BEING NEUTRAL
Being Neutral
Is being
neutral correct ?
The
mother has to be neutral in distributing goodies to her children, giving equal
share to all. The boss has to be (or supposed to be) neutral in allotting work
to all subordinates, their appraisals etc. And so on.
But is taking no action when you see a girl being
eve-teased in the market a neutral stance ? Or not helping an injured person on
the road a neutral activity ? Or not helping to catch a chain snatcher a
neutral stand ? It's more of being afraid than being neutral.
We come across numerous occasions where we take a neutral
stand, as well as several occasions where we do not remain neutral, and take
sides. It can be in a discussion where we think that something is right, and
the other party is a fool. Sometimes we do not remain neutral – such as - when
our close family is involved.
But neutral is not the same thing as deciding between Right
&Wrong. When we decide between Right and Wrong, we generally take the side
of what we think is correct. We may openly say that this is right or refrain to
do so when we think that the other party is not going to listen. We let the
other party stick to their views, instead of trying to make them see the
correct picture. In this case we are not being neutral, but we are not
expressing our views.
In the
General Elections of India 2014, completed few years ago, it was reported (TOI,
9th/10th May 2014) that our President is not going to
vote, in order to maintain “political neutrality”. It was said that some of the
earlier Presidents also had not voted on similar grounds, although the last two
Presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil both cast their
votes in the year 2004 and 2009 respectively.
Well here were we, as
far as we can remember, being exhorted by all and sundry from the Election
Commission down to the Schools & Colleges, the Film Stars, the NGO’s, the
Politicians, etc., etc., to do our Dharma, to vote, to do our duty.
It made you feel guilty to not vote, to not stir out of the
house on voting day. At least go and press the NOTA button, but do go. It fills
you with guilt to spend the Election Day holiday lounging in bed watching the
IPL matches or some old movie.
A situation can be imagined if this “political neutrality”
thing catches on. We could have the judges from the highest of the land to the
lowest in the bottom of the whole system at the tehsil; preferring not to vote
on similar grounds. After all they have to be neutral in giving judgments.
The Police Force across India
All bureaucrats could claim exemption likewise. They have
to deal with all type of persons whether it is in their office or tehsil day or
janata durbar day, regardless of what those people’s political leanings are.
The teaching fraternity right from the Universities to the
Schools et-all can claim “neutrality” on grounds that they teach the same to
all pupils, regardless of what they turn out to be, hence are forced to be
neutral in their profession.
The list could go on and on, with fresh categories being
added to the “neutrality” list. We could see large scale dharna, protests,
strikes, rail-roko etc., from newer groups wanting to be added to the exempted
category.
If all these categories, claim and get exemptions, then who
is left to vote ? A very small minority. But would it represent the liking or dislike of the population ?
One advantage would be that General Elections would be over in a couple of days or so; instead of being a long drawn-out affair. It would also make the work of the persons conducting the elections easier !!
One advantage would be that General Elections would be over in a couple of days or so; instead of being a long drawn-out affair. It would also make the work of the persons conducting the elections easier !!
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