By Pragati Kandpal
Things may never be the same again- the dead who were victims of various political games will not rise up from somewhere to breathe again. They will never see the rising sun nor the various forms of God’s creation. I wish the sun’s rays were the rays of ‘knowledge of truth’ to help people understand things with more maturity rather than becoming mere puppets controlled by the masked people in white.
The difference between the white which outshines everything else in front of it and the white which is as dark as black can never be easily recognised by anyone since the line between the two is blurred. Politics either makes a person or breaks one, where the idea of the throne lures everyone into doing everything possible. It would have been very convenient for me to take up examples of the ‘great souls’ around me but it is not simple as that. Who knows, I may land up in jail tomorrow. After all, is it really a democratic country?
Politics is not something which is new or of the type which comes or is forgotten like the fashion trends in the market which function on demands and profit. It has always been trendy and complex! Is there something which is not influenced by politics ? It is present everywhere, from homes to offices – schools to colleges – vendors to shopkeepers – working class to bureaucrats- we all are a part of it. We all are deeply rooted in the power games in order to achieve our goals by either hook or crook. People have never believed in keeping things simple, they have always been involved in politics and experienced that adrenaline rush, the shiver down the spine. Once used to it, people do become addicted.
Be it the epics like Mahabharata or Ramayan , the battles fought and the political games have always excited and amused us to an extent. With movies like Apaharan, Rajneeti, Satyagraha, people are actually getting a hang of reality and are trying their best to understand and interpret things in the ways they can.
The Partition of 1947, Emergency imposed during the time of Mrs. Indira Gandhi as the Prime Minister, Kargil War, Godhra riots of 2002, Mumbai and Ahmedabad bomb blasts, 26/11 attack and the Muzaffarnagar riots which are still in motion, all listed above have somewhere been a part of the political framework which has left everyone’s memories scarred for life. The debate as to who should be held responsible is still on. People need to understand and think from an open mindset which gives them the liberty to actually think from the perspective of the ‘other’, only then will the dream of a homogenized nation state be fulfilled. The others in real life are our mirror images because they breathe the same air we do and have the same basic needs for survival. Only learning the actual game of politics is going to help us in our survival because for the majority, killing the other is easier than letting the other live.
