POLITICAL OPPORTUNISM.

Animesh Banerjee

Consequent to the returns of the national awards by some noted artists, writers, historians, etc, the issue of Intolerance has become a buzz word in the Indian media. The political opponent is up in arm against the present regime for its inability to sustain the social harmony inter alia growing intolerance in the country.  The root cause of the present controversy seems to be arising out of the killing of a few innocent individuals on the flimsy ground of religious narrow-mindedness. The incidents though being under the purview of the states’ law & order and the concerned states’ failure to deal with it more resolutely, it turned into a political opportunistic rage cum vote-banks politics!  

Those of us from the pre-independent era had witnessed real intolerance in the country propagated by the perpetrators of the two nation theory which resulted into emergence of a new nation- Pakistan & an independent India. The partition of India took place following an inhuman religious intolerance exhibited by the religious majority on its minority to acquire their geographical positioning! It is therefore a matter of concern for us watching the resurgence of political repositioning by raising once again the bogies of religious bigotry in India. Presently the leftist oriented pseudo- secularists’ move is being countered by the rightist leaning political opponents’ which is adding fuel to the fire only! Even, during PM Modi’s recent visit to London, the Indian pseudo- secularists’ to settle their score have engineered a public show down by raising the intolerance issue through the reputed English media, in UK.  

Be that what it may, the country under the present government, although going through a local political pedantry, it has already earned the reputation of being a country of opportunity; several FDIs pouring in regularly to participate in fostering India’s growth trajectory!

In any democracy the political opponents have a customary right to counter vis-à-vis ratify any move of the government through the parliamentary process. Regrettably, India being the largest democracy has failed especially in the recent past, to espouse its parliamentary accountability! It is high time for the political opponents instead of deploying dubious tactics to show down the ruling shindig in public, it is advisable to settle the score by allowing the parliamentary democracy to function smoothly. This reminds me of Winston Churchill who had said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen”