Those days, the riots were not like they are now: There has - TopicsExpress



          

Those days, the riots were not like they are now: There has been a sea change in the politics, pace, perspective and policy of riots. Till about thirty years ago, people were not burnt alive during riots, neither were entire neighbourhoods laid to waste. Nor did rioters have the blessings of Prime ministers, Home Ministers and Chief Ministers. Riots were usually orchestrated by small-time, local leaders with short-term, immediate greeds and concerns. Business rivalries, land grabbing, garnering the Hindu or Muslim vote in the municipality elections – these were the usual compulsions behind most riots. Now, communal riots have become a means of staking the claim to the throne in Delhi. Only those who can cause rivers of blood to run in the name of communal violence and hatred can bell the cat of the world’s largest democracy. The riots stretched on and on like the devil’s entrails and people began to tire – Yaar, if you count the Hindu and Muslim thugs in the city, how many would there be? A thousand, all right, two thousand at the most. And these two thousand people have managed to make the lives of thousands upon thousands of god-fearing law-abiding citizens a living hell. And what are we doing about it? Nothing. We are sitting in our homes like scared mice. Doesn’t it remind you of the time when ten thousand Englishmen ruled over millions of Indians? And who is the beneficiary in these riots? Beneficiary? Why, who else but Haji Abdul Karim who is fighting the municipality election and will bag all the Muslim votes. And Pandit Jogeshwar who will mop up all the Hindu votes. But what about us? What are we? You are a voter – a Hindu voter, Muslim voter, Harijan voter, Kayasth voter, Sunni voter, Shia voter. Will it always be like this in this country? Yes, why not? Where people are illiterate, where you can get guns on hire, where politicians orchestrate riots to keep their seats of power, what else do you expect? Yaar, can’t we educate the people … bring about greater awareness? Ha-ha-ha-ha. Who are you to educate the people? The Government will do it -- if it wants to. You mean, if the Government doesn’t want to, nothing will ever get done in this country?
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 15:25:03 +0000

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