Political parties which, bifurcate the society and divide people in the name of religion and caste, political parties that adopt minority appeasement for votes as their strategy, political parties which have no firm ideology and shamelessly seek power through opportunistic alliances and political parties that have vested interests, can never bring equality among citizens or sameness in growth among them. So, as long as these political elements are at the helm of power, they will keep divisions among people alive because ‘discriminatory politics’ is their food and water for political survival.
A downtrodden Muslim and a downtrodden Hindu should be looked at equally, as ‘citizens of the country who need support’ and not as a Muslim or a Hindu. In the same way, a poor Dalit and an impoverished Brahmin should be looked at equally, not because one is a Dalit or another is a Brahmin because they are fellow citizens living in disadvantaged conditions. And more particularly, in a nation like India, which hosts people who follow a number of faiths, discriminatory politics, will only lead to discontent and hatred, further exploitation of discontent by political parties which try to gain political mileage out of it and brutal physical retaliation in extreme ways.
Faiths and religions apart we are all human beings. We have the right to follow any line of thought. Having said that, it is also vital to mention that as conscious individuals and alert citizens, we should be able to see through the reality of how we are being exploited by certain vested religious groups, including some political parties (both pro-religion and the fake secularists) who use our ‘religious identity’ to exploit us socially. They keep nurturing divisive thinking, promote ‘sectarianism, hatred and war’ among each other, and then take sides or play neutral, secular, etc., to get to power.
Poverty and hardship, hunger and pain are common to people, in spite of the religions they follow. There are certain areas even within Coimbatore, where we can see how the lesser privileged Muslim community is living. Poverty and lack of sanitation are so glaring and evident. In spite of all the minority appeasement most of our political parties here do, their condition is bad. This is not just the plight of Muslims but also the plight of Hindus and Christians who live in similar areas, in similar conditions.
The political parties that have been utilizing their plight have not done anything to improve their living conditions. While their leaders ply in luxury vehicles, live in posh bungalows and own a lot of property and wealth, poorer people of the same community struggle to pin their everyday life together. In the union of politics and religion, the poor is not a beneficiary, but the rich and powerful are, it doesn’t matter which religion he or she may belong to. Religious identity may offer a sense of security among individuals, but under the game plan of caste communal politics, religious identity or caste identity, mean only votes.
Having said this it is imperative to mention that one of the main reasons for their impoverished living conditions is the misleading that is happening in the name of religion. While religious groups and institutions are free to expound their wisdom, they shouldn't be exploiting people’s poverty and vulnerability to get them ‘converted’ or 'reconverted'. We see that happening not just in India but around the world. Why should religions seek a larger footprint? Why should they encourage fundamentalism or extremism?
In a majority of the cases, fundamentalism claims the life of only poor and not the rich. The one who gets carried away by fundamentalist ideas and lays down his life is also the poor. The rich and the powerful offer funds, foster rivalry and rhetoric to impel the foot soldier to sacrifice his life. If we look at it carefully, most youth who succumb their lives to fundamentalism, are from a poorer background. When a poor man turns to religion for shelter, he gets exploited by its bigwigs who want to utilize religious dominance to wrest control of power. Political parties, both pro-religion, and the pseudo-secularists align with them and stage a drama of being well-wishers of people of these religions and exploit their legitimate needs to come to power.
We have always had rats and moles, corrupt people in power and administration, and betrayers among the common people who could easily be bought. In the past, these crooks within India showed the way to conquerors from outside the country to invade us, to fulfill their selfish political ambitions. But today after centuries, we are being invaded, looted and plundered by our own political class, who are dividing and ruling us on the lines of caste and religion, for the same reason.