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Somehow in these charged political environment, we seem to be losing our human qualities. Our political leaders seem to ‘brainwash’ us and force us to take ‘sides’. It is not at all a healthy trend. Let us explain.

A chief minister of a state gets injured while in her campaign. There may be controversies over “how”- but it is a fact she is hospitalized. The opposition, almost in unison, instead of wishing her a speedy recovery, campaigns that she is “play acting”. It is unethical, to say the least. Thousands of farmers are protesting on the Delhi border for over 100 days. They have been protesting against three acts on agriculture passed in the parliament recently. The protests have been throughout the chilly Delhi winter (which killed many of them) and will extend into the hot summer. The political parties are daggers drawn – the rulers will not withdraw the Acts and accuse the farmers of being guided by “terrorists” while the opposition which has come to the support of the farmers will not budge with anything less than withdrawal of the Acts. In the process, human “reason” is a casualty. The opposition will not see any “good” in the farm laws – that it “empowers” the farmers to sell their own produce in the market and free them from government regulations ( as it happened for the industry in 1991). The ruling party too remains rigid with the government support price. It says verbally that it will stay but will not give it in writing. The Indian politics will continue to remain polarized between extremes. It neither helps real politics nor economic development.

Political followers today are like robots – they only speak what their leaders say. Like their leaders, they see no good in their rivals. If they are politically fighting against the ruling party, the “law and order” (even if it is tolerable) the political robots have to say it is alarming. If the road construction and maintenance have improved, the opposition will have to say it has helped the ‘syndicate”. The whole process of political campaign is not suggesting the right alternatives but to run down the rivals. We are automated to speak and enjoy the negatives and in the process lost the human quality of being positive. Our imagination has darkened and lost its creative edge.

Who is to blame? Perhaps by not entering into the blame game, the common man needs to try and think differently. First, let us not be taken in by the propaganda of the politicians. Unfortunately, they, of all hues, do not speak the truth. The politicians do not bring the change. We the common people do, collectively. That is democracy. Let the politicians not cloud our minds with negativity. We will decide what is good for us. We will choose our new leaders, from among the young. The highly charged polarized surroundings are not good for us. We want to be better educated. The peanuts that are offered in the budget for education must change. We need more skills. Yes, we need to be ‘atmanirbhar’ – not as propaganda, but in reality. We will question what the budget allocation for the programme is and how much is spent propagating it. We will pledge that we will not become political robots but acquire the education and skills to become thinking human beings.