Confronting History
1576 was the year when the war between Vijayanagara Empire, and the deccani sultanates was taking place and the the 72 yr old king was captured and killed. What followed was carnage, nothing less, their capital city sacked , burnt, looted. Only ruins remain where once stood a great city. Centuries passed, Kings came kings went, An empire was formed, an empire broke paving way for a independent republic. Yet nothing has changed, the ruins are still ruins, and no other king /empire/government was sympathetic enough to realize their woes. It was about brutal occupation for the foreign invaders, then it was about economic drain for the next set of foreigners, it is now the turn for votes,note.
On 15th August 1947, the republic of India gained Independence and so did the aspirations of this region rise, they for once believed that injustices meted out to them would be set right, that this time it would be different. This time it was return to glory, but they were only fooling themselves. Sixty years on they stand at the same position they stood where they were at the time of Independence.
The question is “Is this republic, a democracy any different from its predecessors ?” As they look at the their future they can’t but ask themselves, “ Is this what we signed up for? To be left in the lurch after 60 yrs”. This democracy, what has it gained them other than some rudderless rulers, same pain, same anguish, same uncertainty. What happened to the promised glory, that legacy is it a mirage?”.
The state plunges into chaos while the usual suspects keep pointing fingers, when the people speaking on their behalf abdicate their duty, when narrow divisions of society rule, how can the result be any different. When we sell ourseves for a few thousand rupees, wont our representatives sell themselves for a few crores, a ministry perhaps.
Is there no solution? Is this how it is supposed to happen. Well for that one needs to look at history and accept the injustices done as a first step, when narrow electoral considerations lead them to deny historical injustices, one can’t look to the future. Without confronting the past you cannot look to the future, and this is precisely what needs to be done for a lasting solution. The day this country accepts that the destruction of their capital and the negligence shown by the successive rulers is historical Injustice, it will solve half the problem. But that would mean shaking up the current system of minority appeasement, morphing history to further political ends. The irony of the situation is that their history is being written by someone sitting in a University 1500 kms away. As if they are incapable of knowing their own history, who destroyed their capital. leading them to seek orphanage in their respective neighbours. It’s been so long makes them forget that they ever had a Capital, one that dwarfed everyother City.