If the king is careless the subjects too will care for nothing. As the
king is, so will be subjects.
- Chanakya Neeti, Chapter 13, Verse 7
I was sitting and working in
office when there was a beep in my phone signalling there is Breaking News in
my mobile app.
An AAP supporter had fallen off a tree during a farmer’s
rally in Delhi.
I opened the website on desktop
to read the news in detail. The website reported that an AAP supporter from
Rajasthan had fallen off a tree at a rally. He was being rushed to a nearby
hospital for treatment.
I took this news as ‘just another
mishap’ and closed the browser. This happened in the afternoon.
By the time I reached home in the
evening this ‘just another mishap’ had turned into a national tragedy. The news
channels reported that the person who had climbed up the tree was actually a
distressed farmer whose crops had failed due to unseasonal rain and the accident,
about which I read in the morning, was actually a suicide. The farmer didn't
have anything left to feed his children.
From nothing in the afternoon to
everything by evening, this incident can very well be used as a measure to
ascertain the value of a human life in India. It exposes the basic nature of
every Indian-the ruling class (our politicians) and the ruled ones (the public
servants, media and the otherwise common man). This incident shows how everyone
in our country is constantly looking for fame at the cost of the other’s
sacrifice and desperate to prove himself/herself innocent of any wrong doing.
As I tried to follow every bit of
news related to this incident, following is what I could infer about the sequence
of incidents that occurred on that fateful day.
A dhoti and turban clad man,
identified as Gajendra Singh Kalyanwat, climbed up a tree at an Aam Aadmi Party’s
Farmer Rally at Jantar Mantar, Delhi. The rally was organised to protest
against the new Land Bill being introduced by the ruling BJP in the parliament.
People who noticed him climbing
up the tree did not find it uncommon as photographers and protesters often
climb up trees at such huge gatherings. The man reportedly did some antics on
the tree for some time and hurled abuses at politicians while media, people and
policeman cheered and took photographs of his.
An AAP leader on the VIP dais
noticed him and requested him to come down. He asked people on the ground to
bring the gentleman down.
Thereafter something went wrong
and this man was entangled in the noose he had put around his neck for some
reason (I say some reason because newspaper and media reported that many people
in the crowd dared him to tighten it. But almost everyone suggested that it was
part of his antics because he was clearly holding on to a branch and his left
leg rested on another branch; you don’t secure yourself so nicely if you want
to suicide).
Next, AAP supporters at the rally
tried to save him and remove the noose around his neck. The man fell on the
ground. AAP workers rushed him to a nearby hospital. He was breathing till then.
A suicide note was found near the tree but the family of deceased says that it
was not his handwriting (This is still an unsolved mystery).
A mishap like this is not
uncommon in rallies. Unaware of the fact that Doctors at the hospital declared
him “brought dead”, AAP leaders continue to make their intended speeches.
News spread fast and stories are
cooked up faster. In no time the picture and suicide note of farmer was all
over the internet. And out of habit, people on internet wasted no time in
believing and sharing the story just because there was a picture of a man
hanging from his neck next to it. Political parties don’t waste their time
either in washing their hands of responsibilities.
BJP, against whom the farmer
rally was organised in Delhi accused the organisers themselves for not doing
enough to save the farmer who was “attempting suicide” in front of their eyes.
They questioned - why didn't AAP stop the rally? Why did Arvind Kejriwal
continue to sit on dais instead of saving the farmer? à Dear BJP, Arvind Kejriwal isn’t
a Spider-man.
AAP continued with their speech
unaware of the development at the hospital where the farmer was taken. They were
caught unaware (just like me in the evening after coming from the office) when
the opposition hurled abuses at them. They succumbed under pressure and screamed
sabotage. They blamed their bête noire, Delhi Police for not doing
enough to save the man.
On the other hand Congress (that
neither rules state nor country) held Prime Minister and Chief Minister
responsible for farmer’s death. They demanded an FIR to be filed against both
of them. Rahul Gandhi visited the hospital where the dead man’s autopsy was
being performed (Why? Is he a Post Mortem specialist?) These are the stuffs
Rahul Gandhi jokes are made of.
No one really cared to find out
what the truth was. They only tried to wash their hands off responsibility of suicide
of a man that was actually an accident.
As Chanakya puts it in his Chanakya Neeti,
if the king is sinful then the subjects would have no hesitation in committing
sins. Just because the ones who rule us only point fingers at other and try to
gain personal benefits out of a sad incident, the ones who are ruled emulate
the same behaviour.
When asked, Delhi Police (who are
otherwise ‘With you, for you, always) pointed fingers at AAP workers. They
claimed that the supporters of Aam Aadmi Party didn't let them save the man!
They further went on to use their discretionary powers and registered an FIR
against these supporters under IPC section 186 for obstructing public servant
in discharging duties. They blamed Aam Aadmi Party for flouting the rules by bringing
more people at the premises than allowed.
Media on the other hand used this
sad incident to gain personal benefits. Even though it was clearly evident to a
person like me, who was sitting in his office and tracking the incidents though
his cell phone that this was merely an accident; media that was present at the
rally portrayed this incident as a suspected suicide (As per analysts with
doctorates in mathematics, Suicide gets television media more TRPs than
Accidents).
No news channel showed video of
his antics. Instead they kept playing his suicide, on loop, for several hours. And
then senior and respected journalist unnecessarily argued during their prime
time news debates as why AAP workers and constables of the Delhi Police were
laughing at the man who hanged himself. They termed them as inhuman.
Newspapers, the next day morning
carried pictures of “Suicide by a Distressed Farmer” on front pages while the
facts like the farmer had no intention to die, he was supposed to meet his relatives
later during that evening, he wasn't distressed, he owned 10 acres of
gooseberry orchard and teak plantation, he wanted to join politics, he was
popular in his neighbourhood for such antic, etc were reported in the lesser
important 3rd and 4th page of the newspaper.
Bloggers on internet and Newspaper
columnist dug old papers and articles on net to tell horrific tales of farmer’s
suicide in India. They highlighted how successive governments have been
ignorant of the farmer’s cause. They suggested ways to improve conditions of the
farmers.
General public visited Jantar
Mantar the next day and posed selfie in front of the tree where Gajendra committed
suicide. Traffic in Delhi came to standstill on Friday evening because of the
protests by various NGOs and farmer organisations.
And then on Saturday, the Nepal
earthquake happened.
BJP sent troops to Nepal, AAP
sent food material, Congress assured people of Nepal of full support, media started
highlighting the sufferings of Nepalese, newspaper columnist & bloggers
wrote article on net to tell horrific stories of earthquakes and NGOs started
protesting to improve housing laws in Delhi lest the city gets reduced to
rubble if earthquake of a similar magnitude strikes Delhi....
…And the farmer whose death was
actually an accident, but portrayed as a suicide, was suddenly killed by
everyone; because apart from pointing fingers at others and gain personal benefits, there is another thing that we Indians want all the time - an undying thirst for fame and the fame is where the biggest story of that day is.
What a mockery of a human life!
