Living in Bellicose Times with Belligerent People
By Sumit Paul, New Age
Islam
10 June
2024
"I May
Not Like You and Your Views but I'll Stand by You When Your Honour Is at
Stake."
'Separating ' by John Updike
Main Laakh Tujhe Naa-Pasand Karoon
Izzat Pe Teri Kabhi Aanch Na Aane Doon
Khuld Barabankvi
(Though I
may dislike you quite intensely, I'll always protect your honour and
amour-propre)
This
pertains to the recent 'Slapgate' incident at Chandigarh airport when a female
CISF constable, Kulwinder Kaur, slapped Kangana Ranaut for making fun of
farmers at the time of farmers' agitation.
Newly elected Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP
Kangana Ranaut arrives for Narendra Modi's oath-taking ceremony, at Rashtrapati
Bhavan in New Delhi on Sunday.(ANI)
------
This
character Kangana is not much liked by many because she's an unabashed
sycophant of BJP and Modi. She's a loudmouth who talks through her hat. All
said and done, now she's an elected MP. Forget that too. She's an individual
with self-respect and a security guard, at an airport or anywhere, is there for
the protection of people and passengers.
Slapping a
woman in public is an act that must be condemned by all. Such despicable acts
have no place in a civilized society. This reeks of rank hooliganism. Shabana
Azmi has rightly said on her X account that, " While she has no love for
Kangana, she categorically condemns this incident. She further wrote, "
When security personnel resort to violence and defy law, it becomes a serious
issue."
Yet,
there're people who're gloating over this and saying that Kangana has got her
comeuppance. This is sadism. Remember, Benazir Bhutto's dignified reaction when
she heard the news of the death of her bete-noire Gen Zia-ul-Haq who died in a
plane crash at Bahawalpur, Pakistan, on August 17, 1988. All she said, "He
got the nemesis." This is an extremely dignified reaction of a very
educated person who studied at Harvard and Oxford Universities like her dad Z A
Bhutto. She could have abused Zia who hanged her dad. But she chose to show
restraint and didn't even say, 'good riddance.'
We all seem
to be losing this type of old-world refinement and have become too rustic in
our reactions. The intemperate language, often outright abusive, that we get to
see and hear on social media has affected all of us. We're nonchalantly calling
people, 'certifiable imbecile,' 'idiot', 'uncultured yokel' and what not on
public forums and there're people who justify this uncouth behaviour and trend.
We've imbibed that bellicose spirit and are aping it to the last syllable.
That's why, people hailing the unruly security guard at the airport outnumber
those who're condemning this act. We're living in belligerent times when
violence is justified by a majority of seemingly 'educated' people. This
doesn't portend well.
-----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in
comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed
articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including
Persian.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/bellicose-belligerent-people/d/132477