India - A land of hypocrites?

The word hypocrisy is no foreigner to the Indian political scenario. The passing of the Women's Reservation Bill has once again brought this aspect of our leaders to debate. Suddenly Muslim women's representation is being championed by random people.

THE WORD ‘hypocrite’ can never be erased from dictionaries, not because of its indepth meaning, but owing to the fact that it plays a very important role in determining a remarkable trait that is always associated with the complicated human nature.

Hypocrisy, in simple terms, refers to the inconsistency between action and words. This is prominent in all fields, be it politics, personal commitments, debates or baseless discussions. Time and again, one can see changes made in well crafted words spoken by top notch public figures depending on the situation and the context. Now, one has to analyse to what extent this term can be associated with an ordinary Indian citizen.

There have been numerous reports on the Yadav troika of Mulayam Singh, Laloo and Sharad aiming at reservation within reservation for Muslim community in the Women’s Reservation Bill. However, the question yet to be answered is what they have done for the Muslim community so far.

Talking about the common man, if one goes back a few years in history, it would be impossible not to come across the objections raised against the idea of ‘Democratic India’ being ruled by a personality like Sonia Gandhi, thanks to her origin and not her skills. There were widespread discussions among all the sections of the society with every individual, right from the ‘responsible future citizens’ of the country, to the older age groups. Even women who always felt oppressed would not miss an opportunity to discuss this in detail, be it a kitty party or a serious debate.

However, with the passing of the Women’s Reservation Bill, things have taken a drastic turn and Sonia Gandhi is treated as a Demi God by all women and of course the husbands and near and dear ones of future political wannabes. Is this because she has proved her mettle or more for the fact that this decision is seen as a boon by many? Only time will tell.

There has been an unprecedented rise in hatred against Australian racists. However, it is not difficult to guess that these are the same people who dedicate some part of their life to ensure that caste discrimination still remains an unresolved part in the Indian society.

In the field of cricket, we have heard a few celebrities claiming Sachin Tendulkar to be ahead of Don Bradman, thus leading to the confusion if this is out of obsession or has embedded traces of hypocrisy.

Many people project the image of a philanthropist working for the cause of mankind but their charitable works take a backseat when they fail to get media attention that profits them in some issues of ‘greater significance’ to them.