It’s a human tendency to blame someone or point a finger at the other for an unwelcome and resentful event or act. This very statement can be meaningfully related to the present scenario where the modern world shaped through thousands of years has become very uncertain and taken for granted.
Some of us are blaming the Modi government for mishandling the pandemic and some others are blaming Muslims for spreading the virus. We have now more or less become comfortable with such instances due to their frequency of occurrence. Today, what is more striking is the advancement in the level of this blame game.
Citizens are now blaming “the year 2020” for the death of Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor calling it as an unlucky year. After reading the news of aVisakhapatnm gas leak and Aurangabad train accident, WhatsApp peeps are expressing their desire to delete 2020. In labelling 2020 as the worst year, people are actively participating in the blame game which is not new in origin but trending these days.
It brings immense pleasure to their innocent minds that they are not blaming any religion, individual or party per se but the year itself which when began had brought a lots of hopes and positive thoughts with it. But disappointing fact more than the uncertainties brought by this year is this blame game which has made people label this year as unlucky and inauspicious.
Why don’t we pay attention to the defects and problems in our own system of human agency? Why don’t we try to look into the deficiencies and loopholes of our administration? Why do we require some person, religion or in an extreme case, “this year” itself to put the blame on?
This pandemic other than killing a number of people, has made us feel the reality of this ephemeral world. It has indicated the dearth and inadequacy of our medical system. It has highlighted the gender, class, caste gap present in our society. It has also enabled the environment to gradually heal and recover itself. Moreover, it has made clear that the intention of corporate India is to privatize profits and socialize losses. Why don’t we pay attention to these aspects and try to improve our world amidst and post corona?
Healthy criticism is a necessary requisite for a successful and effective democracy but criticizing each and every step taken by one another without actually analyzing or evaluating or without giving it a second thought is just a part of unfair of blame game.
Likewise, have we the responsible citizens of India, instead of expressing our desire to delete this year ever tried to understand or made others understand the fundamental truth of this transitory world, i.e. death. We have always looked at it or thought of it as something unnatural and catastrophic and have never accepted it. We have never tried to look into our own shortcomings and with this load in ourselves, we are moving forward to change this world.
Why don’t the unfortunate incidents like Visakhapatnam gas leak or the train accident in Aurangabad killing over a dozen migrants not bring into our mind the possibility of technical glitches even in the era where science and technology has almost developed to its peak? The answer is simple- thinking and introspection are far more difficult than is blaming and judging.This severe loss of vision and insight in seemingly active citizens can be attributed to social media which has transformed an individual into an unconscious, childish creature always trying to act or pretend himself/ herself as innocent. This innocence seems for them to be demonstrated by captions such as- “please God delete this year, 2020 is the worst year ever and so on”.This blaming through social media is essentially futile and superficial under which one tries to hide the realities of life. Let us all try our level best not to indulge in such blame games and try to understand and analyze the situation more deeply and meaningfully.
Ayush Kushwaha is pursing his Masters in Sociology from J.N.U.
