Social media has exposed the lies of democracy
You dismiss the aazadi slogans. You dismiss the cries that democracy has been stolen. You think the schools have improved and elections are cleaner because you haven't seen any better. Thanks to social media, the lies are exposed. Developed countries have better facilities, full freedom, and democracy.
We borrowed equality, liberty and fraternity from France as ideas to guide us. But do we have liberty, equality, fraternity? Look at Paris. The youth are free to rampage through the streets, set fire to schools and the occasional teacher, raid stores for the latest 18 Pro, and the police stand aside because the youth are the future of the nation.
Our neighbours have overtaken us. Colombo's youth swam in the President's pool. Our police still chase us off Parliament Street because the pool at the Park is so close. Dhaka's youth took home the saree and the ducks. Kathmandu lit its Parliament like Diwali. We forwarded the videos, and went back to Reels.
Aisa kaisa chalega? Where is our ambition, our initiative, our incendiary spirit? Police are learning. They no longer flinch at every abuse. Sometimes, in a relapse, they rush in to maintain law and order. When will we have the full package of libert, galit, fraternit? We don't even have diacritics a la French? This is not freedom in full. This is not aazadi. Tumhein Deni Padegi!
Only the private universities, where the rich kids go, stock modern facilities worth burning and looting. LPU is one. Look at what the Punjab Police did the moment India's future set fire to a few vehicles. Even our arson is pay-to-play. Government colleges have nothing worth burning, only garbage and faculty vacancies. You cannot torch a hostel that has already been condemned. This is not equality. This is fiscal fraternity. The left and riot must come together. Hum Leke Rahenge!
The past generations were so unaware. They did not fight injustice. They got busy building their lives, and the country. They still failed to produce a developed country like France, which is unforgivable, because France at least has fashion. The parent types learnt important things only by experience, and only after a certain age. They chased success because they were hungry. And because they were hungry they wanted ration card, PAN card, some sort of ID card. Most of them did not even own a victim card.
They read about victimhood and memorised it for the competitive exam. Their victimhood was a syllabus. Ours is a startup. Their worry was a cut-off. Ours is a following. They memorised it. We monetised it. Meta-morphosis. Tum kaise nahin doge, resign!
Finally, we, the future of the nation, have resurrected the past and collected our victimhood in full. Once the oppressed were few, and the acknowledgement was rationed to a small number of communities. Now, thanks to the information revolution, everyone has one. Even the so-called upper castes, the top layer, carry proper victim cards. The creamy layer already had. Valid for life, renewable by rally, no KYC required. Some of us hold two or three. The political ones are on the premium plan, with lifetime outrage benefits, priority seating at the protest, and a dedicated grievance manager. Everybody carried a wound. We opened it. Tum Kuchh Bhi Karlo!
The oldies had ideologies and no grievance, which is like owning a gun and no bullet. They were also greedy. They wanted houses, vehicles, a child to pay for. Petty ambitions. We have grievances, and we are borrowing ideologies. Please note the word borrowing.
We have not read the books. We have read the threads. Marx, Ambedkar, Bhagat Singh, Che: all of them are now a profile-picture rotation. We do not care about personal growth and achievements. Growth is what our parents did, and look where it got them. They were selfish. We share. Grievances, slogans, the password. Together we will overthrow the system and can finally become a developed country. If not France, at least Nepal or Bangladesh. Hum leke rahenge!- Ends(Views expressed in the piece are those of the author)
Kamlesh (Kishore) Singh is News Director at India Today Group Digital, and one of India's more reliably unreliable opinion columnists. He is also a regular calumnist. Three decades in newsrooms carried him through the Asian Age, Today, CNN-IBN, Metro Now, and Dainik Bhaskar before this current innings, teaching him everything an editor needs to know, including when to break the rules. Off the desk, he moonlights as Tau on Aaj Tak Radio's weekly podcast Teen Taal, and keeps his satire for India Today's opinion pages.
