Cinema has always been a
pivotal distribution source of popular culture in India, and its persuasive
message often helps in constructing the future of popular culture’s space and
identity for our societal construct.
Last year, the movie “Mulk” was released, which was also opposed
by many, and received harsh audience reviews on IMDB. But my experience of this
movie was quite opposite to such reviews. In my view, “Mulk” shows how a
systematic religious polarization can silently vitiate our societal/moral
norms. It shows how even a nanoscopic glimmer of jingoistic nationalism is
enough to disturb the communal harmony and flares the sparks of fear and
suspicion within some of us. It shows how we come to a stage where we start
questioning the loyalty of our relationships with our own fellow citizens. The
movie also redefines, or rather reaffirms, the definition of terrorism. Forcing
a section of your society to live as second class citizens under the shadow of
fear psychosis or entrenching the idea of religion-based phobia in the minds of
another section of the society also comes under the same category.
After watching that movie, many incidences appeared as a scatter
of flashbacks in my mind, which I had neglected earlier. A few months ago,
while on a train journey, I heard a few songs coming loudly out of the
headphones of a person sitting beside me. And the songs were “Sun Mulo
Pakisatani”, “Topi Wala Bhi Sar Jhuka Ke Jai Shree Ram Bolega”, to name a few.
These are all polarizing songs and have become sensational hits in the recent
times, signified by the million views on YouTube and other platforms. In many
functions also, we now see people dancing to the tune of such songs. I really
wonder what message they want to give. That they are “kattar” (hard-liner)—as
far as their religiosity is concerned—and as they proudly introduce themselves
on their social media profiles, or is it a direct signal to a particular
community about their place in this country?
Armed processions coupled with incendiary sloganeering have also
become a trademark in many parts of the country. The strategy being followed is
the same everywhere—large marches, in many cases armed—often passing through
minority-dominated areas, playing provocative songs like the aforementioned.
These songs have anti-minority lyrics, depict the rise of militant Hindutva,
and demand that minorities bow before the majority, or expulsion to Pakistan.
The flurry of communal
violence that had erupted in the wake of the Ram Navami
festivities in Bihar is a perfect example to this.
What “Mulk” shows is bound to happen at a point where religion
and all its symbolism seem to have captured the centre stage, a time when caste
arithmetic and religious divisiveness dominate the public discourse. The large
space that these ‘fringe’ issues have occupied in the public discourse is
really frightening. Today, social media is flooded with profiles proudly
introducing themselves, for example, as the “Dharm-Rakshaks”, “Kattar”, and
more. It is quite alright to do so and does not bother me at all, but it seems
disturbing to me because of two reasons:
First, at the age when the young minds should engage themselves
in education to imbibe rational thinking, they are busy imbibing the
fake/distorted narratives about history and science.
Second, we need to realize that the theory of Hindu/Muslim
victimhood is a manufactured narrative just to nurture a grievance/fear
industry for votes. The real victims are the farmers in debt traps, the
unemployed youths, and women facing violence. And all of them are neither
Hindus nor Muslims—only citizens.
The worrying phenomenon is that the new generation is already
“othering” one particular community. Today, the ‘Hindu-Muslim’ topic is
becoming a constant theme of the conversation, be it among friends, or in
school, or in offices, or in newsrooms. It immediate effect of religion-based
bullying can entrench existing prejudices. What will be the end result of all
these nonsense? Are we really going to detach a particular community from our
public life? And even if it happens, how can we be so sure that this
venom in the mind will not be channelized towards all other marginalized
sections of our society? The end results will be a vicious cycle of
socio-religious-political turmoil. And at a time when India’s ‘Demographic
Dividend ‘is supposed to drive India’s future growth, we can’t
afford it.
What is also disturbing is that public figures don’t realize
that, in a diverse country like India, power comes with a great responsibility
and they need to show restraint and use language carefully. But that restraint
is vanishing day by day. People need to find ways to reconcile their
backgrounds (whatever they may be) with visible respect for all communities.
They need to have a genuine comfort with India’s diversity. Secondly, they
should elevate the level of national discourse rather than merely pandering to
their worst instincts.
In the
end, we also have to accept that a problem exists and we need to
talk about it. We have to keep an eye on our gullible young minds so that they
don’t fall prey to the online stuffs manipulating them into becoming extremists
or hard-liners by playing on imagined and historical wrongs. And this is the
case with all the communities, although the intensity of fanaticism varies. But
the solution does not lie in equalizing this factor of fanaticism; rather it
lies in neutralizing it.
We have to find ways of making them understand our
history/religion fully, not just random verses (religion) and chapters
(history) taken out of context, with distorted interpretations.
We can’t afford to go back. We can’t afford to shape our present
based on the different historical narratives. We should focus on our present
priorities like health, education, and creating jobs.
Sensitization is very important in such cases and the easiest
way to do it is through communication. In the era of internet and social media,
today’s generation is exposed to a lot of misinformation and hate speech and propaganda,
and it is necessary to channelize their inquisitiveness correctly. Parents also
have an important role here because whatever children say and imbibe is
generally a reflection of discussions at home.
We should always remember “Hum aur woh milke is mulk ko thodi
na banate hai … hum is mulk ko banate hai.”
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