A journalist cannot turn away or ignore what's happening around, even while on a festival holiday. One cannot remain quiet without expressing his or her disgust on something as abhorrent as the murder of two children in Haryana; for politics or inexplicable reasons.
Two little kids, who probably didn't know what caste, religion or politics is, were burnt alive inside their homes. This may be an isolated incident or a planned crime against humanity or a political game to ignite intolerance in society by fanning communal feelings.
But it cannot be ignored. What is happening in the country has to stop for growth and development to happen. This incident must be probed, without letting politicians interfere and trouble the family which has already seen the worst. Their babies are dead and all they want is justice and severe punishment for the perpetrators of the heinous crime.
All politicians do is; they do nothing. They visit them for political mileage or further fan communal feelings, causing more public outrage or sparking of more such incidents. Sad!
Suddenly, the country is witnessing a surge in cases of communal, caste, and religious intolerance. It is scary.
What has changed suddenly? Ours is a country and society which is used to adjusting for and accepting foreigners since ancient times. We have always welcomed strangers, foreigners and diverse communities and accommodated them our own.
If one examines closely, religious or caste intolerance is a 20th century phenomenon, which is pre and post Independence – in the tail end of the British Raj – when intolerance gained ground, dividing communities, people, states, castes and societies, That was the colonial policy of "Divide and Rule".
So, in independent India, who is reviving the practice of divide-and-rule?
[Anupam Sharma Rao is an independent journalist who has worked with various TV news channels in India. This article reflects the writer's personal opinion and does not necessarily represent the views of IBTimes India]
