Being Indian: The JNU episode

The last couple of days actually made me very much glued to online and offline newspapers. The incidents and happenings in and around JNU have made me a curious individual on many fronts.

At the same time, it was again a saddening sight to watch every Indian getting divided on yet another issue. It became a fight between patriotic individuals and anti-nationalists. Over the years, the country has already been paying the price of having citizens on the opposite pages of religion and caste based politics. So, it was yet again saddening to see another politically influenced incident at the heart of our country. So, where do you stand in this entire debate? Are these students, from whichever University they belong to, justified in the anti-nationalist comments, if any, they were yelling? Why are some annoying journalists hell-bent on supporting these fringe elements? Why are some people enjoying, throwing mud at the Government? It is indeed funny to watch all the rival moron politicians jump on the bandwagon to politicize this entire issue. Is everything justified? Who is exactly correct on this entire event? Who is at fault?

The overall episode clearly shows a simple thing. Everybody is busy in actions, which angers either the Government or any normal Indian. Firstly, the students, who were more interested in shouting slogans and supporting terrorists rather than concentrate on rather peaceful things, like say, studies! Second of all, the police, who were allowed to enter the University premises. I accept that a few of the students might have been involved in wrongdoings but the policemen shouldn’t have entered the campus of an educational place. And lastly, the political rivals, led by a brainless, 40-something year old self-confessed youth icon, who are indulging in nothing but blame-game, without offering any realistic solution. Everybody is just happy to point out and identify faults at the Central Government. No one wants to appreciate any of the good deeds by the Government. Everybody is just happy being negative! Way to go, Indians!

Recently, a short-haired biased journalist, in one of her talk shows, questioned about the freedom of Indians, who according to her, were praising a Pakistani national. She vehemently asserted that the government must allow the support and praise of personalities who aren’t Indians. OK, appreciated for such a noble thought. But out of so many intellectual Pakistanis, the students found only a certain Afzal Guru to admire, who was not-so surprisingly hanged during the UPA Government, in the early part of 2013. If they find happiness in praising a Pakistani national, then haven’t they heard of a certain Malala Yousafzai, who received the Noble Peace Prize? Praise her, praise her works for girls’ education and also, praise her fight against terrorism. But they won’t. Because their primary aim is to simply irritate the Government. And their arrests’, including their ‘peaceful’ leader is only adding fuel to their cause. So much for praising an ‘innocent’ terrorist. Yeah, for them, maybe even Kasab is a harmless, playful teenager.

What I want the Government to do is to simply free that student leader and his peaceful followers. They may or may not be guilty in the eyes of the law but after all, they are mere students. The government must not fear these powerless pupils, for their only happiness is sloganeering and protesting against the Government. They will never appreciate anything Indian, like those hardworking ISRO scientists, working tirelessly to make India’s presence felt in the world map or those ever-sacrificing soldiers, guarding our borders sleeplessly, while living far away from their families. For some students, the only person that matters is Afzal Guru, who himself confessed to his role in the 2001 Parliament Attack, which was a dark day in Indian history. And for the rest of the nitty-gritty jobless people, who are always ready to throw stones, let us build a jealous-free India, with genuine Indians, who acknowledge developments within India.

Jai Hind!