Gautam Gambhir takes to twitter to assert his nationalistic credentials too often. The latest tweet to support the embattled CRPF jawans in Kashmir furthers this patriotic line. A new reading of the National flag is interesting and intriguing. One can read anything into the flag depending on your ideology. White, which usually stands for peace and purity, can also be a shroud now to cover the bodies of the enemy. Green which has always stood for fertility and sacred is now changed into a symbol of hatred for terror. And finally, Saffron colour has been reduced to fire or destruction and not courage and strength.
One can understand the frustration and anger at the goings-on in Kashmir. It is a complicated situation and nobody can claim to understand the dynamics. On one hand we have a government trying to control the violence and bring peace to the region. On the other side we have anti-government protests due to the lack of effective governance. There is a feeling of distance and disenchantment with the process that has failed to solve the problems of the youth of Kashmir. The tirade by Gambhir against those he sees as opposed to India is ill thought of and dangerous. It almost sounds like a bad dialouge from a seventies Hindi movie- Tum ek maroge to hum chaar marenge.
If it is only to score brownie points with the government, Gambhir has succeeded. One's political ambitions can be at the cost of a long term solution to a tricky problem. First it was against Gurmehar and now this. Expressing an opinion is the right of every citizen, one does not have to subscribe to one ideology only. Just as Gambhir has a right to express his opinion, I have a right to oppose it with counter opinion. We need an atmosphere of healthy debate in this country. What is the use of democracy, if people decide what can be debated and what cannot be? We may belong to one nation, but we need not think the same.
One can understand the frustration and anger at the goings-on in Kashmir. It is a complicated situation and nobody can claim to understand the dynamics. On one hand we have a government trying to control the violence and bring peace to the region. On the other side we have anti-government protests due to the lack of effective governance. There is a feeling of distance and disenchantment with the process that has failed to solve the problems of the youth of Kashmir. The tirade by Gambhir against those he sees as opposed to India is ill thought of and dangerous. It almost sounds like a bad dialouge from a seventies Hindi movie- Tum ek maroge to hum chaar marenge.
If it is only to score brownie points with the government, Gambhir has succeeded. One's political ambitions can be at the cost of a long term solution to a tricky problem. First it was against Gurmehar and now this. Expressing an opinion is the right of every citizen, one does not have to subscribe to one ideology only. Just as Gambhir has a right to express his opinion, I have a right to oppose it with counter opinion. We need an atmosphere of healthy debate in this country. What is the use of democracy, if people decide what can be debated and what cannot be? We may belong to one nation, but we need not think the same.
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