The Bell Curve of Extremities and Sanity

Newton quoted in his third law - To every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. However, some people misunderstood the 'is' to 'should be'. Thus began the war of superiority of opinions. The media and social network have acted as a perfect battlefield for this war. The context here is the ongoing fight between the brigades who claim to be the owners of morality, liberalism, communism, socialism, everything except humanity. They call each other 'right wing', 'leftists', 'sanghis', 'commies', 'bhakts', 'AAPtards', 'Congis' to imply a typecast.

In one of the forums a person wrote - "He is a friend, but he called my leftists, anti-India, Paki and what not. I never thought he was 'right wing'". I could not help but notice the self-contradiction in this. On one side, the person took an offense on being typecast for his personal opinions, whereas on the other side he himself typecast the other person as 'right wing'. Whenever there is a debate on Freedom of Speech, irony dies a hundred deaths. People who raise their voice for Freedom of Speech get offended when their view is opposed, almost forgetting that opposition to their views also falls under the very Freedom of Speech they are concerned about. There are more examples of such contradictions - getting intolerant due to intolerance and thereby adding one's share to intolerance; worshiping women as goddesses only not to allow them in temples, specifically during menstruation; boasting about 'My Life, My Choice' and being surprised when others choose to have an adverse opinion; pointing out that one would be punished for littering/spitting in neighboring countries in South East and then shouting anti-national slogans totally forgetting what would have been the consequences had it been in neighboring countries in Middle East.

Courtesy the nature of my field of work, I can take the liberty of fitting the current set up of our society in a jargon called Bell Curve. Conceptually, the two ends of a bell curve constitute 20 to 35 percent of the volume and the central portion has a majority of 55% to 80% volume. I would classify all the kinds of social elements mentioned above into the two ends of this curve named extremities. While the extremists include active terrorists from both sides, it would also accommodate media and people who choose to 'debate' on issues over a social netwok. Posting one's opinion on an issue over a social network is fine, but replying to posts which oppose your opinion will definitely qualify under extremism. A peculiar feature about the extremists is that they never agree to disagree.

Both ends of the curve will consist of separate set of fools opposing and typecasting each other. Now why I 'typecast' both these set of extremists as fools is because - If refusal to hoist Indian Flag in an Indian campus is foolish, then mandating flag hoisting in all campuses is equally foolish; If not willing to stand up for the National Anthem is disrespectful, then forcing people to stand up is equally disrespectful; If shouting anti-national slogans is obnoxious, then talking about cutting their throats for saying those slogans is equally obnoxious; If refusing to say ' Bharat Mata ki Jai' is stupid, then leaving work aside and executing a Bharat Mata rally just to show off power is equally stupid; If caste-based discrimination is inhuman, then politicizing a suicide into a dalit issue is equally inhuman.

The good and hopeful part is the majority, which resides at the central portion of this social curve is still sane but silent. And as called out at the top, this majority reads the Newton's third law with an 'is' and not a 'should', to be more clear, it chooses not to react. The media, the extremists try their best to pull this majority towards their end of the curve through provocative articles and posts. They leave no stone unturned to bring them in the battlefield of social media. Now it's the onus of the majority to show them that the fields need not necessarily be used for these battles, debates and wars; fields can be used for creating the most beautiful gardens as well where all can find some respite.

PS - Hopefully, this blog does not offend anyone. If it does, please don't debate in the comments, aapko Freedom of Speech ki kasam :)