There is never a dull
moment in our country. What an interesting and shocking diversity of events
have taken place in the past few days.
After a much applauded
speech of Prime Minister Modi at Davos, marred only by the out-of-place tweet
of the Congress President quoting a left wing publication, and the demand of
Congress leaders to discuss the plight of farmers and the poor in Davos, I was
expecting to see India reach a new high with ten leaders of the ASEAN countries
together for the first time in India.
These ASEAN leaders
have come to India, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the India
– ASEAN partnership. For the first time we will see 10 heads of state at the
Republic Day parade and there are major opportunities for India to play a
substantive role both economically and politically in ASEAN. After his success
at Davos, this is another major success of the Prime Minister.
At the same time, the
controversial movie Padmaavat was released much to the delight of the Karni
Sena goons (some people have called them terrorists and I would agree) who took
it upon themselves to become the conscience keepers of the entire nation and
started to destroy anything in their path. So much public and private property
has been destroyed and so many people have been physically hurt. Cars, buses
and two wheelers, have been torched, cinema theatres have been damaged and
shops have been smashed by unruly mobs without a care for the owners of these
assets.
Their protest hit rock
bottom when they attacked a school bus in Gurugram. Photographs of small
children cowering in fear under the protection of their school teachers on the
floor of the bus shocked an already tired nation, fed-up with the silence of
the politicians. Has anyone stopped to think the scars such attacks have left
on the minds and hearts of these children? Will parents ever think that their
children will be safe in future when they are going to or coming back from
school?
The smug leaders of the
Karni Sena basking in their new found (and hopefully very short lived) importance
and showing no remorse on television channels, waxed eloquent about how they
are the protectors of the Rajputs and the country and that they would continue
to disrupt life because they do not like a movie. Who may I ask the leaders of
Karni Sena, gave them this right to speak for me?
And to add insult to
injury, senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh questioned why movies like
Padmaavat are made while some BJP MLA stated that it was “politically
expedient” not to take action against the Karni Sena! The opposition
politicians are screaming themselves hoarse demanding a response only from the
prime Minister, who they know has just returned from Davos and is tied up with
the ASEAN leaders and the Republic Day celebrations.
Every television
channel covered Karni Sena and forgot that 10 leaders of the ASEAN countries
are in India. In our very ostrich like thinking, we are only concerned with
what happens in “our neck of the woods.” Who cares about the nation and the
pathetic impression this will leave in the minds of World leaders. What will
they tell their businessmen about investing in India once they go back home?
ASEAN is not only a trading opportunity for India but strong relationships will
help India to position ourselves as an alternative to China who has had a major
head start in the Asia Pacific region.
Only in India can we
see a complete lack of concern for the standing and the respect of our nation amongst
the comity of nations. If we are in the opposition or if we see an opportunity
to gain prominence for ourselves, self-interest always comes first. Our
journalists, while they must report on constant “breaking news” should also
consider that too much coverage of such incidents may incite the frenzied mobs
further. Very often, ignoring stupid movements like these ensures that they
fizzle out very quickly.
It will be very
difficult for the traumatised children to forget this horrific experience. The
scars may heal over a period of time, the loss of property will be managed
somehow and life will go back to normal again, only till some other set of
goons decide to pick up the gauntlet for something they do not like and cause
ridiculous and completely unwarranted destruction.
The ASEAN leaders are
also politicians and leaders and several of their countries have also seen a
lot of volatility. They may let their experience at the silver jubilee summit
pass. But the impression their journalists will carry back for their
constituents may not be forgotten very easily.
Unless all political
parties come together and take a decision to stop these goons “expressing”
themselves through their might with the police force looking the other way,
India will always be sitting on a powder keg with a very short fuse, to be lit
whenever anyone does not like something that is politically convenient.
Today it is the Congress
criticising the BJP. Tomorrow it could be the other way around. Political
parties will come to power and will lose power but the primacy and supremacy of
our nation must never ever be compromised.
Only when India
succeeds will every citizen of the country prosper and grow.
*******************
The author is the founder Chairman of
Guardian Pharmacies. A keen political observer, he is an Angel Investor and
Executive Coach. He is the author of 5 best-selling books, Reboot. Reinvent.
Rewire: Managing Retirement in the 21st Century; The Corner Office; An Eye for
an Eye; The Buck Stops Here - Learnings of a #Startup Entrepreneur and The Buck
Stops Here – My Journey from a Manager to an Entrepreneur.
- Twitter: @gargashutosh
- Instagram: ashutoshgarg56
- Blog: ashutoshgargin.wordpress.com | ashutoshgarg56.blogspot.com
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