Have a heart - Stand up India

India suffers in silence from the “Mera Kya Mujhe Kya” syndrome. The recent Meerut incident in which a girl single-handedly faced the wrath of goons and fought back in a busy marketplace in broad daylight is indicative of the depths to which we have fallen – that we are a country of onlookers, tamashbeens to be exact. The onlookers at Meerut who were watching the brave girl fighting and facing the wrath of the goons perhaps had no qualms of guilt in not coming to the rescue of the damsel in distress. Why to get involved in someone else’s fight was perhaps the only thought that came in their minds despite relishing for free the action on the streets. 

And why not, rarely does one come across a citizen who possesses the spine to stand up for a cause other than his own. And yet everyone complains when others do not stand up when they are in distress themselves.

Rampant corruption that touches the lives of every single citizen all of the time is also an offshoot of our rank inability to stand up for a cause that does not affect us directly or it affects others. Like the goons, the corrupt also get away because of failure of the masses to step forward against acts of violence, corruption and gross injustice being perpetrated on others.

And it amazes me when even those from the services despite being guaranteed a lifetime of sarkari dole and other legitimate and illegitimate perquisites fail in doing what they should, to stand up against acts that go against the national fabric, even at the cost of subverting their own conscience. And all this for petty personal gains that ultimately do not matter in the long run.

The citizen is still justified but the bureaucrat is not, in failing to stand up for a right cause. After all lack of faith in systems and structures that form part of the government machinery of the nation is the reason why the aam aadmi feels miserably lonely in all his battles. The men at Meerut were absolutely certain that had they moved against the goons, they also would have faced a double whammy, both at the hands of goons and the state police force. Yet these ground realities do not absolve them of inaction by any stretch of imagination.

Modi understands the pulse of the nation and that is why he is the first ever prime minister to put his finger ,bang on the “Mujhe Kya, Mera Kya” syndrome afflicting the nation. He exhorted the entire nation to rise above this syndrome in the overall interest of humanity and if this call is heeded, the country would indeed emerge a much better place to live in.