Adarniye Prdhaan Mantriji,
Pranam.
I’ve always believed in your own confession that you are in politics “by accident”. But what you have achieved in your tenure, first as the FM and then as the PM, no other minister or politician has achieved. You are the one responsible for putting India on a high growth trajectory. You are the one who has taken a giant-step to ensure our growing energy needs are met. And there are many more achievements of yours that can not be pointed out in a single letter. Anyway, I’m writing this letter to you on an issue which is of utmost importance.
During my school days, I remember studying one sentence again and again in every class that the biggest strengths of our country are democracy and unity in diversity. I’m afraid, as I write this letter, that both the school learnings of mine are failing the test of reality out of the school books. These two are the beliefs which had made me proud earlier. But I’m not sure whether I can feel the same anymore.
Democracy. We are indeed the world’s largest democracy. But that is just for records. In reality, this democracy is abused almost everyday in some or the other part of the country. The basic tenet of any democracy in the world is the “freedom of expression”. But do you think everyone is free to express what they feel in this country? If you are a common man, no one will listen to you and if you are a celebrity then its a more troublesome thing (ask SRK, Sachin, Mukesh Ambani and all). What’s the meaning of democracy without this basic right?
Unity in diversity. Diversity of religion, caste, color, creed, language and so on. But my heart sinks when the politics is done in the name of all these different facets of my great country. But why is the politics being done on these issues? Because they expose the hidden (existing or non-existing) insecurities of people. And add violence to this to make it more believable. Politicians indulge in these tactics because they ensure short-term political mileage and they know no one can take any action against them. And thats where you come into the picture.
Recent outburst against anyone who says that “Mumbai is for all” by SS and its poor cousins’ party is challenging the very idea of India. Parties like SS and MNS take the violence route because they know they will not be punished. They have a history of attacking anyone who speaks against their “so-called” ideology of “sons-of-the-soil”. No one has any problem with their agenda of making life good for their fellow Maharashtrians but the problem arises when they make life hell for anyone not from their state. And their agenda ,in last 40 years, has made lives of how many Maharashtrians better is a subject matter of great debate. They believe migrants to be the reason behind every problem that is there in Maharashtra. They overlook many other reasons which are there in every part of the country. SS is playing this card from last 40 years but they were in power for only 5 brief years. This shows that the large populace of Maharashtra don’t support their agenda!!
Sir, even your party is a silent partner in all this menace just for securing majority in elections. MNS has grown only because of your party’s willingness. But this whole politics of hatred, by SS and MNS, and politics of silence, by your party, has left common people like me frustrated. I feel very ashamed of seeing my fellow Indians being beaten by other fellow Indians. And I really don’t care about which party is winning elections and which one is losing. The question here is about my belief in me being a free citizen of this country.
This letter is a request from an Indian to you to please put an end to all this nonsense. You can do it if you want. Forget the politics for once and ask every party to make their stand clear. Take a concrete actions against anyone who uses divisive politics. I fail to understand why no action has been taken against Raj Thackeray for saying “ I’ll not be responsible if demands for a separate marathi country is being raised?”. This is totally unacceptable. I don’t want to see my country being Balkanized. This is your opportunity to show the whole country that no one is above the law and put any one who thinks he is, behind the bars. Let there be no confusion on the idea of India. This will be a strong message to all those who think they can hold the nation on ransom by means of intimidation and violence. Please come out and take a stand on this issue. It is very much required today to soothe the angst and frustration of common Indians. People like me are waiting for our country to become free of all these goons. Let there be only one voice being heard in India. Of an Indian. Only.
