By Barnes Mawrie
“The ongoing politics of vendetta that we witness in India today is another proof of a nation robbed of its conscience. What the BJP government is doing to the opposition parties today, namely, sending the CBI and the ED against them and implicating them in criminal acts, is nothing but a politics of vendetta. No one would question the government for probing into corruption and crimes, but to be selective in the choice of victims is highly questionable.”
“No loss is more deplorable than the loss of a conscience, a sense of right and wrong.” A nation may be economically poor, militarily weak but when it has a great sense of righteousness, it does not lack strength and moral integrity. On the other hand, a country may possess all the wealth in the world but when it is affected by moral depravity, it is a miserable country. In the words of Eraldo Banovac “wealth and power aren’t the most important things in life. What is truly important is to have a clear conscience.” When those at the helm of state affairs function without a conscience, tragedy is bound to follow the nation. It was because of conscienceless leaders like Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Bennito Mussolini or Emperor Hirohito, that humanity had to suffer the holocaust of World War II. Presently, it is due to such conscienceless leaders like Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping or Kim Jong Un, that innocent people continue to suffer in their countries and neighbouring countries.
Sadly when we turn to our beloved country India today, we cannot but lament the fact that our nation is fast losing its conscience. In these recent years we have witnessed trampling down of the innocent and the glorification of criminals. The case of the release and the glorious welcome of the eleven rapists in Gujarat and the denial of justice to the victim, Bilkis Bano, is a sad manifestation of how our country has lost its sense of right and wrong. To glorify the culprits and victimize the helpless victims is the highest form of injustice and the clearest sign of a conscienceless nation.
The ongoing politics of vendetta that we witness in India today is another proof of a nation robbed of its conscience. What the BJP government is doing to the opposition parties today, namely, sending the CBI and the ED against them and implicating them in criminal acts, is nothing but a politics of vendetta. No one would question the government for probing into corruption and crimes, but to be selective in the choice of victims is highly questionable. A government that thrives on vendetta and demolition of any opposition, is a threat to democracy and a danger to the country. A country that has many of the political leaders tainted with criminal records and are of dubious character, is plainly a country that lacks a good conscience. How can we expect such persons to behave like saints? Consequently, we witness so much of corruption and injustice and lack of probity in public life perpetrated by our politicians. There is a sort of immoral principle that our politicians and bureaucrats seem to adhere to, namely, that “positions and authority are means to their selfish end.The recent surge in hate speeches perpetrated by our political leaders especially against minority groups which have sparked off unending protests and violence in different parts of the country, is another proof that we are fast losing our collective conscience. The fact that in spite of all the ills in the country, there are still many who add fuel to the fire and still many more who just keep silent without coming forward to condemn such acts of injustice and malice, speaks volume of a nation bereft of a conscience. As Albert Einstein had rightly remarked “the world is evil not only because there are evil people, but more because there are many good people who see evil but do nothing about it.” When it comes to the Bilkis Bano case, how many Indians have come out to condemn the injustice against her? In our country it is evident that those who are in power or who have close links with the powerful, can always dodge the law and go scot free. The fact that supporters and sympathizers of the BJP government who are guilty of certain crimes are rarely brought before the law, is yet another indication that our country has lost its conscience.
Coming to our own state, we cannot deny the fact that we are no better than the rest. The manner our political leaders and bureaucrats use their privileged positions to achieve their personal agenda, shows that our collective conscience is gradually diminishing. The fact that responsible parties engaged in public developmental projects like roads, bridges, buildings etc, use substandard materials to enhance their personal profits without considering the safety of the public, is yet another manifestation of a people bereft of a conscience. Another example could be the massive legalization of liquor shops and gambling in Shillong and elsewhere just because the government is reaping a rich revenue from these, without however considering the fact that our young people are the actual victims, is yet another indication of moral degeneration in the state.
The culture of “self enrichment” of those in authority at the cost of the poor and the weak, is a systemic evil in our state which has blunted the conscience of those caught up in the system. We as the children of the hynñiewtrep hynñiewskum (seven huts) have long forgotten the great ethical commandment “kamai ïa ka hok” (earn righteousness) handed down to us by our ancestors. Today we live as though such a thing did not exist or unheard of. Moral depravity has set in and we seem to have lost our personal as well as our collective conscience altogether. More than the loss of wealth and possession, the loss of conscience is the most lamentable fact.
India is a country of the great Mahatma, a man known and respected for his integrity – a just and righteous man whom the world looks up to. We Meghalayans are descendants of U Tirot Sing and Pa Togan Sangma the great freedom fighters who lived by the principles of justice and righteousness and who were ready to sacrifice themselves for the well-being of others. How come we are drifting farther and farther away from the virtues that they stood for?