Open Letter to Hardik Patel

Kind Attention

Shri Hardik Patel
Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti

Subject:  Basically, what are you trying to do?

Mincing words is not my forte; hence allow me to put it upfront that your actions have caused great distress and convinced me beyond reasonable doubt that the single point agenda of what you are doing through your organization in Ahmedabad is quick, personal and material political benefit of a very myopic nature. I am also certain almost by intuition, of the artificial origin of your political activities catalyzed by several unseen stakeholders with even more sinister agendas respectively.   

What worries me is not your case in isolation which I am certain will disappear from media once ulterior objectives are achieved and back channel negotiations are concluded. I am more worried about the invention of a dangerous methodology that is so easily hijacking the democratic structure and making a mockery of it at the highest levels of political abstraction.

With near certainty that this letter will not deter you from your cold and calculated plan of action, I humbly want to put on record a common man’s interpretation of some terms and keywords that you are bound to conveniently misuse almost on a daily basis now in front of the TV cameras in your new political avatar, till you negotiate your way to some other "cause" . I think I know exactly what you are upto, and disapprove it with all sanity at my disposal.

MOVEMENT (what it generally means) An organic process which channelizes the energy of group bound by a common problem or cause, and uses it to bring social or political change involving sacrifices in the highest order of morality

MOVEMENT (what it apparently means for people like you)get investors, manage media, get disgruntled pseudo-ideologues who can justify almost anything that they are asked to justify, get fundamentalist goons in existential crisis, get confused crowd seeking guilty pleasure of cheap entertainment while absolving them with an illusion of cause. Repackage all this and give it a macho flavor of a fight against oppression so that it can be sustained till the drama becomes organic ( in terms of modus operandi, reminds me of Hitler annexing  Poland) Use violence. Go on hunger strike. Be rude to the public on the road. Be polite to public on TV. Give people entertainment on regular intervals. Be unreasonable so that the government does not accidentally agree to your demands and cause abrupt halt to the drama. Phew! what a mutation of technology and ignorance!   

LEADERSHIP (what it generally means) Give a definite and progressive direction to a dependent group with sufficient visualization for sustainable co-existence

LEADERSHIP (what it apparently means for people like you) Pump money and ape a product marketing plan with professional help. Supply arguments to the majority to help it justify its wrongs. Use frog experiment.Make people dependent. Promise them perks which they know they do not deserve(reminds me of Arvind Kejriwal). In the name of addressing hypothetical inequality of the past, create inequality for the future. Play on greed, not on need. Appeal to public’s lack of reason and not to public’s capability to reason.

PROGRESS (what it generally means) Improvement in socio-economic indices with subjective implications

PROGRESS (what it apparently means for people like you) unaccountable and disproportionate allocation of resources while other groups and communities behaving politely and expressing faith in constitution suffer (reminds me of Lalu Yadav in his prime), capability to arm twist the institutions and wrest power in the centralized hands of alleged benefactors, align communities like military along narrow and cheap agendas, when they ask about right and wrong, tell them about profit and loss.

SELF RESPECT (what it generally means) The ability of a community to resurrect itself during crisis taking inspiration from its heroic past if any and support the weaker ones to resurrect themselves  

SELF RESPECT (what it apparently means for people like you) Use history to justify subtle violent overtures and trigger an atmosphere of distrust among groups so that you can realign your political variables as per your convenience (reminds me of Hurriyat). Showcase yourself as the victim. Refer to begging as demanding. Refer to stealing as obtaining.

DEPRIVATION (what it generally means) Lack of minimum supporting ecosystem to ensure survivability as per pre-defined norms

DEPRIVATION (what it apparently means for people like you) an emotion that can be easily misused. It is easier to convince people that they are deprived rather than to convince them that they are privileged (reminds me of imperialist campaigns in Central Asia  which were projected on similar lines to garner popular support locally)  

EQUALITY (what it generally means) No bias in allocation of resources

EQUALITY (what it apparently means for people like you) unaccountable creation of biases in the name of compensating biases. The principal argument built around the logic that we have first right on this resource and that resource and then some imaginary reason pulled from the past totally out of the context to veil the insanity. Only the convenient truth is acceptable. Highlighting the privileges granted to the group constitutionally or otherwise is blasphemy (reminds me of American jingoism).

CONSTITUTION (what it generally means) Respectful

CONSTITUTION (what it apparently means for people like you) Laughable (reminds me of Maharajahs)

      
SARDAR VALLABHBHAI PATEL (what it generally means) symbol of uniting India who was revered and supported by all communities across the country during his political life

SARDAR VALLABHBHAI PATEL (what it apparently means for people like you) an article of copyright infringement to be twisted, misquoted, exploited as and when deemed necessary (reminds me of Praveen Togadia)

   

“इस तालाब में रोहू पकड़ने के लिए,

छोटी छोटी मछलियों को तुमने चारा बना के फ़ेंक दिया।"

-दुष्यंत कुमार

Ends don’t justify the means, and in your case I find both the ends and means are equally deplorable.
If you do not have the capacity to improve things even temporarily, do not destroy them permanently
for your two paise political relevance.

In the land of Mahatma Gandhi, I will pray for your wisdom.What else can I do.

Jai Hind!

Yours Sincerely

Tapesh Gautam