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Ambivalence that nurturesthe narrative of discontent
by Merlot Daruwala Mon Nov 02, 2015 7:38 pm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Ambivalence-that-nurturesthe-narrative-of-discontent/articleshow/49621898.cms
Merlot Daruwala- Posts : 5005
Join date : 2011-04-29
Re: Ambivalence that nurturesthe narrative of discontent
by Guest Tue Nov 03, 2015 12:16 am
extract:
Take the case of writers and others returning their awards. Surely, it is their right to return something that has been conferred on them. One could argue that as a gesture, it is a somewhat empty one, given that the award in the first place is a recognition which cannot be 'returned' in any meaningful sense. But it is this very emptiness of gesture that seems to infuriate the supporters of the government, for it comes without any specific demands—it is a pure act of protest without asking for anything concrete in return.
Instead of either selectively acknowledging, ignoring or debating the premise of the protests, the dominant strategy seems to be to call the protestors names or to accuse them of selective outrage, which in effect tries to shift the debate away from the present to the past, and from the issue to the credentials of the protestor. Reactions like these merely confirm fears about intolerance rather than address them,.
And it is not just the vocal support base that gives rise to suspicions about the intent of this regime. When PM Modi himself talks about a plot by the Grand Alliance to give away part of the OBC quota to a 'certain community', or Amit Shah talks about crackers going off in Pakistan if the BJP were to lose in Bihar or indeed when the RSS officially discusses the need for a policy intervention to check the population growth rates of Christians and Muslims in the country, it is not easy to admonish the critics of this government.
The onus is on the ruling side to fix the current perception and by continuing to denounce anyone who voices fears, it is only making things worse. As things stand, the government's problem is that it is angry about being criticized, but appears unwilling to remove the reason for the criticism. It sees the critic as the problem rather than the criticism. It hates with an equal passion those it accuses of hating it and a government has no business dealing in hate. That is the difference between a government and its critics, or at least should be.
Take the case of writers and others returning their awards. Surely, it is their right to return something that has been conferred on them. One could argue that as a gesture, it is a somewhat empty one, given that the award in the first place is a recognition which cannot be 'returned' in any meaningful sense. But it is this very emptiness of gesture that seems to infuriate the supporters of the government, for it comes without any specific demands—it is a pure act of protest without asking for anything concrete in return.
Instead of either selectively acknowledging, ignoring or debating the premise of the protests, the dominant strategy seems to be to call the protestors names or to accuse them of selective outrage, which in effect tries to shift the debate away from the present to the past, and from the issue to the credentials of the protestor. Reactions like these merely confirm fears about intolerance rather than address them,.
And it is not just the vocal support base that gives rise to suspicions about the intent of this regime. When PM Modi himself talks about a plot by the Grand Alliance to give away part of the OBC quota to a 'certain community', or Amit Shah talks about crackers going off in Pakistan if the BJP were to lose in Bihar or indeed when the RSS officially discusses the need for a policy intervention to check the population growth rates of Christians and Muslims in the country, it is not easy to admonish the critics of this government.
The onus is on the ruling side to fix the current perception and by continuing to denounce anyone who voices fears, it is only making things worse. As things stand, the government's problem is that it is angry about being criticized, but appears unwilling to remove the reason for the criticism. It sees the critic as the problem rather than the criticism. It hates with an equal passion those it accuses of hating it and a government has no business dealing in hate. That is the difference between a government and its critics, or at least should be.
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