As I watch and listen to the rhetoric of todays leaders, the chest thumping, war mongering, communally stirring talk, I hasten to add that peace cannot come like this. Yes, there will be moments of false peace, like the lull before a storm, like the cease-fire when night settles on troops, but all this shouting and yelling and shrill shrieking is just injecting into the so called foe, a feeling of helplessness that will translate into a vicious backlash that has more power in its muscle than trained troops can handle.
Something I’ve learned in life is that the man who fights with his back against the wall inflicts more damage than who he fights against.
We don’t want that.
We don’t want our nation destroyed by trumpeting braggarts, and we are not talking of only national leaders but even many in WhatsApp groups, who use fingers, thumb and time overtime to mock, jeer and lampoon those from other communities, and yet these same fellows when they go abroad will be the most quiet and law abiding people found anywhere.
Cowards!
Their strength comes in their numbers.
And the feeling is that if we have the numbers, we can force a peace on those with lesser numbers.
But peace cannot come like this!
Peace come by being inclusive: A few years ago, I watched as children in the colony I lived in chased away tenants from playing table tennis in the society club house. As chairman, I immediately saw to it that we passed a rule that all tenants could enjoy all the facilities in the colony, be it cricket, or even the lunches and dinners we had. With this one move, we found that any problem of car parking or loud music or late-night noise was solved with a just a discussion and a hand shake.
Peace came by being inclusive, not by using numbers to brow beat the minority tenants.
Videos showing gangs lynching a singe person, are just visual acts of cowardice, just as much as political leaders addressing meetings praising or criticizing one community or another.
Why did I bring the tenants into the fold, not just to make them feel inclusive but also recognizing the fact that the law stated they had equal rights to the others in the colony.
And that is exactly what our constitution states, that every single citizen in this country, is equal: No Hindus, Muslims, Christians etc! Only Indians.
And if after this election, these members swear by the Constitution of this country, which they will have to, then they are bound to see that every citizen is treated the same.
Because, my dear winners of the next election, peace cannot come any other way, and in case you don’t believe me, invest in a history book, of course, one which hasn’t been recently tampered with, and you will find what I’m saying is true; peace cannot come like this..!
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