.
Of late, a lot of speech is being generated albeit from the wrong quarters and hence the proverbial saying stands true. But speech generating from the concerned to silence these loose canons would help the country to a huge extent.
And the later this speech comes, a greater threat stares at us.
Today, motor mouths are freely exercising their rights notwithstanding the damage they are doing to this nation. As a result, they don’t even realise that there are people who make hay when it shines. Can anyone please explain why a Bollywood icon needed to jump into this controversy and give his opinion. He is a free man, he may do so. That is one argument — but is it because his upcoming film is slated for a December release and such comments can generate FREE PUBLICITY. Therefore, I had initially said if the concerned persons remain quiet, loose canons can do immense damage to the nation by provoking others. And see what the icon gets out of making the comment, reams of newsprint were used to publish the same and while a section of BJP keeps attacking him, the party largely tries to cover up the damage by playing down the comments made by these elements. The icon gets more police security in a city which is already sitting on gun powder so to say. Even BJP’s ally Shiv Sena had also come out in his support saying the superstar should not be targeted only because he’s a Muslim and that the minority community in India is “tolerant.”
Silence at the top has made the social media a free-for-all domain where people are comparing this icon’s guts with that of other superstars. This is absolute nonsense. There are several posts in this regard. Each one of us have our own priorities and should behave responsibly. If one star feels that by saying so, he or she has done his/her bit, it is not necessary that all icons must follow suit. He’s no Pied Piper of India. And we can’t put pressure on other celebrities to do the same.
In fact, the worse is yet to come. There will be comments/counter comments and more hatred and tension will spill out.
Let’s give the icon a break, the matter is much more serious than this. Even NR Narayana Murthy founder of Infosys and the RBI governor Raghuram Rajan have voiced their concern and said this situation can threaten economic development, a promise which had ensured PM Narendra Modi and his party an overwhelming victory just 18 months ago. Now, Mr Modi faces a moment of truth. He needs to act fast and smash the belligerence in his party and the allies. He needs to reassure countrymen that he is the Prime Minister of everyone living in India and not BJP’s tallest leader! If things go on in such a manner, he may just end up risking the growth quotient he had promised before the polls.
The matter has several connotations. It is also creating an uneasy environment for people who aren’t hardliners. It seems there is strong tendency to force you to toe a line. It seems there is no room for moderates. No organisation can, in fact, collectively speak for a race, culture, caste or creed. We are individuals and we are born in families which practice religion(s) and as we grow up we are free either to practice the same or convert ourselves. We are our deciders. Let us remain so. Don’t pull us into this whirlpool and please don’t talk collectively for us. On August 10, 2014, the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had said in Bhubaneswar, “The cultural identity of all Indians is Hindutva and the present inhabitants of the country are descendants of this great culture.” He received flak from non-BJP parties for his suggestion that all Hindustanis are Hindus with several leaders wondering if he has read the Statute and believed in it.
We, as INDIANS, repeat INDIANS and not Hindus or Indian Muslims and Christians, have always earned a lot of respect abroad by virtue of our calibre and ability. As it is we face unnecessary competition and such comments could only multiply our problems abroad. Thus, I had said, no organisation has the right to speak on behalf of an entire race, religion, caste or creed.
Finally, it is time we get to know what’s in the Mann. The Baat has to come out to save the fabric of this great nation. We cannot allow this situation of unrest to continue. Is this a tactic to divert attention from the burning issues like inflation, growth etc? What is important is that if these fringe elements are not nipped in the bud, extremism can become mainstream and it will become diabolically difficult to roll back from here.
Robin Roy is Senior
Associate Editor, Herald.
