Let us reaffirm we are not with hate

Kerala is all set to play its part tomorrow in the most crucial elections of the country to date.  It is an opportunity to part with a regime that has completed its term after striking at the very root of India socially and culturally,  after wrecking national economy  through corruption,  favouritism and flawed policies.  Armed with the arrogance of a brute majority won in 2014 with enticing promises including of 15 lakh rupees to every citizen,  its mere numerical strength emboldened  the government  and its backers to work on its own whim and fancy on the foundation of a communal fascist philosophy.

One can recall that its assumption of office itself was celebrated in Pune when the act of lynching to death a young man coming out of a place of worship was hailed as 'the first wicket to fall'.   And the man guilty of the crime was subsequently honoured with an award.   That was just the beginning of a bloody phase of mob lychings one after another.   Soon thereafter, eating food to one's taste and making Ambedkar's song one's ring tone became triggers for mobs in communal and castiest frenzy to ransack homes,  enter train or block public roads to catch and kill poor victims,  atrocities never imagined to happen in a democratic society.

A regime which promised to deposit Rs15 lakhs in every citizen's bank account,  was then found silently facilitating the flight out of the country by a few affluent ones after swindling banks of billions of rupees.   At the same time, the common man was forced to queue up before banks like beggars for hours on end to withdraw money from their own accounts.  Though it was argued that the note-ban was to end black money,  figures of currencies that came back to the banks show that all black money got laundered and economic offences became legalized.   In addition,  each passing day makes it clear who benefited from all this exercise.

It was only recently that allegations arose about fake currencies being brought in to the country with the full knowledge of the ruling establishment who had declared that demonetization was aimed at catching black money.  Although the ruling party has somewhat succeeded in hushing it up with the backing of corporate media empire - and in the sweep of election campaigns -  the cat of the government's anti-black money postures was out of the bag.   Every reform introduced by  the government was driven by its determination to protect its own vested interest,  as proven by the sorry mess brought upon the country.   While only those in the government and a handful of super-rich  dear to them flourished,   the rural and small scale industrial sector crashed and common people got poorer and the big corporates wrested control of the entire market.   Another act of sabotage was the 'karseva' in the cultural and educational institutions. The central government infiltrated into every educational and cultural institution of the country and hoisted its cronies.   The media and cultural figures with their voice of dissent were murdered.   Many others were manhandled and arrested.  Amidst the din of all this,  corruption through kickbacks and copter deals went on unchecked.

What makes Kerala unique is that it did not send a single person to back this five-year plan of iniquities.   In fact,  the state had even to face vengeance in the form of being barred from receiving sufficient aid during the post-flood reconstruction efforts.   Now again,  that party is employing everything in its arsenal to realize the long-cherished dream of opening account in Kerala.   This is a time for Malayalees to prove that they are not naïve to approve of those who embrace politics of hate, and to reaffirm its abhorrence toward that.  The sole agenda of all democratically conscious patriots should be to declare that the flag-bearers of malice are unwanted not only in Kerala but in the entire country.