The Epicenter

We live in a region of Epicenters. Pakistan has now officially become the epicenter of terrorism. Afghanistan has firmly established itself as the epicenter of Tyranny and oppression. And while China and Japan are well on their way to becoming the epicenter of trade and technological innovation respectively, India is earning the dubious distinction of becoming the epicenter of Hypocrisy.

A few days back some ‘custodians of Indian culture’ were struck by a sudden fit of moral responsibility and members of an outfit called ‘Sri Ram Sene’ raided a pub in Mangalore attacking and assaulting its guests for apparently violating and desecrating the sanctity of ‘traditional Indian values’. The guests, especially women, were publicly humiliated, manhandled and allegedly molested and all this was caught on camera. As always, numerous political parties issued statements condemning the incident but unusually, there were more than a handful of big shots from the corridors of Power who in a sense condoned this atrocious act by placing the blame squarely on the ‘pub culture’, holding it responsible for ruining our society. It is extremely disconcerting to see people in positions of power endorse such senseless views and make such irresponsible statements, for such statements not only create social unrest but also act as impediments to development and modernization. Now before you jump on to the bandwagon of “the pub culture is not a measure of a country’s modernization”, please allow me to explain. Neither wireless internet nor Tequila nor trance is a measure of a society’s sophistication. The most accurate measure of a society’s development and modern outlook is the level of education prevalent in it. And the ultimate objective of education, as Lincoln once said is not, knowledge or wisdom, but tolerance. And, anyone who is incapable of being tolerant to ideas and ideologies that are alien or even unacceptable to him, incapable of acknowledging, accepting and appreciating another man’s point of view is uneducated irrespective of whether he is literate or not.

But the point in question here is why do I call India the epicenter of Hypocrisy? As I understand it, the prime concern of the extremists in our country is that the ‘pub culture’ is fostering promiscuity. That being the case, if these ‘embodiments of purity’ have such a problem with dance and discotheques how is it that they seem to have no problem whatsoever with sex and sleaze in bollywood. Surely, it must have some role to play!!! Afterall, more often than not, it is bollywood numbers that these people are dancing to. Well, the answer to that question is fairly simple. You can barge into any pub drag any random person out and do as you please under the pretext of morality and walk away scot-free after ofcourse some ‘rigorous investigation’. You, cant however, do the same to a Katrina Kaif or a Mallika Sherawat or anyone who belongs to the film fraternity simply because these people are not only wealthy, but are also well connected and if you tried the same with them, you might not get to see the light of the next day!! So, it is not so much an issue of morality as it is an issue of politics. And what adds fuel to the fire is the fact that all this is done either in the name of culture or religion or both since more often than not the two are intertwined. If there is anything that our culture teaches us, it is to be peaceful, tolerant and to live and let live. Apparently, our moral custodians have conveniently become oblivious to that. Ideally, the ones culpable for this outrageous act must be incarcerated and taught a lesson but it will come as no surprise to me if they are let off easily and come back again to strike another pub somewhere else in the country.