Why can’t we see the Good of the Minorities?

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How what is seer hatred be thought as a form of nationalism? How can we have a nationalism that forgets its minorities?  How can we have authentic Hinduism that does not tolerate its minorities?  Unfortunately, this seems to be the order of the day.  Often ignorant hate mongers have found it easy to pose as nationalist and true Hindus because of the silent majority among us. There are few who have tried to understand the silence of the majority. Perhaps, we might get an insight into the silence of the majority through a short detour into psychoanalysis.  Freud taught us how we are often subjected to Oedipus complex.  He uses a Greek myth to drive home his point.  It’s a story of a family: father, son and the mother. Freud cleverly uses the relation of the father, son and mother to teach us the operation of Oedipus complex.  He teaches that son falls in love with his mother and finds the father as a rival to the same love orientation.  He being small and powerless subjects in silence to the rule of the father and forgets the mother.  Freud and other Psychoanalysts teach that often we too stay away from what we know is right because of the fear of being orphaned by the father figures in our society . The law of the father stands supreme  and we succumb to Oedipus complex . Nationalism, religious beliefs, caste, tradition can become the law of the father and often progressive minds are stifled and constrained. Surdir Kakar has interpreted the same Oedipus complex for us Indian by basing himself on the narrative of Lord Shiva, Parvati and son Ganesha.  He translates the Oedipus complex as Ganesha Complex and teaches that the Ganesha in us is afraid of losing its head. Hence, maybe we can say that the silent majority oedipalizes (subjects to Oedipus cmplex) because each of us is afraid to lose our head.  Hence, we need to let the anti-Oedipus (resist Oedipus complex) or the brave Ganesha free in us. 

Thankfully, we have seen an anti-oedipal wave in Goa. Even the Government has shown some teeth to take on the likes of Muthalic of Ram Sene for some time now. But it is surprising that some people linked with GSM have begun opposing the ban. This new love of notorious Muthalic who beat up the girls in Manglore and said he would give a sword to Goan Hindus to protect themselves from their enemies in Goa cannot be  reasonably understood. The very same people who have been questioning the BJP Government for giving grants to the Minority run English Schools in the Past are now standing for the fringe elements of the right wing. Thankfully, the Government stood away from these few father figures who trying to parent the Parents  in Goa.  But they cannot stop playing  the fathers in our society. Recently, one VHP leader who came to Vasco for some function provoked  Goans by saying that VHP has the way of implementing beef ban in the state and does not care about the Government. TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai and the Chief Minister Monohar  Parrikar rightly responded to the VHP leader and declared that if he or VHP indulges into illegalities he or his organisation will be banned in Goa. Besides by questioning the new laws of transportation of cattle, Vijai Sardesai showed courage while others in the opposition remained silent.  Unfortunately, the father figures in GSM are taking up the case of these loose cannons of the VHP. 

We need courageous anti-oedipus to rise in our society. Those who try to shape the society from the Parental ego state wish us to become silent children. They want us to oedipalize or run for the protection of our heads from the proverbial sword of ‘Shiva’ that they claim to be in their hands. Unfortunately, we have some political leaders among these silent children. The Velim-Church case dragged for five long years even when the MLAs belonging to the minority community were in the Government. Even when the one of them seem to have been the direct beneficiary of the violence, all promises for a solution only remain empty and false.  Thankfully, Goa Forward and its mentor Vijai Sardesai showed courage and determination and kept the election promise and withdrew the case. But again GSM and its ilk saw red.  The fact that some of our very own people cannot stand anything good done to the minority community in Goa speaks volumes about us and them.  There seem to be a culture of enjoyment of denials. Some of us seem to enjoy seeing members of the minority community not getting (denied) government Jobs, schemes, benefits etc. This inordinate desire to see that minorities do not enjoy any benefits of the Government seems to be playing the colonial trauma in our society and is in some way crying for healing. 

To bring about the rise of the anti-oedipal wave in our society, we need to become wakefully aware of what drives our desire. All our desire is oculo-centric.  It wants to see.  For instance, it says ‘I will see how you will do it or I will show you’. This means desire is in our eyes. Hence, we need to understand how our desire is generated and nurtured. This will help us to respond to understand how the desire of the hate mongers is operating in our society. We can clearly see how they do not want to see any good in the minority community.  Perhaps, some among us will say that may need the third eye of Lord Shiva, the eye of wisdom. This eye of wisdom can show us how our desire is in the eye. Hence, to be an anti-Oedipus, we need to resist the order of things that the father-figures in our society wish to establish. We can see that this order of things like the ban on beef is clearly directed against the minorities. Unfortunately, such order of things only nurtures the desire of the hate mongers and increases anxieties and divisions in our society.  Hence, maybe we have to see that such hate mongers have no place in a peace loving place like Goa. This will let us understand that working for the good of minorities is not minority appeasement but working for peace, harmony and welfare of all. 

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