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| PDFs from Fr. Agnel's Call. |
-Brian Mendonça
On the occasion of the 76th Independence day of our nation, it is appropriate to take stock of where we are.
Ground Zero
Amid the fires
of Manipur, one asks why they have not abated till now. The North-East has
never seen such violence in the recent past. Leaders should resolve the issue
at the earliest. The attacks on the Christians cannot be condoned.
The kind of
social media forwards one sees, especially on sensitive topics, are incendiary
in nature. One needs patience to ferret out the true and the false. At any rate
it is the human values that should prevail.
Along with rapid
development we see a rapid erosion of values. In a flyover economy we lose
touch with people on the ground. We whizz past, on the highway of dreams,
heedless of their cries of pain arising from their being displaced from their
homes and land.
Fields have
become inundated in the rains with no drainage owing to blocking of water ways.
Wetlands lie massacred with only skeletal stumps to show for their existence.
Centuries-old trees have been axed to make way for rail lines – or statues.
All that matters
is who stays in power. Any attempt to voice one’s rights is clamped down with
an iron hand. Yet the killers of Gauri Lankesh, and Dabholkar are yet to be
found.
Instead of the
opposition and the ruling dispensation working hand in hand for the betterment
of the nation as a whole, the opposite seems to exist. When governments change
hands, they seek to undo what their predecessor has done. We are uneasy about
our legacy. It is the ordinary man, woman and child who pays the price in taxes
or otherwise.
There is, sadly,
an increased polarization in the community today, stemming from the fault lines
of the past. Minority communities are routinely targeted as the butt of jokes,
their actions interpreted as ‘anti-national.’ People are being lynched or
beaten to death on suspicion by cow vigilantes, not caring about the fact that
the victims have families back home.
An alternate
history – like an alternate Parliament – is invoked to set right the ‘wrongs’
of history. Roads and lanes are also being renamed as part of this project. But
how do we chart our future?
The selective
syllabi of the new textbooks seems tailored to exclude certain facts and include
others. What is the idea of India in the minds of the young? How are they to
cope with this epistemic violence?
Improper
resource management has seen smart cities like Panaji, sink to their knees.
When this was pointed out to the contractor, he replied that they would attend
to it in September, after the rains. This apathy belies the republic. The
canker of disillusionment has set in.
Attacks on women
are increasing. Women are being killed with impunity in broad daylight with no
one lifting a finger to help them. This makes the killers more brazen. They can
get away scot-free and may perhaps even be garlanded for their dark deeds – as
the rapists of Bilkis Bano.
POSCO charges
were dropped against the WFI president after the complainant who is a minor was
pressurized to withdraw her case. The world watched when the nation’s daughters
were dragged when they blew the lid on widespread sexual harassment.
This is the
India that must change. The youth need to be committed to make a difference –
to promote plurality, to welcome diversity.
Youthspeak
The youth are
not oblivious to the realities around them. They are grounded in their everyday
experience and are worried about their future.
There is
disaffection among the youth about whether their education – if they can afford
it – will take them anywhere. Even if they do manage to graduate with
difficulty, the degree is not valued. At the end of the day, it is influence
and corruption which will decide which candidate gets the job, rued Shirley.
You can even get away with a traffic offence by citing someone powerful that
you know, notes Rajvi.
Owing to the
grim job scenario ‘many youngsters are fleeing India for better job prospects’
opined Nunzia.
Grace felt that
skill-developing courses need to be introduced. Students can pay towards
passing their tenth or graduation and ease the burden on their parents.
Nishita was
cautious about the hype about the new education policy. How is it that the
history of the Mughals, the periodic table and the discovery of evolution are
taken out? ‘Having new information is good, however cutting off the old
information which is important, is bad.’
Michelle spoke
about the situation in Manipur. ‘The whole situation is so miserable, but no
one is doing anything about it.’
Young ladies
face harassment every day when they travel in buses. They are groped in their
tender teens and are scarred for life. Bus operators should ensure a safe and
comfortable journey for students, felt Anjali.
June is
celebrated as pride month, and men’s mental awareness month said Aditi, but no
one knew about it. There is no awareness of LGTBQ+ rights. Students like Suniti
are now studying films and literatures to understand same-sex love. This
inclusivity is the need of the hour. The youth face the future with an open
mind.
Child labour was
decried by the youth. Children are entitled to an education. Seeing the little
ones hold bricks in their hands was not the way to build a better India.
Coupled with extreme poverty noted Vanessa, this is the Bharat that India
refuses to see. Child abuse is rampant, noted Sanjana.
When it comes to
love, the bottom line is caste in India. ‘We say we are liberated, but are we?’
queried Kay. She shared the instance of how beef supplies were torched in a
place near her home just before Eid.
Ruth is worried
about the way people waste water. Some of them have already developed a way to
produce artificial water, reveals Aditi.
Garbage
management needs to be undertaken on a war footing. The stench pollutes the
environment while those who drop the garbage bags from their car are already
far away. There is an utter absence of civic sense – or road sense, for that
matter, says Rochelle.
We will never
know the sacrifices the armed forces have done for us felt Sakshi. Let us
appreciate them for all their sacrifices for the nation.
Siddhi felt that
child marriage was not what she wanted to see in the 21st century.
‘Teenagers have a right to study and achieve their goals. They are not just
born to look after their families.’
Health services
are compromised, felt Trupti. ‘Patients are tossed from hospital to hospital
simply because the ‘necessary’ care could not be provided, leaving the patient
to die most of the time.’
Sibal
appreciated the diversity of India but admitted that ‘When it comes to politics
in India it leads to a web of chaos.’
Anfida was
concerned about the film industry generating negative stereotypes like witches
to personify horror. ‘Witches are shown as ugly and absolute outcasts but in
general they are just people with high intelligence. The meaning of a witch is
someone who has the ability to heal others.’
Afterword
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