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Manish Tewari's abusive tweet yet again shows how low our politicians think

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Jyotsna Mohan Bhargava
Jyotsna Mohan BhargavaSep 19, 2017 | 20:57

Manish Tewari's abusive tweet yet again shows how low our politicians think

Once upon a time, the phrase "un-parliamentary language" came up whenever some elected leader or the other was caught wildly gesticulating as he/she tried to character assassinate an Opposition leader in a shrill voice. Those days are long gone. The voices are relatively muted, but the fingers have become nimble, as our politicians jump in, fastest finger first, to discredit in their frustration not the Opposition but themselves.

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Today is the age of un-parliamentary parliamentarians, abusive and so full of dirt that we can be forgiven for thinking they are actually also the anonymous IT cell handles on Twitter that national parties BJP and the Congress hire to discredit people and spread animosity.

For years, Congress leader Manish Tewari spoke to the cameras in crisp and flawless English. Those must have been heady days, because with no relevance, his arrogance has now been replaced by desperation. He could go back to basics, to serving the junta but no, sitting in front of a laptop or an iPad is infinitely less bothersome.

How else does one explain his tweet laden with the choicest of abuse against the PM? Tewari is not just anyone, he is a former minister.

Public discourse has now degenerated to such a low that it seems many of our politicians were either hiding their real identity or are simply Jekyll and Hyde, with perhaps one omission. Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh is to controversy what sycophancy is to his party - he has never stopped short of speaking his mind, the fault is ours to think that a man of his age would at least not have a filthy one.

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The grandfather with a supposed "noble" background recently retweeted a meme he would be ashamed to share with even his family, at least he should be.

Today, public office has no sanctity, tweets and outbursts are so cheap that even Govinda's dance seems subtle. Not to be left behind, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has called Narendra Modi a coward and a psychopath, but when our tech-savvy prime minister himself follows on Twitter those who don't even spare a person like the murdered journalist Gauri Lankesh, his army of bhakts have all the licence they need. We are our ideology and Left or Right, today it teaches us only to be disrespectful and violent.

The cascading effect emboldens even those on the periphery like singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya whose account was blocked by Twitter earlier this year. Trying to justify his uber nationalism, the singer called a JNU activist a sex worker, when another woman called him out for it, this was his response: "You Ms Pak. Tell me your cage no? Will reach there. Will do the favourite pose."

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Not abusive but definitely not dignified, the PM has, on several occasions, lowered the bar himself. His comment that former PM Manmohan Singh was adept at "bathing with his raincoat on" is more like what we would expect Trump to say and not the leader of a country whose ruling party does not get tired of reminding us of their version of history and "parampara". "Bathroom me raincoat pehen kar nahana, yeh kala toh doctor sahib hi jante hain, aur koi nahin janta".

Last, I checked our parampara in the olden days meant dignity of office.

Slanderous and depravity have become blurred lines today. BJP president Amit Shah's comment that the only "yatras" the Congress undertakes are with the mortal remains of their leaders shows him to be what most of suspect him to be: a man who can stoop to any level. Our new-age politicians teach us only one thing: dignity and netas are two parallel lines that don't meet.

You can abuse Nehru, defend him or try and remove his name from history books but the fact remains, he was a statesman unlike any other, definitely not one you can find these days. Nehru and his deputy Sardar Patel, who was also the home minister, had enormous differences but not once did they compromise on their own or the other's self-esteem.

Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned as the railway minister after the first rail accident of his tenure, a history the ruling party will definitely not revisit despite its derailment-a-week legacy.

Perhaps, Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the last of the dying breed. It is a bit like our cricket team, the Pandyas and the Jadejas can never be compared to the era of Sachin, Laxman and Dravid - quick victories will never substitute lasting impressions.

Leaders post-Independence had a lot going against them as they tried to calm an unstable country that had lost much financially and physically. Yet, we remember them with regard, they never let their frustration at nation re-building impinge on their self-respect.

In fact, Nehru, never tired of his favourite quote: "I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it." It is now officially the death of dialogue.

Today, there is no "Laxman Rekha". Earlier this year, minister of state, home, Kiren Rijiju didn't even spare Gurmehar Kaur, daughter of a Kargil martyr, when he suggested vested interests were behind her public video calling for peace, not war against Pakistan. When a minister feels insecure enough to take on a young woman, it shows how desperate and tentative one's grip on power is.

It is difficult at times to understand how women become their own worst enemy. BJP leader Shaina NC's attempt to humiliate Varnika Kundu, the victim of the Chandigarh stalking case, is another example of how social media is now more a means to malign.

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In her haste to defend the stalker, son of a Haryana BJP leader, and score some brownie points with the leadership, Shaina tweeted a picture of Varnika with two men - comparing her to women who have falsely accused men of rape - and had egg on her face. She later deleted the tweet saying her "account was allegedly hacked". It mattered not that Varnika was a victim of stalking and, just like her, someone's daughter.

When obscenity and moral degradation begin at the top, they filter down to the ordinary citizen quite easily.

Mulayam Singh Yadav may have been ahead of his time politically but he too shamed women when he defended rape saying "boys will be boys, they make mistakes".

Now, we can keep holding our heads in shock over the murder and attempted sexual abuse of 7-year old Pradyuman Thakur at a Gurgaon school or 10- year-old rape survivors delivering children, but when educated, powerful men and women have sickening minds, what hope is there for the rest?

Yes, it is true we have come a long way: our leaders are but a repulsive parody of Gandhi's three wise monkeys.

Last updated: September 19, 2017 | 20:57
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