Where are we going & What can be done?
Where are we going & What can be done?
Once I read somewhere, "In a society where the majority choose charisma over character, democracy does more harm than good to the actual progress of that society". Now when I read it again, it makes more sense to me.
We as a country are going through a phase where we really need to inspect the ground reality, our agendas, goals, issues and the direction in which we want to go.
First let us talk about the elephant in the room i.e. Politics & Role of Media in our country.
No doubt that election is a major exercise in a democracy but we have to understand that it is "just" an exercise. The media and the politicians have made it such a big event that it has become every household's common topic of discussion. During election season it seems like there is nothing else going on in the country other than election. Winning an election doesn't mean that the public is happy about all your policies, it just shows that they are kind enough to trust you to solve these problems otherwise they will choose someone else next time.
In every election campaign we see instances of chauvinism, misogyny, xenophobia and bigotry and yet the media portrays it as some sort of "aggressive speech"(you must have seen those headlines "abc เคเค เคฌंเคाเคฒ เคฎें xyz เคชเคฐ เคเคฎเคเคฐ เคฌเคฐเคธे").
These are the challenging times for the media, its mettle and independence is at stake here. Media being the 4th pillar of democracy should keep the other pillars in check but here it is just trying to pour white cement into the cracks(loopholes) of other pillars and covering up for them. The credibility of the media is at such a low it has never been in the past. Recent report of World Press Freedom Index by RSF again placed India at 142nd rank out of 180 countries is the living proof that the fourth pillar in our democracy is in a bad shape.
The prime time news shows remind us of the WWE fights we sometimes used to see in our childhood. News channels instead of sharing information portrays the graphics of war as some sort of end goal we have to achieve for peace. It is rightly said by Karl Kraus, "If the reporter has killed our imagination with his truth, he threatens our life with his lies."
The most disheartening thing in this current political scenario is that politicians are setting the agendas on which they wanna fight the election, not the public. The major issues like Unemployment, economy, health infrastructure, education seem to have no relevance in Indian politics ;maybe because they don't have that glamour factor like Hindu-Muslim & India-Pakistan debates have.
The rift has certainly widened between several religious communities in present time. It serves as a honeycomb for the politicians from which they love to extract honey day in and day out in the form of votes via polarization.
The Politicians in our country have achieved a celebrity status and have forgotten that they are here to serve the public not to rule over them .We also have to start seeing them as Public 'servant' not as a ruler or a celebrity; remind them that they would only be lauded because of their works not of their speeches and zumlas.
Some of you must have seen a video of Australia's PM Scott Morrison giving a media briefing in a citizen's backyard/garden, and how he told him to stand down from there and Scott humbly said sorry to him and continued with his briefing.(CHECK OUT THE VIDEO!).
What else do we need to assess?
We as a country have to ask ourselves why even after more than 70 years of independence we still don't have basic facilities & infrastructure : roti-kapda-makan for all, good roads, proper sanitation arrangements, good quality education and health.
The recent Covid pandemic has really exposed our long standing shabby system. The long queues before the hospitals, unavailability of the beds, oxygen supply crisis; all really confirms the fact that the system hasn't collapsed, it was always like this, now it has just been exposed.
What can we do then?
Metacognition: 'Think about your own thinking and thoughts'. We have to think about how we can become the better version of ourselves. Try to learn about each other's religion, culture, customs and traditions and start respecting each other.
As Mahatma Gandhi said, "Be the change you want to see in the world." We all suffer from some kind of prejudices. We don't take a second to say "these people" are all like that. So if we wanna change the system and issues in our country then first we have to free ourselves from prejudices.
Avoid the news channels having Hindu-Muslim debates. Maybe it will also help us to do some good in the Happiness Index. :))
Be a responsible citizen. Know your rights but never hold back to fulfill your duties.
Set your agendas yourself and don't fall prey to the sweet songs of politicians. Try to make issues like Unemployment, Economy, Education, Health etc. the decisive issues in the elections.
Soon India will become the most populated country in the world and our human resources will increase tremendously. To make full use of it we have to become more honorable, generous, dutiful, tolerant and respectful to each other.
Our future lies in our own hands, let's create something marvelous with these hands and help our country and democracy to achieve its fullest potential.
~SHIKHAR PANDEY
Well analysed,thoughtful and must be an eye opener for all. We should understand and recognize what are our real problems and put pressure on politicians to resolved them in a timely and in a phased manner.
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