ON REFUGEES

                                                ON REFUGEES

There has been constant talk off late within the print as well as visual media about the rather alarming trend of many a regional leader threatening to label non locals (so called outsiders)as refugees and calling upon their followers to turn out such citizens from within the city's/state borders as these so called outsiders are usurping the jobs meant for'insiders'and thereby proving to be the biggest impediment in the economic progress of the real populace of the state/region/city.
Have these very same leaders conveniently sidestepped the fact that we are all refugees in the real sense of the term and will have to vacate our respective abodes whenever the lord of death knocks on our doors."Zindagi Ek Kiraaye Ka Ghar Hai, Ek Na Ek Din Badalna Padega,Maut Jab Tumko Awaaz Degi Ghar Se Bahar Nikalna Padega". Well the fact remains that a majority of us are refugees who migrated into India after the tumultous events that unfolded in the name of the partition of India and Pakistan.
Who is a refugee? any body who migrates/wanders from one place to the other seeking avenues of livelihood and better living standards is a refugee, however what yours truly fails to understand is how one can be labelled a refugee when the Indian Constitution guarantees all it's citizens the right to own property, reside,move and take up livelihood within the territory of this gargantuan monolith called India.
This meaningless debate about insiders versus outsiders primarily seems to have arisen in the face of a paucity of issues and newer and better governance related ideas that could fire the imaginations of the electorate within a constituency,city, state and also serves to keep the divisive fires assiduously stoked by many a two bit politician alive in tha face of rising unemployment,inflation and a sense of insecurity amongst the citizens regarding their bright and prosperous futures.
Yours truly is off the view that each of us gets as much as he or she deserves,"Waqt Se Pehle Aur Muqadar Se Zyada Kisiko Nahin Milta", so then are we always clamouring for more,why bdon't we take a leaf out of our animals friends books or then bother to observe those who are lesser mortlas and learn the nuances of the sublime art of sharing the spoils equally.
Why have we become so self centered and obsessed with oneselves all of a sudden whatever happened to the dictums of Atithi Devo Bhava or Jyot Se Jyot Jagate Chalo, Prem Ki Ganga Bahate Chalo, Raah Main Aaye Jo Din Dukhi Sabko Gale Se Lagate Chalo. If this is what so called economic prosperity and better standards of living reduce us to then we are better off without it. The Lord sent us down here as his/her manifestations, is this how the manifestations of the good lord conduct themselves, we should be ashamed of ourselves,introspect,meditate,seek salvation and find a new meaning and substance that would better our spiritual lot and bestow upon us the divine right of calling ourselves "HUMAN BEINGS".
The uncrowned king of psychologists/philosophers, Bertrand Russell succintly remarked,"Man is a dangerous animal and an educated man is even more so",why are we hell bent upon proving Bertrand Russell right and reducing ourselves to mere caricatures or abject apologies for the glorious human beings that the good lord meant all of us to be.
In the meanwhile, let's all take a leaf out of the books out of our progenies books and beging to learn the arts of sharing and co-existing in relative harmony with our neighbours, no matter whatever be their caste,creed,sect,religion,or last but not the least whichever nook and cranny of the country they belong to.
The creator didi not differentiate between each one of us while creating us so who has bestowed on us the right to differentiate between each other and draw up artificial borders and abrriers where none exist?
SUNDEEP CHOPRA.