What happened to the secular nation?

The situation my beloved country India has gotten herself into is really scary. For centuries my great nation prided in it’s secular nature. Unity in diversity was our unwritten national motto. We have a national pledge in India, which is an oath of allegiance to our constitution. It is recited everyday in school assemblies all over the country and on special occasions. It says very clearly, all Indians are my brothers and sisters and I am proud of it’s rich and varied heritage. The concept is so clearly embedded in our minds from a very young age, we have never had any discriminating thoughts, let alone actions based on religion, cast, creed, colour, culture, region, language or social standing. We all attended the same schools, played together, grew up together. All religious festivals were celebrated together with equal zeal and were always there to help each other in adversities. We were truly a melting pot of various beliefs coexisting in complete harmony.

But the India today is a very different one. People are being killed for what they are eating or on suspicions of what they might be doing. Freedom of expression is being curtailed in the form of banning movies at the whims and fancies of some people. Honest journalists are being gunned down. Death threats are issued against people who are brave enough to question. People are hacked to death and burnt alive for marrying out of religion. Even children are not spared.

The most frightening thing is that these are all happening with the silent support and blessings of the ruling government. It is clearly evident from the stance they take when such atrocities happen. No one responsible in governmental positions condemns the incidents nor do they reassure people that proper action will be taken against the culprits. More alarmingly, the ever neutral judiciary has also started to favour the policies of the government. What else can explain the verdict the Supreme Court gave in the case of a 24-year-old woman, unsympathetic to her pleas to let her go with her husband, which denied her the freedom promised in our constitution.

I am afraid for the future of my country. It is now on a downward spiral. I sincerely pray that the tolerance India once was famous for could be returned to the minds of people. Here, social media can be a powerful tool, and I request my fellow civilised Indians to express their opinion strongly so that it reaches the law makers and make the common man think. Also I strongly believe proper education is the lasting solution, especially from a very young age to eradicate the current menace.

- The reader is based in Abu Dhabi