The Unjust Divide

Not a big fan of controversial topics but one thing baffles me about India is the huge perception/real divide between the Hindu and Muslim communities.  

 ·       In school days we had Mohammad Rafi, whose mother shouldered burden of feeding kids after his father’s death. He wanted to settle in life soon so that he can help his mother financially. Then there was Madhavan, whose father lost fortune in business and he wanted to do better in life to support his family.

·       We also had a gullible Imran and Raman, who were close buddies and marched all of us to the house of a pretty girl in school, only to be intimidated by her big brother.

·       We then had Praveen and Hidayat, who fiercely competed with us to become school topper in 10^th.

·       In college days, we had Shahid who used to study with me with a common ambition of getting a good job in campus placements. When Shahid fell short of funds to pay fee, it was Hari who helped him with a loan.

·       We then had Basha who used to tutor us in Biology course, who in turn got tutored by Chalapthi or ramki for math where he needed help.

·       We also had Rafi who partnered with Ramki who is building fintech in India and working with Global MNC.

·       In our colony, we have Mr. Jaishakar who goes about his life as blissfully as Mr Khan, who exchange cordial relationship.

Well as you can see in the above examples, there is so much similarity between a common hindu and muslim. But we unjustly draw a divide basis religion, as if they are poles apart. I don’t see any commonality between Rafi and a certain MIM Leader, whom we try to see in same lens. Nor any comparison between Madhavan and RSS leader (or some hindu leader).  Our basic premise that muslims have lot in common with the leaders who pretend to work for them (likewise hindu leaders) needs review. There is a huge divide between them and the leaders who vouch for them in terms of financial, social, political status but we unjustly put them into same club. Just like an average hindu, a muslim wants to live peacefully providing for his family and trying to improve day by day. We are getting divided for political aspirations of few leaders who don’t really care about us, which is a pity.

We all need to realize it and bridge the perception/real gap to strive live in harmony.

Role of Neutrals in a Polarized World

India was historically country with less political polarization. This trait gave raise many regional parties and national parties to coexist in the largest democracy of the world. Each of states were ruled by different parties owing to dynamics of the region, preferences of people, charisma of the leaders, and issues that were prevalent. This is good sign that there is good portion of people who are open to choosing option that they think is suited to run the state. Similarly at nation level even though Congress ruled the country for most part, there were enough evidences that nation did not give clear mandate and the choice kept waving  basis the agenda and policies backed by the parties that came to power.

In recent past there seems to be a change in demographic on the political affinity attribute. Noticeable polarization is being observed in people and the neutrals are being reduced to a small group. Given this shift neutrals are now entrusted with responsibility of ensuring they analyse and read the situation and decide well, this is not easy task.

•  Resisting Strong urge to be part of a gang – Like every one neutrals may get sense of being wanted, part of a gang. This can lead them to sway one way or other thus shrinking the group even further. It is an urge that needs to be resisted.
• Social Media distractions – With explosion of social media we get fed what they want us to hear. We are continuously being fed half information, fake news and some logical lies which distract you and try to pull towards a gang.
• Biased Media – Even the most lauded new papers and TV subscribe to one ideology or the other and deliberately or otherwise feed us with biases info
• Lack of proper analysis – with so much information to grasp it is not an easy  task to comprehend fully and decide. There is chance of misunderstanding/misinterpretation of information at disposal.
•  Blind followership – Some neutrals due to limitation in point#4, resort to follow an intellectual blindly with a view that I am sure he would have thought through this.
• Apathy – Over a period of time, some neutrals lose hope and become apathetic towards the process and system 

Neutrals in fact decide the fate of the nation as their votes are decisive and crucial for fair outcomes in democracy. They must understand the value of their contributions and try and resist above traps to make the nation better.