We as a collective have a long journey ahead…

Saw a poster on social media of Mamata Banerjee as goddess Kali holding the severed head of what looks like prime minister Narendra Modi after the recent election results. I am not really a Modi supporter and I have to admit my ignorance about Mamata Banerjee’s performance as a political leader. The feeling I am trying to share here is not really about politics. I am puzzled about some of the people that I actually look up to and in whose political outlook I have faith. According to me the poster and some of the memes being shared by some of them are very violent in nature. I understand people’s perception of the ruling party and their frustration with the way they are using their power. All that resistance and activism is totally justified while some memes and expressions seem to be way too violent and lack basic human respect. An immediate reaction to these claims would come in the form of a comparison to the ways of expression and the trolling done by the other side. Yes I agree that they are beyond disrespectful, manipulative and deceptive. However this comparison doesn’t serve me in understanding the need for violent imagery. 

These images could be indicative of what we are demanding as people, as a community and a society. The way we are celebrating it looks like we are seeing the triumph of the good over evil. However in reality it could just be the winning of the less unreasonable over utterly unreasonable political powers. It can be celebrated but this doesn’t end our quest for ideal leaders. It doesn’t end our quest for parties that truly believe in democratic ways of administration. We as a collective have a long journey ahead. It disappoints me deeply when well meaning and intelligent people resort to the use of a discourse that is similar to that of the ones they are passionately against. The aggression in their celebration scares me of a future where they could also behave like today’s blind followers after their party comes into power. 

The pursuit here is a holistic one. It is of a society that upholds human dignity, democracy, compassion and empathy. This pursuit also includes in itself a chapter on the process of identifying good leadership. It is important for us as individuals to aspire for these values too and not use our votes to bet on a leader and outsource them to uphold those values. We need to be careful about the language we use, the expressions and images we propagate in our political discourse. Remember there are a lot of people like me who are quietly looking up to you and your views to form our own narratives. 

Skanda

3/5/21

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