Indian politics and emotional exaggeration
Emotional intelligence is the last thing one can expect from Indian politics, in the way things are going. Especially, in the contemporary politics of obfuscation, exaggeration and hyperbole.
The last of democratic values are eroding fast in the largest democracy of the world. Indian politics instead of maturing and progressing to become better after 70 years of independence is degrading to a new low on a daily basis.
Congress party which is leading the pack of desperate regional parties across India is ready to stoop to any low to defame the incumbent government by next elections schedule by hook or crook. The result is a devastatingly low level crass politics at display every day on the national media platforms.
Catalysing this historic fall from grace for Indian politics is the main stream media, which has to run news 24/7 and needs the feed. It’s a challenge to figure out who’s using who? Are these political parties using the media to degenerate the public discourse or is it the media using the political parties inadvertently leading to a similar outcome? Either ways, it looks quite like a self serving symbiotic relationship which possibly is benefiting both the entities but leading the body politic of this nation into an irreversible phase of deterioration.
Recent ‘empty outrage’ and ‘out of closet’ uprisings across the nation have proved one thing for sure, that we are a nation of ‘protestors without a cause.’ It has by now become a chronic syndrome to protest for everything without even understanding the reason for the same.
While democracy is about right to protest, it’s not about ‘protest to protest’, it’s not certainly about manufactured protests purely for political expediency of a particular party. A monotonous continuity of these manufactured protests robs the rights and purpose of real protestors who fight for real causes that impact real people. Invaluable democratic rights are being mocked in this nation for petty political outcomes.
Even those who are protesting in the parliament don’t actually know what they are protesting for. They don’t even care to know, if there is a legal, constitutional and ethical basis for their demands.
They are simply protesting, as their parties have ordered them to do so. Indian politics is fast turning into organised chaos, which is insulting the fundamental intellect of the common Indians, by brazenly challenging the last limits of social, emotional, ethical and moral conduct.
Emotional exaggeration is the order of the day. It has permeated to all areas of life in India. Contemporary Indian politics has adopted emotional exaggeration as an instrument to whip up passion. The plot is to mislead the poor and the innocent through misplaced information, false propaganda and promoting lies through select mainstream media houses, social media platforms.
There were times, when those in higher positions of power, stature, and key constitutional roles used to fear disrepute, if they were to indulge in making misleading statements, speak lies, and take part in false propaganda. However, today there’s nothing which stops a politician of any stature to stoop to the lowest level to land a punch on the opponent, distract the voter, set their media agenda or make blatant false statements in public. I wonder, is there any further low the public discourse can go in this country?
We have even chief ministers in the country, who would speak plain lies in the legislative assembly and parliamentary party leaders who would make factually false statements in the parliament with zero accountability. These uncanny politicos have turned Indian politics into an unrelenting lying machine. On the other hand, the Indian voter is at an eternal shock trying to fathom the depth of the new lows, each time there’s a steep descent.
Emotional exaggeration is bad for any ecosystem, not just for politics. It can lower the credibility of a fraternity, an institution, a society or even a family. Repeated emotional exaggeration can reduce sensibility in that system.
It can lead to lower trust, reduced reliability on individuals who exaggerate emotions. Emotional validation is the key to self respect of not just an individual but it’s also important to retain the credibility of any system. Repeated emotional exaggeration by knee jerk reactions, empty outrage, false protests, and factory production of fake issues can lead to massive trust deficit in the entire ecosystem.
Political parties must understand that their parties are supposed to be built for eternity, while the individuals might last for a period of time. Promoting uncouth political behavior and redesigning Indian politics for short-term political expediency can do irreparable damage to not just their individual parties but to the public discourse, branches of the state, mainstream media and the political ecosystem of the nation.
This nation and its political parties must recognise and respect the necessity of emotional intelligence in dealing with day to day politics. Politics is an institution of democracy to enable self governance through people representation; it’s not a system which should turn into a mockery on a daily basis to a level that it becomes a crass comic soap opera or a C-grade TV series.
It’s shocking that even the most senior political leaders in this nation are turning myopic and helpless to accept the new lows for personal power needs than responsibly steer this dangerously deviant trend in the political ecosystem in this country.
The compelling urge to turn every rape, murder, kidnap, provocative statements, portraits, clothes, traditions, religious beliefs, personal abuse and literally anything but real people issues into a political debate is a disservice to this nation in a long run. Parties win and lose in every election; no single party can stay in power for ever in a democracy.
An emotional intelligent party and its leaders will understand that it doesn’t need to destroy its timeless ideology, values, beliefs, respect, trust its members and voters repose in them for day to day media wins, spins and doesn’t need to become collateral victim of self sabotage along with destroying a nation’s carefully crafted institutional fabric.
It is important for the political parties in India if they can, to trace their ideology and values of the past. It is important to remember those tall political leaders, who left their timeless legacy of simplicity, truth, respect and sincerity in the annals of Indian political history. There’s an unprecedented urgency to resurrect larger ideals, long term vision, institutional conservation and enduring values back into the political ecosystem of India, before our nation turns into an ugly mess of political chaos. (Writer is BJP Spokesperson/Organisational Strategist & Author)
By Krishna Saagar Rao