The High Notes

It’s the Republic Day again. And the time of the year for many repeats. New Delhi, in bureaucratic terms, is secured, ironically, to pave way for the Indian Army to parade its might; the dhoti clad junta is seen unfurling the tricolor; the nukkads of semi-urban areas are heard playing patriotic songs; and wise men on charpoys talk about the Indian in them. Memory serves as a platform to reenact these scenes year after year-proud memories of the greatness of mother India. What Hindustanis don’t realize is the fact that memory is, and has always been, a cheval glass which morphs the reality depending on one’s predilection. It’s another mirror of Erised.

So when the honorable chief minister of Bengal, Mr Buddhodeb Bhattacharya, decided to delay an urgent call for a meeting by our union home minister, it made me ponder. It brought back memories of a village just 40 km from Calcutta which was a host to a bloody war for territorial control not a long time ago. A battle in which State personnel were mute spectators. Mute not without reason though. Either there were political compulsions, or, keeping in mind its recent heavy casualties, the State was just too scared to intervene. Such a degree of prolonged lawlessness in West Bengal 6 decades after independence was just too shocking for me. I always used to wonder why the mighty Indian army was not called upon to crush the rebellion once and for all. But then I realized that the problem lay somewhere else.

A state cannot exist by waging war against its own people. People need to have a feeling of loyalty towards it. A disturbingly high number of groups in India don’t want to be under state rule-a serious problem. The solution lies in convincing them to be part of one. However, in the process of convincing, if the state gets bullied then it has to respond as well. State being held to ransom every now and then is also not a desirable scenario.

India has always had a legacy of sending mixed, ones bordering near confusion, signals on dealing with this menace. Kashmir wanted independence. The valley was being subjected to unprecedented violence. India responded-a show of immense military strength with jawans being placed at virtually every corner of the state. The great uprising in Punjab, and the demand for Khalistan, was getting increasingly alarming. India responded again bringing the whole movement to a halt. A recent massacre of the entire battalion of troops by Naxals in Chhattisgarh shook the entire state machinery. This time India chose not to respond. Not because it didn’t want to, but because it was not sure whom to go after. Everyone, Naxals and the law abiding citizens, looked the same.

I am not here to judge what form of response by the government is the best. I am not advocating violence nor am I patronizing giving in to the demands of the so called rebels. But what I actually am trying to do is highlight the increasing number of instances where the government is being made to give a response.

There’s widespread discontent in the Northeast where people don’t feel part of India. A heavy military presence has been made to keep control. West Bengal, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh are victims of intense Maoist violence. A large number of Maharashtrians think of themselves as Maharashtrians first and Indians later. Tamil Nadu had, and perhaps has, its own set of issues primarily pertaining to being sympathetic to the (late) LTTE. And nothing needs to be said about Bihar and Kashmir.

The list does not end here. The ground reality is much more critical. The police and the state forces have control only in cities and towns. The law of warlords and the meager police presence working in collusion with them is what you get to witness in the interiors of India. So which India are we talking about? I hate to break the bubble here but the New Delhi government is just a collection of important cities and towns which, too, have to be made “secure” before important events as well as after terror strikes. Unity in diversity still remains a dream. India is just a fragile state heading towards chaos with an unstable trajectory. We would need something more than a charade of celebrations on our Republic Day to change the course of our nation.

Talking of the Republic Day, 26^th January doesn’t always have to be all about celebrating the Indian in you. Sometimes, you can just go out, get high, and then give fundaes, i.e., the high notes.