And by a whopping mandate it has declared the 100+ year old Congress party as capabale enough to manage this great country for the next 5 years. It has done so without ambiguity, and has left no room for shakiness at the centre in the form of volatile driven-by-need coaltions or by power hungry time serving politicians.

The country has also voted succinctly and clearly against the left and has left them stumbling and incapable, even in their own bastions of Kerala and West Bengal. Not to be left behind, the bourses, when they opened on Monday, lauded this decision by two successive upper circuit breakers as the index spiralled up to glory, leaving no one in doubt about their decision to vote.

For me however, this brings in a huge diaspora of mixed emotions. The happy ones have been listed above, as I shared people sentiments of a stable govt, and market sentiments of faith leading to rises in indices. The ones that really irk me as of now are:

1) I see that we are heading back towards a regime where ruling party reins are handed down in the family, irrespective of capability or qualifications. Takes me back to eras where maharajah’s were elected at birth.

2) I see a weak opposition now, a much needed facet of any democracy that prides itself on being driven by mandate. An opposition that risks the danger of standing leaderless, and probably missionless too.

I have also spent the past 3 days skimming over regions, people who won, margins they won by and so on, and I have these points that hit my face when I look at an inch below the surface of this victory.

1) That the Congress has won on a purely minority vote aggregation. Sounds ridiculous ? Check out their strong bastions as of now : Kerala, TN, Andhra, where Xtian conversion activities are gathering force daily, and plague the very fibre of a really ancient culture. Check out UP and other bastions, where the Muslims have voted en masse for the Congress.

How can I really call a party that has focused on pure divisive strategies to polarize communities and win, secular? Just because they keep their minority forces satisfied and leave the rest of the country to its own devices?

2) Hindu (the majority) votes have been divided and dispersed by regional parties, star power, etc, to the point of being absolutely miniscule and unaccountable.

The bastions that remain with the BJP today in the form of states are ones that firmly protect culture by keeping away minority appeasement policies and by keeping conversions at bay. Staunchly, firmly Hindu with no move or trend to garner those “minority votes” through appeasement. (Many may of course choose to view this as “communal.”) But this is the stark reality that stands out today.

That Varun Gandhi would win, I had no doubt of. That he would win by such a whopping margin surprises me, given especially that he made “communal” speeches.

While I welcome this Govt and the immediate sense of stability it brin’gs to the country, I am worried about the long run. Especially given the ruling party’s leanings towards minority appeasement in various forms. And by its approach to define leadership of both the party and country in terms of Family.

I think its time I joined the BJP. If of course, it changes its fence sitting stand and decides to go and proudly label itself a Hindu party without being communal.

I for one would love to live in an India thats HINDU. A country where all religions from time immemorial have been tolerated and encouraged in terms of practice (not in terms of rsions, mind you). A country where I can go to a temple with my head held high, and not be labeled “communal.” A country whose culture I protect by not permitting conversions or allowing appeasements that lead to nothing but polarization.

Sanjeev

It has all the ingredients of being an AMAZING campaign.

• Naughty and Provocative, pure tongue in cheek.
• Doesn’t damage life n property directly.
• Adds value to a flagging economy (chaddi’s sold).
• Doesn’t need a mass gathering, or anything like that.
• Is cool enough for each to do his/her own way.
• Is Rad/mod/etc.
• Has no political overtones except a nice bubbly pink.

This has been the best viral, and public support garnering engine I’ve seen in AGEZZZZ. Be it whatever cause, whatever reaction, this is way too cool.

However, this campaign also troubles me not a bit. I am FORCED to remember other sundry demonstrations of hate against  freedom to be just you, to express yourself, similar to the one that the SRS wrought on people.

I remember various similar incidents that took place by radical, fundamentalist Islamic groups against

• Taslima Nasreen
• Salman Rushdie
• And of course, who can forget the fatwa against Sania Mirza for “not covering her body while playing tennis” ?
• And others.

These incidents were not seen as serious  by people at all … leave alone the people, the Govt of India also did not come out strongly against it in terms of directly denouncing acts like these. Why didn’t anyone come out to send whatever-colored-chaddis, bangles, etc to these bigots who had the gumption to physically abuse a woman, whose only claim to this treatment was that she spoke against percepts/beliefs of a “religion” ?

Since when has India been so Talibanized that one can’t speak their minds out about a religion, whatever religion (remember, we value secularity and democracy above all) and feel free to walk around with their heads high? Or has bashing up any cause driven by Only Hindu / Hindutva forces or brigades become fashionable?

I have been feeling of late, and incidents like these, where Minority expressions of hate are spared, that the biggest bane our country faces or will face, is the slowly ticking time bomb of “minority appeasement” politics. I also have the very sincere feeling, that within this country’s secular framework, there’s a slowly expanding, as yet un-vented, level of resentment against these minority appeasement politics. Its a resentment born out of the underlying fact, that all acts in the names of minorities are tolerated, and people are allowed to get away, while Hindu / Hindutva related episoded are considered worth bashing up.

While the above is not a pro-Muthalik or pro-SRS stand in any way, its a question mark, as to when these entities born out of   “appeasement politics” will wither and die away on their own?

My take is that this will happen, when the Govt stops various minority appeasement policies in the name of religion, caste and creed. And when the Govt and people will start treating ALL such impingement on freedom of expression with equal severity.

Like sending whatever as naughty or weird to those Fundamentalists who slapped Taslima Nasreen in public. Like sending something even more weird to a Sanjay Dutt who’s standing for elections. Or to Ministers / Govt who collect temple funds, and levy pilgrim tax on Hindus to subsidize pilgrimages / trysts with GOD that other religions take.

Simple fundas of misplaced nepotism, driven by Govt after Greedy Govt to get Votes and their share in the organized looting structure of politics, are what have made the Muthaliks of the world raise their ugly heads up. And these heads will continue to stay reared till all religions, castes, creeds, sects are given equal status. Not as members of a vertical, but as citizens of India.

Sanjeev Sarma