It is customary for analysts to reflect and reminisce about the year-gone by and deduct useful lessons by going through the major events and trends that took place in the preceding year. 2020 for the globe was the year of the COVID-19 or the coronavirus pandemic but for India it was about a far more deadly virus than the SARS-CoV-2; it was undoubtedly the virus of ‘hate and polarisation’ that swept through the body politic of India and brought untold and unimaginable misery and ignominy to our nation.
The politics of polarisation was the most destructive and dreadful aspect of 2020 and will remain its most damaging and abiding legacy. The coronavirus will be neutralised by vaccines and antibiotic medicines but the virus of ‘communalism and divisiveness’ will remain for years to come. This virus is not only dangerous for the individual but also for our society, nation and the entire civilization.
British historian, Arnold Joseph Toynbee said: “Civilizations die from suicide not murder.” The greatest reason for suicide seems to be polarisation and division. The entire world is confronted by the phenomenon of populism and polarisation. This scourge is gaining strength in some of the largest democracies of the world and is challenging its core ideology. Democracy appears to be on the retreat and in some cases is becoming irrelevant. In our own country, this beast of populism and polarisation has reached the zenith of its power and popularity. It appears invincible and it is crushing all the norms, protocols and institutions of democracy under its feet. It is time for civil society, faith-leaders and the people at large to make it their bounden duty to fight and confront this project of populism and polarisation with all their might in the year 2021.
One extremely disturbing development during the past year has been the passing of ordinances and laws in states governed by the ruling party that openly violate the right to privacy, personal freedom and the liberty to profess and practise any religion. The laws have been popularised in the media as “anti-love jihad”, however, their real intention is the execution of the “project-hate” and the harassment and intimidation of minorities.
In fact, sensing the gravity of the situation and the extreme danger, these laws pose to personal civil liberties, a group of 104 former bureaucrats wrote a letter to the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The letter spoke plainly and painted a bleak image of the state of affairs pointing out – “It has become painfully evident that, in recent years, UP, once known as the cradle of the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb, has become the epicentre of the politics of hate, division and bigotry and that the institutions of governance are now steeped in communal poison.”
The year 2020 will also be remembered for the cynical and deplorable role played by the Indian media, especially the television media. It reached its nadir by becoming mouthpieces of the government and becoming the flagship enterprise of the project of hate and polarisation. Some have even commented that the year 2020 has been a year of national shame for TV channels.
At a time when the entire country was battling the coronavirus, doctors, nurses and health workers were desperately trying to save lives with whatever resources at their disposal, students did not know what would become of their future, people were losing jobs, the economy had come to a standstill and the unplanned lockdown by the government had created the biggest migrant-labour crisis in history; our national media and TV channels was busy in marketing the agenda of division and minority-bashing. They were trying to divert the attention of the public from the basic bread and butter issues to other unimportant issues. The death of democracy is precipitated by the death of democratic institutions.
The media is the fifth pillar of democracy and plays the role of the conscience of a nation. Unfortunately, 2020 set a very depressing impression about the moral bankruptcy of the Indian media, an impression that will take years to rectify and repair. Media should take up the real issues of the country, keep a watch on the policies of the government and try to keep the society united and connected.
Democracy is not merely about electoral politics. The real spirit of democracy is consensus building and creating an abundance of trust between the rulers and the ruled. The will of the people must be respected but within the framework of the Constitution. There has to be a ‘genuine’ system of checks and balances, not something that is implemented only in letter and not the spirit. The main tools of a healthy democracy are its institutions along with civil society. Conscientious citizens have to take up cudgels on behalf of the entire nation to confront and challenge the state if it starts crossing the limits of its defined powers and resorts to injustice, coercion and oppression.
The year 2020 will be remembered as the year, which saw the rise of popular uprisings that was exceptionally peaceful and completely organic without any political backing. Most importantly, it was led by the Muslim community and that too by its women who are perceived to be backward, uneducated, introverted and subjugated. The Shaheen-Bagh protests bust the myth of the docile and inarticulate Muslim woman and gave a strong message that justice-loving people of all communities will unite in the fight for the protection of the Constitution and the discrimination of minorities.
This unprecedented protest formed a bulwark against the arbitrary implementation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and formed a historic foundation against the dictatorial tendencies of the government. The Shaheen Bagh movement shall always be the benchmark against which future peoples’ movements will be measured and the protestors of the recent farmers’ agitation unapologetically accept that they were inspired by Shaheen Bagh.
The role of these peoples’ movements becomes all the more critical when the main political opposition becomes ineffective and irrelevant as is the case today. Of course, like any movement against injustice, the anti-CAA-NRC movement had to face government crackdown and its students and youth leadership are giving tremendous sacrifices by undergoing incarceration on false and fabricated charges and continue to be resolute and defiant in defending the truthfulness of their cause.
It is of utmost importance that the people of India uphold the values of truth, justice, equality, liberty, fraternity and mutual tolerance. These values should be the glue that binds various communities and social groups. Efforts should be made to remove the misunderstandings and reduce the trust-deficit between them. Irrespective of the polarising narrative peddled by the media and politicians, every individual in society should be respected and there should be promotion of love, understanding and harmony at the societal level. Every section and strata of society must be part of this endeavour.
There must be efforts from the people and civil society to fight for justice and early release of those wrong jailed on frivolous charges for leading the peoples’ movement against injustice and to protect the Constitution. The year 2021 should become the year in which all of us exercise maximum efforts to end this climate of hate and polarisation.
[This article has been derived from a speech of President Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Syed Sadatullah Husaini, given as part of his presidential remarks in an online seminar (dated 30 December 2020) “Year 2020 Introspection & The way ahead”]