Creating a group of friends on Facebook and Twitter allows us to imagine that we live in a universe where everyone thinks in the same way we do and any kind of diversity is to be condemned.
Perhaps during this last election we have seen the worst, with all sides jumping in to praise, critique, condemn. One imagined that these were a few frustrated souls and post election the abuse would disappear. Alas, it seems that now that the dams have opened, we will continue to be awash with suspicions about each other, especially online. Will this change or has the social media made it impossible for us to be nuanced humans, ever again? The problem with 164 characters is that anything you write seems black and white. The “individual” vanishes and all that is left is (usually) just a caricature.
Does Facebook and Twitter, therefore, allow us to be mean, thanks to their anonymity, because we think we are safe in the confines of our homes, our offices or with our family and friends — and we can write whatever we want? Of course, most of these comments will stay alive forever and so we should be very careful what we say about whom.
However, I must clarify that I am not advocating hypocrisy: I think given the present environment, the real danger lies in being misunderstood. And this applies not just to the virtual world, but also to real life.
For those of us who have, for instance, even mentioned in the recent past that there could be change of leadership at the central government level, and thought it was about time we gave “the other side” a chance, life has been very difficult. Even if mentioned during a casual social engagement, we were likely to there face a hail of anger, as though we were really transgressing acceptable forms of behaviour.
Even after Mr Narendra Modi has won the election, one finds that the environment is so vitiated that saying that “I am optimistic that he will have learnt from the past and will want to be a good Prime Minister” is impossible. Perhaps now with his recent initiative of calling the heads of all SAARC countries, including Pakistan, will change the tone and tenor of this continuous and exhausting anti-Modi argument.
In London, last week, I was on BBC radio, and we were discussing the possible government Mr Modi would bring. To my dismay, within a short while we heard from the usual suspects of the Indian National Congress comparing Mr Modi to Hitler, etc. And this is before the Prime Minister-designate has even made a single policy decision. This sort of demonising of the Prime Minister, especially abroad, should now stop. He is the Prime Minister of India now. Let us give him a chance. If he does not perform, we must criticise him. But as of now, we know very little of what he will do.
Exactly the same thing happened to me at another function I went to in London where I had to interact with fellow authors. Once again, the moment I said we must at least allow Mr Modi some space and not follow the Congress line about downplaying the size of his victory — I could almost feel people shrinking away. My fear is that many of the so-called intelligentsia has become almost fascist where Mr Modi is concerned, and will not allow anyone to say anything even remotely positive about him.
Among the major successes, thus, of the Congress is in creating an aura of suspicion around supporters of Mr Modi and around those who have thought that a change will be good, and perhaps even healthy, for India. This denigration did not, however, dissuade voters from opting for him. Despite it all, Mr Modi has the hard task of proving to the real world, as well as the world of Facebook and Twitter, that he is not the demon he has been made out to be.
Obviously, almost 40 cent of Indians who voted for the NDA believe that he will be able to deliver the good governance he promised. Can't we trust them and stop the online and real-life hate?