#1347 India, a land of exotic allure to the foreigners, has lost all its charm for me. I have become desensitized to what once might have been. That pull of patriotism is long gone. And I feel like I must disillusion the rest. You people who come to this land to “find yourself” and to find inner peace or become one, yes, you, you are being robbed at every step and every turn. That money you just gave to the guy pulling your rickshaw? Yeah, it doesn’t really cost that much to get from point A to point B. Anything and everything you do comes with at least a three hundred percent mark up. But see, here’s the thing, it’s not just you we con, it’s our own people, too. As soon as a shopkeeper figures out that this lady, who is Indian, actually lives in America, the price of that saree she’s looking is going up. You, my white friend, are no exception to the rule, especially when you make it so obvious with your sun burnt, pale complexion. We do not discriminate against any one race in particular. No, sir. Instead we discriminate against everyone equally. Consistency. We discriminate against each other just as much, if not more. He’s Jatt, he’s Brahmin, he’s Khatri. Anyone who thinks that the caste system is long gone is only kidding themselves. And how can it be gone when the “underprivileged” minorities of these very castes have managed to secure special quotas for themselves in every single field of life: school, college, university, work. These quotas give them seats that they might have not deserved and pay that is more than they earned. Anything and everything – we’ve got a quota for that. We discriminate against the minority religions. If a Sikh or a Muslim is the victim, little to no justice will be served, but if the roles are reversed, the most extreme action that the ‘justice’ system can be dispensed will be carried out. These people might even be labeled as “terrorists”. The whole world knows of Adolf Hitler and the genocide he carried out. But very few people are aware of the Anti- Sikh genocide carried out by the predominantly Hindu, Indian government in 1984. The government openly ?? grounds considered religious, paid criminal gangs (freed from prisons) to go kill, rape and pluder any Sikhs they encountered. These are the very Sikhs that stand beside their fellow officers in combat and guard the lines and have time and again brought glory to the nation, the very Sikhs who have sacrificed their people, not just for their own religion but for other religions as well. And Shaheed Bhagat Singh, another Sikh, who fought for independence and probably did more in his youth for this country than any lawyer ever did in a lifetime (let’s face it, all he did was let this country split into three pieces, the price of which Jammu & Kashmir are paying to this day). And the people responsible for those atrocities are the ones who are still in power today. We discriminate against the women – the very women who have given us life, nurtured us, taught us, and more often than not, are complete strangers to us. Why? Why do we harass them, mock them, humiliate them? I am certain that your mother raised you better and such behavior towards your sisters would not be deemed acceptable. Then why did you just whisper the highly offensive comment to that complete stranger that you just passed by? She, too, is someone’s daughter, sister, wife, mother. How can anyone even expect us to help the world find Kony when we can’t even contain the Konys of our land? People are brainwashed here, while the government looks on, too afraid to do anything at the risk of losing votes. Our Konys drive around in (six) cars with same license plates, have their personal armies, mock the minority religions, have been convicted of rape and murder numerous times, do not even bother to show up for trial, and yet manage to evade any consequences whatsoever. They are untouchable. It’s no wonder why they have deranged god complexes. The media humiliates the victim and victimizes the criminal. They don’t spare any dignity for the woman who is already humiliated enough by the crimes committed against her, and yet, somehow, she’s the one being blamed for being out with a man, or wearing inappropriate clothing. Are you suggesting that men of this country are such beats that they have to control their primal urges at every step of the way? And God forbid that they see some skin, because then they are not accountable for their actions and are just bound to rape. It is because of you that most crimes go unreported. People protest. Groups get together and petition for justice (something that should be a given to begin with) and yet nothing of significance actually happens. I remember looking at the front page of a newspaper in December; five separate rape cases were in the headlines. It is a shame that after being titled “The Largest Democracy in the World”, we still cannot provide justice. That title is just a title and nothing more. Where we cannot provide justice for the people living on this side of the fence, how can anyone expect us to provide any justice for people like Sarabjit Singh? He may not be a martyr for any religion in particular but he was a martyr for human rights. The rich get richer as the poor…well, you know. Come on, Bollywood, do we really need another incoherent musical love story that you probably ripped off of another foreign movie? No creativity. At all. The entrepreneurs don’t just deal with one product, no. The same people who make the cement used in your house, also make the SIM cards you put in your phones and oh, the salt on your table. The common has little to no chance for growth. No opportunity is presented to him. The fat cats get fatter still. Most of you who started reading this have probably flipped me off, cursed me out in the comments below and closed the window. Amidst the few of you who have stuck around, there are some going “India is good, it’s the corrupt politicians to blame”. Here’s my thought on that: Just as a person is what he/she eats, a country is what its people make it. We are the ones who time and again elect the same people who have made false promises and wronged us in the past. Who am I, you ask? What gives me the right to have such opinions? I am not a historian, a researcher, a professor, a politician. No, rather I a person who lives – no, exists in this country. I am an underpaid farmer that feeds the entire country as my own go hungry; I am a woman scared of walking down the street day or night; I am a child, whose innocence has been lost, striped away by force. An unheard voice. I am a faceless person with a computer.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Jun 2013 14:46:11 +0000
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