Editorial: Open Doors to Get a Perspective

The depth and compassion of India’s leaders were put to the test in the wake of the Delhi gangrape. Disappointingly, but perhaps expectedly, the leaders failed miserably, unable to rise above the parochial boorishness that most of them rely on to stay relevant. Enough has been written about the lack of sensitivity displayed towards women in distress, and more discussion should be invested on shredding the opportunism with which people are being othered. The reference here is to the India-Bharat insipidity floated by one leader and rapes blamed on migrant populations by another. These are not isolated aberrations and have had many other promoters as well, not just among the ‘leaders’, but also among lay persons, many of whom even see themselves as secular and open-minded. The shifting of blame to migrants provides a convenient route to escape blame, and while it would be harmless if it was only an exercise at deflecting shared guilt, when the promoters of such arguments become convinced themselves, the social course corrections never come about. Despite all the chest-beating then, nothing changes on ground. It is thus important for ‘local’ populations across the country to revaluate how they engage the non-locals and redress the prejudices that about. There are many issues pulled out from under the carpet by the Delhi episode, and how resident communities address influx is one of the tangential offshoots.
Migrant issues are not new to the country. The senseless killings of Hindi-speaking migrant labourers in Assam, fears of a possible [Kokrajhar] backlash on people from the northeast, Mumbai’s choreographed for media attacks on North Indians... all these play out episodically in our country. They are reminders of how insularity is not an advisable recourse for any community, nation or region anymore, but the lessons remain unlearnt. The world is too interlinked for isolated existences and what use is an identity if there is no ‘other’ to recognise it. People and communities know who and what they are, identities are treasured because that is how the others know them, but when the doors are shut - as much as they shut outsiders out, they keep insiders in, leaving no room for interactions and the isolated groups soon atrophy as they become increasingly irrelevant to the outside world. Celebrations of individuality and identity then become redundant because there is no audience. Blaming migrant populations is an offensive class stratification which preys on the financial insecurities of an underprivileged group. But there is only so much that people will suffer. Targeting migrant populations damages local economies, the collapse of the hospitality sector in Bangalore in the recent exodus being a recent case in point. This population group is after all the muscle which powers development at the grassroots level, taking on jobs, responsibilities and toil that the local populations either do not have the stomach for or has not yet developed the aptitude for. Target them and they will move on. They have the will to work, can even stomach some abuse, but will not suffer continued name-calling. Ignorance is an obvious reason behind such prejudices and the Centre’s continuing pursuit of isolationist agendas fuels such mindsets. It is time that the country and its regions attempted more openness and making better introductions. As this happens, the society, its members and its leaders will then be forced to address issues, like safety of women for example, in the correct perspective and with the earnestness that it requires...