Back in 2015 when Chennai was floating as a result of continuous downpour and heavy floods, we experienced something magical amidst all the chaos and destruction. We came together as one people, stood beside each other and helped everyone we could. That did give all of us great hope that a disaster can strip off everything from us but not our humanity. We are in the thick of a much bigger catastrophe now and all I could see is that the virus is not just infecting our bodies but our souls first.
I know that we have always been divided in ideology which I think is crucial to the development of any society. A society which fails to encourage conversation and debate will never flourish in the long run. But that conversation which should be unbiased, fact-based and healthy goes completely haywire when we bring politics and religion into the equation. And social media is just the perfect cauldron in which this vile concoction is being brewed. It just hurts me to see educated, well read and incredibly smart people throw all logic out the door and talk smack about each other just because their political or religious scale is tipped way too much towards one side.
We’ve always had the right to any political view or religious view of our choice, and yes politicians and godmen have always tried to preach and spread the superiority of their sect. And we have always spread our belief knowingly or unknowingly to our circle but when did we start stuffing each other’s faces with opinions? When did we start prioritizing the negatives of the other side over highlighting the positives of our side? Most of my facebook and whatsapp feeds are people trolling and name-calling the other group. Sanghis, Bhakths, Dumeels, Pavadais, Kullas and countless other slurs. We just lose the greatness of our belief when we start poking an eye for an eye.
We need to treat politics and religion like the mix and match section in Pothys. We don’t have to take this all or none approach. It’s completely acceptable to dislike certain facets of your own religion or the party you support. You don’t have to die defending it. In Fact you should be the one calling it out in the first place. Likewise if you like certain aspects of a different party or faith, try to support it. We need to stop treating politicians like gods and need to stop playing politics with gods. The same people who applaud the Prime Minister’s address to the nation to announce lockdown and commend his efforts to bring people together by showing their support should criticize him for not talking about financial relief packages or food and shelter arrangements for the underprivileged. And we should keep this up regardless of who is sitting in the PM’s chair. People who blame Tablighi Jamaat for being irresponsible should also speak up about the Ram Navami celebrations in UP.
This all seems like common sense right? That’s because it is. Let’s just try to be civil in these challenging times. And do our best to not be plain stupid. Lets not forward messages which we can’t find the authenticity of. Question everything. If you think that message you received about heat from the lamps killing the virus or the vibrations from the applause killing it, think twice before forwarding it. If you have the mobile data to send and receive such messages you have the data to research about it too. Let’s all voice our concerns, opinions and critiques but at the same time let’s try our best to not spread hate. Lets not murder our humanity in the process of killing this virus.
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