By Krishna Saagar Rao
(The author is a spokesperson for the BJP).
Whatever the reason might be, death of a young person is certainly painful across the world. Rohith case is no different, except it’s a suicide and surely is more painful.
The reason we differentiate a child from an adult is purely for consequential action. Children cannot be held responsible for their actions till a certain age. However, when one turns an adult, every single action is accountable, the consequences will have to be owned up.
If a society starts looking for excuses to justify a suicide or shift responsibility of an adult’s extreme action to a minister, a university, a ministry or even a government, that surely sets a wrong precedence. No matured society can afford to indirectly promote suicides of young people by finding valid reasons for this despicable action. There should be no reason which should justify killing one’s self, especially a highly educated, young person.
Rohith is a 26 year old, a second year PHD scholar. A full blown adult who has an entire life ahead of him. Should a suspension from residing in a hostel of a university, or even any other more severe academic punishment, push him to end his life ? Is it not the responsibility of the society at large, that we have allowed our young people to grow up so weak & timid ? Is it not the fault of our 70 year old education system, which has not built our youngsters to withstand small obstacles ? Is it not the fault of the new age concept of friends, who are with us all the time but really not there, when one needs them the most emotionally ? and finally is it not Rohith’s fault to come all this way & end his precious life for an insipid issue ?
Instead of debating how we can rebuild the resilience of the young people of this nation, instead of debating how we can strengthen the community, family, peer support system to ensure no such cases repeat, instead of inspiring young people to fight for their rights, if someone undermines them, few sections of the fourth estate & political parties in this nation have unleashed gutter level public discourse, making a tragic death of a student, a fit case for caste politics.
The negative impact of politicization of these kind of cases on the society & it’s natural progression to trigger more such incidents in the ecosystem, is not even a random thought which would cross the minds of those who are fighting for earning political scores.
Holding the individual accountable for his action & making an example which should not be followed by any other young person in this great nation, should have been a right step in the right direction for Nation Building. However, the current politics of this country has nothing to do with Nation Building. The young man who personally took his life and has left a very clearly written suicide note stating the clarity of purpose in his action, was not even condemned in sympathy. None of the speech makers condemned his action as wrong, un exemplary, weak & that he could have lived to fight, if there were any violations over his rights.
India is no banana republic; we are a constitution led nation. We have legal, judicial, executive & legislative infrastructure to challenge any violation of individual rights. There’s simply no need for anyone to end their life in despair. Someone as learned and as educated like Rohith should easily understand his constitutional rights & avenues to seek, if his rights are challenged by any individual or institution. In fact Rohith & his friends have already sought court intervention in this case. What triggered Rohith’s action to commit a suicide is still a mystery.
Nowhere in the world will a suicide of a student & his caste be made a national, political spectacle & be branded on as caste discrimination. Some sections of the media & political parties continue to engage in caste politics, even after the student was cleared of that mistaken identity. Caste politics in this country has stooped an abysmal low that even tragic death of young person has turned into a game for earning political capital. Many ethically bankrupt political leaders & their parties rushed to earn the equity of this new found political currency.
In a healthier, matured & a responsible society, any case of suicide will be dealt through a systemic process. If it’s a sensitive case, it’s dealt with more sensitivity so that the social harmony is not disturbed for a personal action committed by an adult. In contrary, in our country, sensitive issues are dealt in a rude, abrasive, confrontational & purely political manner. A society which does not deal with dead sensitively, how will it deal with the living ?
Common sense seems to be uncommon. One fails to understand how does a minister who forwards a student body representation to a concerned ministry be directly abetting a suicide ? How’s it, that a ministry which oversees an entire nation’s human resource system be accountable for an individual’s self-inflicted action ? How’s it a student body which brain washes young people like Rohith to support terrorists through protesting against a legal execution of a terrorist, is not in abetment ? How’s it, that all the political vultures who descended on the campus after 2 days of Rohith’s suicide making vicious, divisive, casteist & hateful political speeches are not in abetment to future suicides of students across this country ?
It’s a shame that even after 70 years of independence, we are not in a position to build a nation with its indigenous culture & intrinsic value system. It’s a shame that every small & big event in this country is politically exploited to only further divide & vitiate the society which is already broken into pieces in the name of religion, region, caste & creed.
It’s about time, we rebuild this nation with ‘India centric core values’ which can allow young people to think freely, openly and withstand all obstacles to live & add value to other people’s lives.
Jai Hind.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this articles are the personal opinions of the author. The News Minute is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, suitability or validity of any information in this article. The information, facts or opinions appearing in this article do not reflect the views of The News Minute and The News Minute does not assume any liability on the same.)