1. Home
2. Editorial

Realize vote bank politics

Young Bites. Dated: 2/20/2018 10:33:09 AM

The leaders of different parties are busy making scathing attacks on their opponents in their election campaigns besides putting forth different propositions for the solutions of Kashmir imbroglio to work as feelers, simply to woo voters to win the elections. National conference is again exploiting its old and rhetoric slogan of autonomy which has already doomed after the “state autonomy bill” was passed in both the houses of state legislature with 3 ¼ th of majority votes, during their last rule. Politicians, regardless of party affiliations, have created disaffection among the communities and are fishing in troubled waters. Our politicians may not be good at anything else but they are adept at rabble rousing and creating unbridgeable divide among the people. They do so to achieve short-term political gains, even if it means great danger to our national cause. The purpose of democratic system is to stimulate competition, increase prosperity and improve standards of living. Political parties playing vote .bank politics generously dispense freebies to minorities for their votes, but, it is very important for the people to understand that every benefit has its cost. These donated benefits make them and their future generation barren, less motivated, uncompetitive and, eventually, permanently dependent on government handouts. In a democratic system, most people make their own choices and they flourish and prosper. However, there are people who don’t mind being the victims of vote bank politics, and this is the second biggest pitfall of democratic system. The level of education is consistently low in the Muslim community, especially among the female population for which they are themselves responsible. Indian politics has changed over the past decades. New generations of political leaders have emerged, but the status of Muslims in India remains virtually unchanged. The community has not seen any perceptible improvement as the largest minority in the country. Progress in the fields of sports, entertainment and, to some extent, in education is the result of individual talent, efforts, and support from private organizations. The government’s contribution to these individual successes appears to be almost nil. A section in the community might have full faith in democracy but their voice is so feeble and weak that they are unable to bring out their community from their religion-centric identity. In a wider context of Indian society, modernization of Muslims is possible only with their modernized education. But assertive institutionalization of the communal distinctiveness by their leaders obstructed them to think independently about their overall development as a part of Indian society as a whole.