Truth is the Casualty in Politics

 

Truth is the Casualty in Politics

Nidhu Bhusan Das

 

Fudging the truth is a standard practice in politics.Hitlers Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels said, “Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth.”Goebbelian prescription is almost unwaveringly followed in politics. The neologism ‘post-truth’ refers to the phenomenon those facts a less influential in shaping public opinion than appear to emotion and personal belief. Politicians indulge in cool calculations before embarking on action and play upon the emotion of the targeted audience to win support.  In the process truth gets clouded and deception creeps in.

Lying is a moral epidemic. When politics in infested with lies, we fall victim to distortion of facts, disinformation and post-truth. Diane Komp, Yale Medical School physician and best-selling author in his book “Anatomy of a Lie” probes the human soul to uncover the causes of our lies.

Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and Ms Mamata Banerjee, Chief Minister of West Bengal are exalted persons. Indian media on the first day of her official visit of India attributed to Sheikh Hasina the statement that Hindus in Bangladesh would be hundred percent safe during the ensuing Durga Puja. If this attribution is correct, the implication is that Hindus in Bangladesh are not usually safe.

In an interview with ANI, the Bangladeshi PM said, "As long as we are in power, we always give importance to the minorities and I always tell them that you are our citizens. You should own our country. Some incidents do take place at times but we take immediate action. Sometimes unwanted situations are created but you know very well it is not only Bangladesh, even in India sometimes minorities suffer." I tend to believe and would feel exalted could the contention of Sheikh Hasina been taken for granted and had she not fudge the truth which is often accepted in greater mutual interests. Diplomatic parlance is replete with euphemism.

Let us see what the state of the Hindus in Bangladesh is. Poet and columnist of Bangladesh Sohrab Hassan said: “In the country where violence is done with impunity, the religious minority can never think they are safe.” I stress the word ‘impunity’ here lies the crux of the problem.

The religious minority Hindus and their places of worship are often attacked and the community have often fallen victim to communal violence in the country of 169 million. Silent migration from the country is relentless and the Hindu population has dwindled to less than 9 percent. This year the Durga Puja was jeopardized following widespread violence by the Islamists. Such incidents are not new.  Impunity is encouraging for habitual offenders and new offenders.

A seminal book by Professor Abul Barkat of Dhaka University, Inquiry into Causes and Consequences of Deprivation of Hindu Minorities in Bangladesh through the Vested Property Act, published in 2000 shows that the largest beneficiary of Hindu property transfer in the past 35 years of Bangladeshi independence were people belonging to Awami League (the wolves-in- sheep’s clothing).They grabbed 44.2 per cent of the land. Other grabbers are affiliated with BNP (31.7%), Jatiya Party (5.8 %), Jamat-e-Islami (4.8%) and others (13.5%). The greatest appropriation of Hindu property took place immediately after independence during the first Awami League government (1972–75) and during the first period of rule of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (1976-1980). The confiscation of the land broke the economic backbone of the Hindus. So, migration of the Hindus is the natural consequence.

 

 Chief Minister Ms. Mamata Banerjee government contended in an affidavit at Calcutta High Court that no Dearness Allowance (DA) for the state Government employees is outstanding. Is it true? The High Court will decide. The opposition said it is a blatant lie. If the affidavit is based on truth, the issue of outstanding DA must be false. Should we be allowed to suffer from infodemic?