The Mumbai attacks have widened the social gap, and blurred it

A news TV channel was recently asking its viewers to call and give their views on the recent terror attacks in Mumbai. Among a flurry of calls condemning the attacks and expressing sorrow and condolences for the dead a few people mentioned that all this hue and cry was being raised because this time the terrorists had targeted the rich and the influential. Although some poor people died in random shootings the biggest brunt of the attacks was borne by two highly expensive hotels. These hotels are frequented by the high and mighty of business, glamour and politics.

This article in New York Times talks about the same gap between the rich and the poor. It’s not the first time the country has witnessed violence; as the writer of this article rightly states that there were the Gujarat riots where thousands of Muslims were killed and then denied justice afterwards and then there were anti-Sikh riots in 1984 and here too the victims were denied justice. These rich and famous people kept quiet although there were always some scattered murmurs here and there.

Not only riots, there have been numerous terrorist attacks on railway stations, on trains, on local markets, all sorts of violent acts that defy human logic take place in urban as well as rural areas, people of the lower castes are treated like animals, literally, women and even small girls are mass-raped and not even a single leaf of protest stirs on the streets of the metropolitan cities, and this kind of apprising against the politicians and the administration has been conspicuously lacking.

Barkha Dutt rightly mentioned some time ago that the Mumbai-like situations keep on taking place in Jammu and Kashmir and it doesn’t move the rest of the country to protests and demonstrations. Why wasn’t there a mass moment for the persecution of Narendra Modi after the Gujarat riots? Why wasn’t the Chief Minister forced to step down after the Mumbai train blasts? This time, the Union Home Minister had to resign, and the State Home Minister and the Chief Minister of Maharashtra had to go, all because the rich and the famous were targeted this time by the terrorists.

All along if these people have been thinking that they are immune to the woes of the common man they have been living in a denial of gigantic proportions. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor, sooner or later the general civic conditions catch-up with you, slap your face and wake you up. If the streets are unsafe for the poor they are also unsafe for the rich because everybody has to use those streets.

I wonder why people fail to understand that everything in our society is interrelated. Whether it is corruption, lawlessness, disrespect for the public property, hatred against various communities, castes and economic classes, the rural-urban divide and a general indifference towards fellow human beings, everything boils down to a condition where living a normal, safe life becomes almost impossible. You cannot demand safety without demanding social justice. You cannot protest against criminal politicians without voting. You cannot complain against corruption without resisting temptation to get things done the easier way by bribing. You cannot impart proper education to your children if all you are worried about is completing their syllabi. You cannot suppress social unrest unless everybody gets equal opportunities. You cannot remove hatred without spreading love.

Want to make your country safe for your children and their children? Do the following:

• Define a zero tolerance policy against lawlessness, corruption and other malpractices.
• Strictly keep religion a private affair and never ever let your religious leaders and politicians mix it with politics.
• Demand better civic services. Demand better roads. Demand better buildings. Demand uninterrupted power supply and clean water. Demand education for everybody. Demand for and health services for everybody. Don’t let the population of the country become an excuse.
• Act as a nation whenever possible. Don’t protest only when you are hurt. Fight for your neighbor, fight for your neighbor’s neighbor, and fight for that poor farmer living in that far away village.
• Give respect and demand respect.
• Fight for justice wherever you feel that justice is denied.
• If it is in your capability try to raise the standard of living of people living around you.
• Always be on the alert.
• Don’t dislike people because they are rich, poor, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, upper castes and lower castes. After all we all have to live in the same country. It is very stupid to think that one segment of the society can be safe while the other bleeds.
• Educate people. Even if you are able to educate one person it can have a cascading effect.
• Feel proud of your country in the real sense not in jingoistic manner.

Of course, you can keep on adding various actions. Among these there are many things that cannot be achieved by a single person. It needs to be a collective effort simply because even the evil things in the society work collectively. If you are observant you will notice that corrupt politicians never stand against each other even if they belong to opposite parties. Bad people act bad with impunity because most of the time they are united. Good people need to unite too, for a change.