Our PM Narendra Modi proudly proclaimed in The Joint Session of the US Congress, which he addressed recently … and I quote:
“The beauty of democracy is the constant connect with the people, to listen to them, and feel their pulse. Democracy is the spirit that supports equality and dignity. Democracy is the idea that welcomes debate and discourse. Democracy is the culture that gives wings to thought and expression. India is blessed to have such values from times immemorial. India is the Mother of Democracies " unquote.
What, may I ask, is the pulse of the people of Manipur today? Did we support equality and dignity while women were stripped naked and then gang raped , were 100s lost their lives?
Did we welcome debate and discourse, when thousands lost their homes and over 300 churches were burnt to the ground? The Parliament, till the time of writing has refused to discuss the matter.
Not a word was said, nor Manipur visited to take stock of the situation. There was no message of compassion, no message of peace or restoration of order till the story of women being stripped naked broke open in social media. Poor Mother of Democracies: Whither is she going?
Nero continues to play the fiddle. Our PM has visited several countries during the Manipur crisis while Manipur continues to burn. However, our PM finds no time to visit his own double engine Sarkar, nor dismiss the Chief Minister nor call in the army. Our PM has time to condole with the Government and people of Turkey when they suffered a severe earthquake, but he has no time to condole with Manipur people nor address their grievances.
The Vice President of the BJP party in Manipur R Vanramchhuanga has had the guts to resign due to the atrocities committed against the Christians, but the rest of the leaders, are quiet, both at State and the National level. Not a word, not a protest - which could only mean, yes it was the right thing that happened in Manipur.
In Goa, not a single MLA from the ruling party, has even remotely suggested that what has happened is wrong or criticised the leaders there or at the Centre.
We, who have, elected these MLAs, would be absolute fools, if we elect them again, or elect such unprincipled, so called leaders. The world will judge us as immature citizens, who fall repeatedly prey to gifts, and false promises.
We want to abolish the history of the Portuguese . Do we also want to abolish all the Christians and Christian schools in our State? Which community would be affected the most if this happened? Check our professionals and political leaders in the state today. Where did the majority of them get their education? How many of these non-Christians were coerced into becoming Christians?
The larger tragedy facing the country is the 2024 elections. The NDA/RSS have come out openly to state that they want India to be a Hindu nation. They want the Christians and Muslims to become second class citizens: that is, if they cannot wipe them out totally like Hitler did to the Jews.
But there is hope. The Manipur issue, the recent Karnataka elections are eye openers for us all. The Prime Minister addressed 16 rallies in Karnataka by visiting the States 8 times before the elections. Home Minister also tried in vain and not forgetting our own Chief Minister who went there and tried his luck. But all to no avail. The BJP Government, who were correctly labelled as the 40% government in terms of collecting bribes were decimated. The people gave a clear signal that this so called double engine sarkar is not the answer.
The happenings in Manipur and other States in India against the Christians and Muslims over the last few years is done through goondas. Might against right. The cow slaughter issue, the forced conversion issue, etc are all done to create a fear psychosis.
In our country of 1.4 billion people “ the Hindus are approximately 80%, the Muslims 14% and Christians 2%. So, if all the Hindus join hands then the country could easily become a Hindu Rastra. However, our people are not stupid. They want to live in multi-religious harmony, as has always been the case in India over the centuries.They want to live as the Prime Minister has rightly quoted as a Mother of Democracies. Maintain heritage and culture, equality and dignity. We don’t want two types of citizenships, where one can vote and the other cannot. We want debate and discourse.
We want the liberty to choose our own religion, our own life partners and send our children to schools where we believe they will not be indoctrinated and have the wisdom to choose their own walk in life. We want our women to be respected with dignity. We want our sportswomen to be trained without fear and shine in the world of sport.
The culture of hate and fear cannot co-exist in a democracy. The demons of Enforcement Directorates must punish all who commit crimes, irrespective of which party they belong to.
We want our political parties to debate freely and not be coerced into changing sides with huge carrots. We want media to flourish by reporting the truth and not be subjected to censorship and fear of imprisonment. We don’t want our national monuments like the Taj Mahal or the churches in Old Goa to be demolished. We have enjoyed democracy for the last 75 years, let's pray we continue to do so. Jai Hind.
