Politics of hate will never define India: Rakesh Sharma's response to Subramanian Swamy

[The below article the documentary film maker Rakesh Sharma appeared in response to the hate spinning article written by Subramanian Swamy soon after the july 2011 Bomb blasts in Bombay]

Politics of hate will never define India - Part I

DNA Sunday, July 17, 2011 7:27 IST

Rakesh Sharma

I have seen many a TV channel with horror, heard many a shrill socialite,
opportunistic politician and know-all anchor pontificate on this week´s
terror strike in the city I called home for over two decades. We´ve all
been bombarded by online hysteria, TV sermons and outraged tweets offering
140-character pithy solutions to all our complex problems.

Even before the investigations have come to any conclusion, the ignorant
and the expert alike have offered us a range of hawkish advice - bomb thy
neighbour, suspend dialogue, pre-emptive strikes to destroy terror dens,
large-scale arrests, more surveillance of every citizen (especially from a
certain community), more weapons and sweeping powers for the police, bring
back POTA, instant trial and justice, hang Kasab, hang Afzal, and so on.

Publicity-hungry netas aiming to consolidate a political constituency
haven´t stopped at grim analyses of policy failures, spineless governments
and demand for resignations!

Some like Subramanian Swamy exhort us to respond to terrorism not as
Indians but as Hindus, warn us of Taliban at our doorstep, offer their
recycled, freshly dusted theories and advise us to virtually convert
ourselves into a Hindu Taliban.

Each one of them does it in the name of the victims. Each one weeps for
the bereaved families while offering us their views, theories and
remedies. As a filmmaker focusing on the politics of hate and its terrible
immediate and long-term consequences over the last 10 years, I have filmed
with many whose universes have been damaged by acts of terror and
organised violence. Among the countless stories I´ve documented are bleak
family portraits of those killed inside S-6, ordinary people later branded
kar sevaks, their tragedies shamelessly exploited for votes; Muslim
families subjected to the worst of human brutalities in the 2002 Gujarat
carnage.

I´ve filmed in the aftermath of the 26/11 terror attacks, and after the
2006 Mumbai serial train blasts. I´ve spoken to a dozen Muslim families
shot at by Kasab at CST/VT station and interviewed scores of Hindu
victims. My cameras have documented those affected by the Indian
Mujahideen bombs and those who suffered the consequences of the Abhinav
Bharat bombs in Malegaon.

To those who now spew venom and preach intolerance in the name of the
victims, I want to say that in the months I´ve spent with affected Muslim
and Hindu families, I didn´t meet anyone who practices or preaches
intolerance or harbours hate towards the other community. Each of them
denounces hate - none of them wants revenge either directly or in their
names. Yet, none of them shrugs it off, or accepts their loss
philosophically to move on.

Invariably, in most of them, I´ve seen a fierce desire for justice, for
the guilty to be severely punished and a fervent wish that no one else
suffer in a similar manner - in their community or the other. Insaaf is a
word I heard all the time, nafrat never! In many of them, I did see
serious anger - but invariably, against those who exploited their
tragedies - be it their own corrupt community members siphoning off
relief, apathetic babudom, or irresponsible, insensitive media reporters,
but mostly netas who cynically tried to use their tragedy. Hamari laash
par vote ki roti senkte hain ye log, I´ve heard this in from the Hindu
victim and the Muslim victim alike. Repeatedly.

I have deeply admired the fortitude, sensitivity and humanity in them.
Rather than preach tolerance to them, I have learnt from them. I have seen
it in their eyes, heard it in their words, sensed it in their voices and
witnessed it in their actions. And this is why I remain convinced that
though there may be a lunatic fringe that believes in hate/intolerance,
the common people or "victims" do not; that the social fabric of our
country and the ingrained societal ethos and values of harmonious co-
existence are far too strong to be damaged.

This is why I continue to believe that the politics of hate will never be
the defining or determining force in India.

These are terrible times. As citizens, all of us feel a deep sense of
anger, frustration and helplessness. It is easy to be impassioned, lose
perspective, and get mired in irrelevant rhetoric. But this is not the
time to advocate aggression, debate politics and rewrite recent and
medieval history. It is a time for all of us to unite, speak in one voice
against those who inflict terror.

The objective behind spreading terror is to divide us, dent our spirit,
destroy our social fabric and damage the vibrant diversity that makes us
the oldest surviving civilisation and a thriving, vibrant democracy. The
terrorists would be well-served if we succumbed to hate, bigotry, and
intolerance.

Or if as a nation, we curtailed our civil liberties, suspended to anyone
the constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and rights or targeted any
specific community, painting all of them as villains.

No amount of street or online hysteria, outrage, TV sermons, demand for
resignations or other meaningless gestures will make any real difference
till we allow hate to breed and flourish.

Till the time there is hate, till the time we tolerate hate-mongers, till
the time we don´t reject politics of intolerance, we cannot possibly dream
of peace. Politics of hate can only breed further hate; only someone
insane would believe that a deepening cycle of hate will lead to peace,
harmony or prosperity and strengthen the foundations of a robust democracy
or a harmonious society. Let us not perpetrate hate. Let us condemn all
the hate-mongers, of any community or creed. Let us demand that all the
guilty in each of the attacks be brought to justice.

But foremost, let us introspect - delve deeply within our individual
selves - and deal with individual prejudice, intolerance or bias. It is
only when we deal with hate as an individual, community, society and
country that we can even begin to hope for peace. That is the first step
towards dealing with this cycle of hate. Let us learn from those who
suffer and yet don´t harbour hate, rejecting those who preach and
propagate hate in their names! That would be a true homage.

Rakesh Sharma is a documentary filmmaker, well known for his
internationally acclaimed film, Final Solution