I can barely control my anguish since I woke up at 5 this morning from a night of restlessness.
Modi and Shah are busy orchestrating the only things they are good at - self aggrandisement, and the mass murder of Muslims and minorities.
But this isn't about Modi and Shah. Or the BJP. The AAP has supported this violence against the Muslims. And the Congress has orchestrated much of the communal violence that this country has seen.
This isn't just about parties. Or politics. This is us. This is who we are. Behind the thin veneer of the gentle Hindu or the non-violent Jain, all of us upper caste Indians are baying for blood.
Komal Sharma, Gopal Sharma, Kapil Mishra. You can identify the perpetrators of violence in Delhi with their last names. They come from a strong lineage - the same people who gave this world such gems as sati, manusmriti, child marriage and female infanticide. We, who lorded over the poor of this country for millenia, sucking their blood as moneylenders, landlords and priests.
We have made a cottage industry of telling everybody else how brutal they are - the Muslims, the Christians, the dalits, the tribals. Everyone except the rich, white man is to be despised and criticised. Never look inwards at our own selves. Persistently paint a picture of being sweet, gentle, peace loving people who were oppressed by brutal invaders. Blame all our ills on others.
I am not going to share images of bleeding Muslim men for your voyeuristic pleasure. There is no truth to be told, no secrets to be revealed. We know who we are. We, the people of India - we know who we vote for, what we ask for. We are getting what we wanted. I will not present you with the opportunity to gloat over another pyrrhic victory of your thousands of years old samrajya of blood, hate and oppression.
Life carries on. I write code, attend calls, take children for their dentist appointments. Meanwhile, the blood of my own continues to spill on the streets of Delhi. Women and children are terrorised into silence, men are lynched. Shops, homes, mosques burnt down. And crores of men, women and children rejoice in this "retribution" and celebrate.
And on a fine spring evening this weekend, a well educated man will explain to me the cold calculus of the AAP poll victory over cocktails and cheese. The more things change, the more they stay the same for the subaltern. Aromal, you will always be right, and I will always be wrong. I agree now - Kerala should have cleaved itself into another country while there was still time. Every upper caste person who can, leaves this country. Why, then, should the poor and oppressed be forced to stay, forced to serve the resentful ones who are left behind.
Modi and Shah are busy orchestrating the only things they are good at - self aggrandisement, and the mass murder of Muslims and minorities.
But this isn't about Modi and Shah. Or the BJP. The AAP has supported this violence against the Muslims. And the Congress has orchestrated much of the communal violence that this country has seen.
This isn't just about parties. Or politics. This is us. This is who we are. Behind the thin veneer of the gentle Hindu or the non-violent Jain, all of us upper caste Indians are baying for blood.
Komal Sharma, Gopal Sharma, Kapil Mishra. You can identify the perpetrators of violence in Delhi with their last names. They come from a strong lineage - the same people who gave this world such gems as sati, manusmriti, child marriage and female infanticide. We, who lorded over the poor of this country for millenia, sucking their blood as moneylenders, landlords and priests.
We have made a cottage industry of telling everybody else how brutal they are - the Muslims, the Christians, the dalits, the tribals. Everyone except the rich, white man is to be despised and criticised. Never look inwards at our own selves. Persistently paint a picture of being sweet, gentle, peace loving people who were oppressed by brutal invaders. Blame all our ills on others.
I am not going to share images of bleeding Muslim men for your voyeuristic pleasure. There is no truth to be told, no secrets to be revealed. We know who we are. We, the people of India - we know who we vote for, what we ask for. We are getting what we wanted. I will not present you with the opportunity to gloat over another pyrrhic victory of your thousands of years old samrajya of blood, hate and oppression.
Life carries on. I write code, attend calls, take children for their dentist appointments. Meanwhile, the blood of my own continues to spill on the streets of Delhi. Women and children are terrorised into silence, men are lynched. Shops, homes, mosques burnt down. And crores of men, women and children rejoice in this "retribution" and celebrate.
And on a fine spring evening this weekend, a well educated man will explain to me the cold calculus of the AAP poll victory over cocktails and cheese. The more things change, the more they stay the same for the subaltern. Aromal, you will always be right, and I will always be wrong. I agree now - Kerala should have cleaved itself into another country while there was still time. Every upper caste person who can, leaves this country. Why, then, should the poor and oppressed be forced to stay, forced to serve the resentful ones who are left behind.