From the establishment of the English Premier league in 1992 right up to the infant years of the 21st century, there had been only 2 major clubs gunning for the league title – Arsenal and Manchester United. The fan base in India was largely divided between these 2 clubs with a relatively smaller lot supporting Liverpool. In 2004, English Football witnessed the rise of another title contender, Chelsea. Pretty soon, fans began flocking towards this new outfit that promised to change the way football clubs were run forever (and they did).
This setting can be likened to the situation prevailing in Indian politics today. We have had the supporters of BJP and UPA locking horns for decades with a minority choosing to stand by the CPI. Today, we have another player in the game – Aam Aadmi Party.
Gregory David Roberts in his acclaimed novel, Shantaram writes: “This is India, man. This is the land of the heart! This is where the heart is king, man! That's why you're free.” We’re a nation of free people. To say India is the largest democracy on the face of the earth is an understatement. We’re also the largest liberal democracy. When I lived in Singapore, my father had to sign an affidavit explicitly declaring that he would not undertake any protest against the government. In India, every citizen has the right to hold a demonstration under Article 19(1)(b) of the Indian constitution. But the problem is that we Indians are a sentimental lot. We let emotion fuel passion; passion fuel opinion and opinion fuel prejudice. We take our opinions too far and end up treating political parties like football clubs.
In 2005, An Arsenal player named Robin Van Persie was accused of rape. At that time Arsenal was riding a wave of euphoria after having broken the record for the longest unbeaten streak in English football history. Fans of United and Chelsea jumped at the chance to have one over the Arsenal fans by condemning the club for sheltering a rapist. Arsenal fans of course vehemently denied the allegations claiming the player was being framed. In 2012, once Van Persie infamously switched sides over to United, a distinct change in sentiment washed over fans of both parties. Arsenal fans now labelled him a rapist and all sorts of other pejorative names while those of United rushed to his defence. As is the case with most things, the truth lay covered beneath shades of grey, but if you’re a football fan, you’ll know it is a cardinal sin to be neutral. “Judah Ben-Hur, you’re either with me or against me.”
It is unfortunate that a lot of us behave in the same unruly, zealot and ultraist manner while giving our two cents on Indian politics. Fans of Congress FC play the Gujrat riots card against Modi every time they’re stumped and BJP does the same with the massacre of 1984. Seldom do you see both sides conceding that both parties were at fault. Today we have the AAP in Delhi vowing to rid the nation of corruption which, quite rightly so is singlehandedly the biggest obstacle to progression. It was this very idea that drew hordes of supporters to fight for their cause and eventually had them elected to power. Once in office, the AAP wasted no time in fulfilling the promises it made to the people starting with water and electricity bill subsidies. This was immediately met with staunch criticism from the opposition parties who claimed it was a populist stunt. The AAP didn’t flinch and simply went about its business. Ironically, Rahul Gandhi pulled a similar stunt when he pushed for an LPG cylinder hike aimed it “reaching out to 70 crore under privileged people”.
Controversy refused to elude the AAP and they found themselves in a mix once again with law minister Somnath Bharti decided to take matters into his own hands by conducting vigilante raids on a Ugandan residence which he suspected was party to sex and drug racketeering. The Barkha Dutts and Arnab Goswamis of the country jumped at the chance to boost their TRPs; stoking the fire by nit picking at words. Social networking sites erupted into streams of debate and rhetoric; you had the lynch mob screaming “F**K you [insert party name here] and witty SMS jokes going viral on one hand and the more articulate lot on the other keeping it parliamentary with 500-word facebook comments. Again, the truth lay in shades of grey. Yes Somnath Bharti was wrong in taking the law into his own hands. Yes the Delhi police are incompetent and have a reputation for notoriety. Yes drug trafficking and sex racketeering is a problem in the area. Yes the Africans living in the area are victims of racism. The problem here was that whichever side of the argument one chose to adopt was merely a figment of their affiliated political standpoint and not a personal opinion. In simpler words, “If I switch sides now, I will appear weak”.
What followed has been well documented by the media. Kejriwal took to the streets with another one of his (in)famous dharnas demanding the suspension of 4 police officers along with an appeal for the release of the Delhi police from Federal control. All he got was 2 police officers going on paid leave. Surely even the great Kejriwal learnt that day that not every problem can be solved be holding the central government at ransom.
However, the AAP really managed to reach a whole new level of controversy when Kejriwal came out and said he was not against the abolishment of the Khap Panchayats. Now there are two ways of interpreting his statement. First, that he simply said it isn’t a crime for a group of people to assemble in an area and that action will be taken when a crime is committed. Second, that he is willing to look the other way while the Khap Panchayats continue to pass Taliban-esque decrees ranging from incest to rape to cold blooded murder. Again, you have a case of Opposition FC vs Aam Aadmi FC. It’s a never ending cycle.
Stop.
Political parties are not football clubs and we are not fans. Football fans don’t have the power to evoke change in their club’s bureaucracy. The people of a democracy do. Pledge allegiance to the nation, not to parties and not even to your opinions. We all unanimously agree that corruption is the root of all evil; so when we taint our opinions to follow the lines that the political parties dictate, isn’t that a corruption of democratic values?
As for me, I do not wish to vote for the AAP. Personally speaking, I don’t believe they are ready to come into power at the centre. I do hold the view that Arvind Kejriwal means well for the people and the nation at large but nobility doesn’t necessarily lead to good governance. But hey, that’s just me being a diligent participant of democratic process as are all of us.
That said, I will admit that the AAP is our best shot at clean politics and presents us with chance to start afresh instead of getting sucked back into the dreary oscillation of power we’re so accustomed to. But as a party, they’re the new kid on the block and are yet to fully understand how the game is played. For that, they could do without the advice of opposition parties with vested interests. For that, they need us to steer them onto the right track and shake them when they fall asleep on the wheel. But if we are to succeed, we need to set aside our petty differences and overcome the egotist inherent in us. Let us acknowledge the triviality of losing a facebook debate and appreciate the rewards of clean governance. Let us stop being football fans and start becoming citizens.
