Does disagreement and dissent make us Naxals?

In the past weeks two seemingly unrelated incidents have left me quite disturbed. First, a friend during the course of a fairly heated political argument blurted rather abruptly, “If you don’t like it, you are always free to leave the country!” I am still trying to tell myself it was ‘something else’ talking, but I haven’t convinced myself. 

The other, a colleague I don’t know very well but have admired greatly, faces arrest for being what they are calling an Urban Terrorist, a Naxal, a part of a bigger Maoist plot! What he is, is a much respected professor who teaches business management courses at Goa Institute of Management and heads the institute’s Big Data Analytics programme. He also writes prolifically giving voice to concerns about the harsh realities of life for Dalits in modern India when he could just as easily choose to live his life in the comfortable privilege of teaching in a reputed institution in a quiet corner of Goa isolating himself from the concerns of his people. 

What do these two incidents have in common? Why does it leave me feeling despair and in helplessness? To understand this I look back to my early years. I was born in the 60’s - my father came from a Brahmin family in Mangaluru (of the Sri Ram Sena pub attack fame) and to this day remains a staunch RSS man. My mother on the other hand spent her formative years in a convent boarding school tormented by worms in the cauliflower and other such horrors! Growing up in the 70’s and early 80’s, which are considered by many historians as the more turbulent and testing than any other time in independent India's history, ensured that I was witness to many a “vibrant” political argument between my parents at dinnertime. I like to think that this, more than anything else, ensured that my siblings and I grew up secular spirited Hindus with strong political opinions. 

The learning was quite clearly this – despite clear differences in political ideology it was important to live together in harmony as a family, respecting each other’s diverse views. What my parents had in common was their belief that every individual had a right to voice their opinion. Democratic Rights and Unity in Diversity were not just titles to chapter 1 and chapter 6 in our middle school Civics text book; they were tangible goals to live life by in a democratic household. It did not matter if you were husband or wife, daughter or son, young or old; you could share your views without fear of rebuke or retribution. 

The other thing my parents never failed to do was to empathise with lot of the oppressed, discriminated or less privileged. Reaching out to help whenever they could but when they couldn’t they were unafraid to acknowledge their own privilege and see the social injustice for what it was. This ability to empathise with the other trumped all their differences. 

So yes, today when a friend in the middle of a heated discussion suggests I don’t belong, it comes as a shock – does this mean we can no longer disagree with each other and coexist as a one people? When dissenting voices of academics and activists are sought to be silenced, does it mean we can no longer raise our voice to disagree with public policy and live together as one democratic nation? 

Does mere disagreement with a view, even a majority one make you a Maoist or a Naxal? I don’t think my Right Wing father would agree nor my Left Wing mother, they would tell you that there can be no democracy without disagreement, dissent, dialogue and debate; the Disagreement and Dissent.

Dalai Lama would agree with them. At a recent anniversary event in Goa, he talked about the great Indian tradition of discourse and debate that Buddha learnt from the Nalanda School and incorporated as an integral part of the Buddhist religion and philosophy; for he believed we are all enriched by debate and dissent to attain a higher spiritual form. With this rich legacy how have we reached a point where we can no longer disagree with a friend without suggesting that they can leave the country? Or resort to labels and name calling to justify the arrest of individuals who disagree with national policies? Maybe we are all being misled so we can turn against one another while greater evil flourishes?

(The writer is a Counsellor at Nirmala Institute of Education and Goa Institute of Management)