Media Must Appeal for Peace

Who we are? Hindu or Muslim? When there is ‘Ali’ in “diwALI” and‘Ram’ in “RAMzan” then India must stand united. The verdict on Badri Masjid vs Ramjanambhoomi case should not affect the fabric of Indian democracy which has adopted the principle of SECULARISM with much pride. Our society has always been a tolerant society. When politics and religion go hand in hand then the verdict can destroy the peaceful environment of the country. Since the dispute is of political nature Hindus and Muslims must restrain themselves from reacting against the verdict.

ROLE OF MEDIA

As media plays a crucial in every issue of national and international importance and faces lots of criticism in giving a hyper and negative direction to issues of less importance sometimes, then media must come up to prove itself that it has been the power of media which has changed the scene of Indian politics by bringing every shortcomings of our government institutions. Newspapers, news channels, news website, the internet in general, social networking sites like facebook, mobile communication, all must pave way for peace. All modes of media and communication must appeal the people to keep faith in our institutions. And the same appeal should be made to the decision takers that they must be morally committed in reaching some conclusion.

Be it today or be it tomorrow, be the decision a Muslims favouring or Hindus favouring, be the decision taken by Allahabad High Court or the Supreme Court, or be the decision taken outside the court walls, people must restrain themselves from any dispute, for if we face some bad outcome of the verdict ( which should not happen) then we have not grown as good citizens and do not respect our Constitution.

Caste Census and Identity Politics

Identity politics has come to occupy a new phase in the contemporary politics. There is a supposed link between recognition and identity. Non-recognition or misrecognition can inflict harm, can be a form of oppression, imprisoning someone in a false, distorted and reduced mode of being.

Caste identity has been central in Indian politics. Caste has been a self-enclosed unit, it limits social interaction. It carries our identity. Caste is a rule and not a principle. As rules are hard to change but principles aren’t. It’s a major impediment in the growth of the society. There are caste-based political parties and even state institutions are providing caste-quotas. This probes to be a critical problem. In 2011 India will carry out its’ first caste based census, and this will bring new political forces in the country. The political players will be more caste focused in upcoming elections. People will not only identify themselves with a particular caste but this will also bring in the opportunity for the political parties to campaign for votes on caste-basis.

The future results of the Caste Census aren’t unpredictable and it makes us wonder for the ones who are against practicing caste, that why this decision was reached. The government has to take rational decisions, not based on the responses and pressure from the political parties but actually based on the ground realities, where caste identity is a major concern for the Indian society.