Caution: This post is not intended to hurt the sentiments of any community or group. It just encompasses my views. My views could be right or wrong and no one needs to buy them. However, everyone is encouraged to comment on the post.
2002 Godhra Riots in India
Familiarity
Post Godhra Riots in India
Conclusions
P. S. Song of the day - Hai preet jahan ki reet sadaa, Main geet wahan ke gaata hun....from Purab aur Pashchim.
Godhra riots took place between Hindus and Muslims in the western part
of India in a state known as "Gujrat". Muslims lost their lives in great
number as compared to Hindus in those riots. Narendra Modi, who was the
chief of the state during that period, was accused for not controlling the
riots. Since Narendra Modi was a Hindu, it was advertised by his opponents that he, being a Hindu, supported the riots which led to the mass
killing of Muslims. As a result, Narendra Modi stepped down from his
post and the elections took place in the state again.
If a certain thing is repeated to you several times, it is probable
that it starts feeling more familiar to you. You start relating to that
topic/thing. Even if there are many other things of that sort existing
in the world, you don't seem to remember them because the one which is
familiar to you is easily accessible by your memory. E.g. If someone starts calling you a liar every time s/he sees you, you too may start suspecting yourself even if you'd never lied in your
life.
Life had moved on in Gujrat after the riots. Narendra Modi was
re-elected as the chief of the state. He made conscious efforts to not
to allow such incidents to happen in Gujrat again. And he's been
successful too till date as there have been no reports of riots in the
state after 2002. But instead of crediting Modi for his efforts to
maintain peace and calm in the state, his opponents keep refreshing 2002
riots in the memory of people. They have given him many names and
"Communal" is the most prominent among them. Now when most of the youth
is happy with the way Narendra Modi is working, there is a section of
people which has been affected by the psychological phenomenon -
"Familiarity". For them, "Communal" means "Narendra Modi" and
vice-versa.
Many people are exploiting human psychology to serve their goals. In
the case of Narendra Modi, it is evident that his opponents are
attacking the psyche of voters by calling him "Communal" again and
again. Even if someone wants to forget the past, they are not letting
him to. It gets very difficult to make a note of good work done by an
individual because of the aspersions being laid upon him. I wish human
psychology to progress so that instead of going by familiar notions, we
start looking at the details of the subject before deriving any
conclusion.
