Unity in Adversity

Announced at 9 am. To be carried out at 9 pm. For 9 minutes.

Yes, the call has been made and by none other than the Prime Minister of the largest democracy of the world.

Going through Twitter, I came across many who had different expectations from the most sought world leader of present times, ranging from condemning acts from the Tablighi Jamat to announcing punishments. The stringent steps towards treating all offenders have already been announced by the PM long ago and have been reiterated in past few days again to the Chief Ministers of all states of India. Yet, we had people expecting the same thing, which really makes one think whether people are living in the present fast age or are from some snail world (daily soaps’ world), where same things are repeated thrice a day and are watched all three times with same interest.

Firstly, while we live in our small world revolving around our families and our places of work, those in authority have higher tasks and the man who heads them all certainly has much more on his plate than being a repetitive script reader; he has to work and manage, monitor and administer and above all, protect all of us.

It is in the very context of this protection that I see a few lily-livered people crying and criticizing Mr Modi for not speaking about the misbehaviors of Tablighi Jamat members in his address to the nation. Very weak people are seen wailing and weeping despite so many measures taken by the govt. A high success rate across the world has already been recorded by India and yet we see pessimistic people spreading their depression to others instead of standing strong.

Had Mr Modi not given orders for strict action against those offenders, I’d have been disappointed. But he has already done that. Had he not let it slip out to the general public (because leftist media will never report such criminal incidents if the doers belong to Muslim community), we would’ve never come to know that it happened. But, he has always let it out in front of public to make them understand the gravity of situation they are in. But Alas! Some people love to blame rather than read deeply into his acts.

A few observations:
-> Tablighi Jamat members do not use electronic devices such as TV, phones, etc. So for them, it is only manually that they spread their messages. Hence, the reach of their message to infect all non-Muslims would reach them through you, if you keep talking about it on all media where other Muslims can read /watch it. Hence, it’s best to not keep talking about it and certainly not expect PM to talk about it on national TV while addressing masses.
-> Masjids have been closed forcefully, so spreading of the disease has been controlled there.
-> People violating any of the restrictions are being booked under law.

Tablighi Jamat members have been extremely dedicated to spread their infection and harass the staff treating them, with an evil motive to force the staff to refuse treatments to one and all. Their obscenity reached levels where they roamed naked in the premises in front of female staff. This has been taken up very strictly by the centre and am announcement has been made by CMs of two states, UP and MP, that the offenders will pay a heavy price.

Considering all of the above, it was only required that the PM must NOT mention the incidents and help the Jamat spread news of their obscene acts to masses. Mr Modi acted as he should.

Secondly, there are reasons to support the belief that thoughts help people and thoughts destroy. Positive thinking helps while negative thinking ruins. With the spread of such negative news about Jamat cheapsters making obscene gestures and harassing the staff, people would start losing hopes in an already perilous situation. Yes, highly perilous because we are dealing with a disease that doesn’t allow people to die in the arms of their loved ones and doesn’t permit one to weep on the chests of their beloved deceased even for the last time… Not even pay last respects and for the good of the living, not even allow last rites…

A negative outlook descends on people adding all of the above and hopelessness doesn’t remain far away. Depression too speeds up. Such compounded negative feelings of “all is lost”, “We can’t be saved”, etc should be arrested at all costs and Mr Modi did just that. He found a brilliant way of making us feel positive and better. A way that needed very little from our side and gave us a lot of hopes. Hopes when we see others light diyas in their premises, the feeling of togetherness in isolation. A beautiful act of Unity in Adversity.