India & Diversity

India is a country of diversities, you name them you have them. Call them diversities in religion, cultures, languages, food habits, clothes, dresses and so many other things besides the great social values. In fact that's what we have been taught right from our childhood but things are taking a new turn lately. I would not like to name them but certain forces are constantly trying to destroy the fabric of unity in their own vested interests. People believe that India is the oldest culture of the world which dates back to lachks of years but I would prefer to keep it to at least 5,000 years old but whatever its age right now it is in danger of being molested. 

If the ongoing discussion on tolerance is any proof, the conspirators are working overtime on their plans for dividing the great people of this country into the pre-independence era or going further back to year 1857 when India was not a proper country but a group of kingdoms ruled by different clans. We are going through a tough period where people are not sure what’s going on. As far as religion is concerned India has largest number of religious groups here including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhist, Paresis and Jains. However, the way brains are being washed through baseless debates is enough to delude not so developed minds. 

The Role of Media 

There is so much going on in electronic media, print media, social sites and other forums which is more than enough for confusing even the most intelligent people so what to talk of illiterate and semi-illiterate masses of this country who take all such matters seriously and probably they are the targets of cunning politicians on either site of the center of power. If you happen to visit social media sites especially twitter, Facebook or Whatsapp, you will see lots of rumors are making rounds presented so authentically that make sound impression on readers to great extent. 

As far informed people are concerned they do not take them seriously but read, maybe make a light comment and move on. Different newspapers and magazines in twenty-two official languages of India and many more in unofficial languages are full of posts and comments in favor and against the ongoing discussion day in and day out ever since a few minor incidents took place in certain places. The social media is full of double meaning messages most of which have not a genuine source but the advent of internet spreads them so fast which was unimaginable in the last decade.

It’s worth mentioning here that most educated and matured people do not believe in such baseless gossips but we have immature and lesser informed sources among us who do not think seriously before reaching to a conclusion. It’s also true that certain educated members in the social media also participate and spread baseless messages but most of them accept their fault and delete their posts if told the reality, which is proof enough to show the greatness of people, our culture and understanding. I would like to mention one senior member in my Facebook list who leaves no chance posting strange messages not his own though but that have any reliability in them whatsoever. I felt like giving him a message to post what he feels is authentic but gave up the idea. Today, the media is busy spreading rumors about everything in the name of freedom of expression without investigating the reality or thinking about the result it will bring to the country in the long run.

Role of Social Media

I am not in favor of any restriction on any media but the part of electronic and print media which is not following ethics of the trade should stop making people believe that our institutions are biased. The impression among the general TV news channel viewer is that we are passing through a civil-war in India which is absolutely untrue but spread by the vested interests for political or financial gain. I fail to understand how any responsible media can behave like in this manner which helps intentions of enemy. Beside the role of print and electronic media social media too is unable to play its role positively and allowing irresponsible and unauthentic content on this platform. The social media allows thousands of posts everyday which can very well be put in objectionable category.

Social media undoubtedly has its brighter side but it has become the main source of unsocial activities of late. The thousands of posts are proof which hit institutes, nations, personalities or any particular religion face the hate messages without check. I feel it is not necessary to say that until a few years before this world was not only a group of seven continents but was divided into many geological and religious groups as well where it was not difficult to hide the information. The news was available but it took a long time reaching to different parts of the world. 

For instance the incident of Tienanmen Square that happened in 1989 but not many people knew about it that time not even in China. But a fax that was received in distant country revealed it to the rest of the world. But that was an old story, now the world has turned into a global village. The internet has brought the people very near to each other. However, if the internet has played its role for bringing up the knowledge it has its share of distraction too. The internet has provided an easy way to terrorists for brainwashing and appointing new members easily. The latest example is dreaded terrorist group IS which is using it for recruitment and messaging purpose. The politicians are not far behind they use this platform for hate propaganda. 

The worst that could happen to this otherwise wonderful platform is that people are not using it for sharing their personal views only but it’s been used by organized political and propagandist groups for their purpose on a mass scale. India is not far behind in the game played by politicians on social media who use professional companies for election campaigning. We have seen that during last couple of elections in India when professional campaigners played a vital role in win or loss of different parties. The social media is now the platform for taking the best advantage of smallest of mishaps in favor of different political parties. The best example is Dadri incident which was altogether different incident from how it was projected. In fact, we have reached to such an ugly stage where death is used for political gain. The social media has become the tool being used by the people who have no hesitation using poor people as a commodity for their own benefit. The social media is like a tool in the hands of powerful and influential using it as their easiest way of destroying the image of honest people. 

Villains or Winners 

We have been witnessing for centuries that villain is defeated in the end but the tide is changed and now propagandists have proved the villains are the real winners. It’s a dangerous trend that needs to be stopped without any further delay but that is not possible unless the political parties are not willing to stop this game of attacking and counter attacking each other on social media which is giving them and the country a very bad image. I don’t see any communal riots anywhere in the country barring scattered incidents but the social media projecting them as if the country is on the verge of breakup. We shall have to stop them and the brains behind all such activities otherwise there is no guarantee that our unity in diversity which is intact so far will remain safe in future. 

I am not very sure our politicians will learn any lesson from politicians of other countries which come on a single platform during any incident related to national security, calamity or emergency but that is not so in India. On the contrary, our politicians start a blame game according to their own party’s interests and the media including members of social media take sides of their favorite groups. For them, country has no meaning but their personal interests stand supreme. The time has come the leaders of different political groups understand the grave situation else the matter will go out of their hands and the people who suffer will be ordinary general public.