Most of us tend to find out ways to attack enemy groups when we are angry, instead of dealing with it in a rational way. This is exactly what Rahul Gandhi has been accusing Narendra Modi of hate politics. Even though this may be true to an extent, Rahul Gandhi and other politicians who preach about love in politics are exactly being honest about their true feelings.
Hindu nationalists hate people of other religions while left wing politicians hate the rich and elite class. Everyone hates foreigners as well, even though they don’t show it out in the open. This goes to show that the political scene in India has been reduced to hate, envy and resentment.
Indians have an internalized notion of what is good and fair in the world. Politicians use this same factor to pit the common person against the elite, rich class in order to impose certain legislations that would benefit no one but themselves. These politicians are then easily elected to power based on the blindness created by pride, ego and envy.
People tend to not notice this careful strategy called politics of hatred. They can’t be blamed for it as well. When the mind is too prejudiced, self-assumptions are but evident. While policy analysts and economists argue about policy measures, they fail to stress that the person who should most benefit from these policies should be the one standing at the bottom of the income pyramid. Journalists and intellects easily note this; however, who condemn the communalists and nationalists for instigating these thoughts in the common person.
Take for example, the Union Budget of 2014-15 where the government has decided to continue imposing the 10% surcharge on income earners with an annual income of more than one crore. While many may justify that there is a valid reason for the riches to pay their taxes, only some know that this move would benefit no one else but the government while the exact way in which these individuals earn this money is ignored.
Many rich individuals even complained about this unfair treatment. However, none of them received any support from the common person who was made to believe that it is only fair that the richer you are, the more you pay, irrespective of how you earn that money or where it goes in the end.
Indian politics has been consumed with hatred for quite some time now. Politicians make use of the common man’s internalized notions to instigate hate politics among the masses in order to gain power themselves. Only the more intellectual individuals tend to notice this pattern and steer clear of it. As for the rest of India however, hate politics has become a norm as well as a valid excuse for certain politicians to remain glued to their seats for more years to come.
