Ponmala
Trump has made it a habit of ambushing visiting heads of state at the press conferences he arranges in the White House. He indulges in this narcissistic way of humiliating others in order to assert superiority over them, to project himself as the monarch of the world. Ukraine’s Zelensky was its first victim, and the latest was South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. He confronted the latter with a series of dubious claims about the killings of white farmers in South Africa, going to the extent of exhibiting printed articles as evidence. Nothing could be more unbecoming of the president of a nation like America, but, when it comes to Trump, nothing can be ruled out. If President Ramaphosa had got a hint of it, he could have countered with articles on the atrocities committed against Black Americans by none other than the police. Trump did it on purpose – to win the claps of his white supremacist base. That is what makes it all the more dangerous. If only for this one reason, Trump could be called present day Hitler. He is championing the cause of racial supremacy, which is suddenly overcasting the world, including India. One wonders why he, supposedly an Evangelical Christian, did not subject Modi to the same humiliation during his White House visit, pointing out cases of Christian persecution by the Hindutva Brigade.
The worst effect of this sudden surge in the popularity of racial supremacy is the elimination of the democratic values of diversity, equity and inclusion. Trump’s overarching top priority is to end DEI, which requires of organisations to take actionable steps to build and support a diverse, equitable and inclusive workforce. Wokeism, which promotes beliefs and attitudes that emphasize social justice, racial equality and the awareness of systemic inequalities, particularly those related to race, gender and social class, is anathema to Trump and his MAGA base. The budget Trump just got passed has drastically cut expenditures on social security schemes that are targeted at the poorer sections, who are mostly non-whites. The money he saves thus will be used to offer substantial tax reductions to the affluent whites. This is a clear case of racial supremacy (feudalism) in action.
DEI is nothing but an encapsulated form of the gospel values that prepared the ground for the sprouting of modern democracy in Christian Europe. It is contained in Jesus’ mission statement: “To proclaim good news to the poor, release the captives, give sight to the blind and set the oppressed free” (Luke 4:18-19). And therefore, following the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Leo XIV adopted it as his papal mission.
Thankfully, resistance to the onslaught of racial supremacy by the marginalisation of the weaker sections has now sprung up in India. The racial divide has sunk so deeply into the Indian DNA over the centuries that the upper castes won’t recognize the lower castes and dalits as equals unless and until they realise they cannot live otherwise. That will come about only if these marginalised sections get their fair share in education, employment opportunities, and the power structure of governance. Towards that end, Rahul Gandhi of the Congress has been stridently demanding a caste census. Electoral compulsions have now forced the BJP to give into that demand of his. A properly conducted caste census offers a rare chance to ground in reality policies that benefit the lower castes, who have been at the receiving end of the pro-rich and pro-upper caste policies of the Modi government.
Simultaneously, a prophetic voice clamouring for social justice for the marginalised has cast a spell on the youth of Kerala. Vedan, Kerala’s first Malayalam rapper, is attracting huge crowds at his concerts. Born of a dalit father and a migrant mother, this young man pours out lyrics that can arouse the most callous of hearts. He sings: “I am no (dalit) paanan, parayan or pulayan; nor are you a lord; and if you claim to be one, I care not a hoot. Time has run out; can wait no longer; patience has run out. My demand? Not my demand, but our demand; something I crave for, but you refuse to give; how many have laid down their lives for it, as you watched laughing! No, no, no more of postponing to the morrow; No, no, no more of this hunter aiming piercing tales.”
It is so heartening to see our youth getting hooked on to the lyrics and tunes of a social cause – a return of society to idealogical moorings. It has also brought about a change of heart in the very organisations that were resisting the establishment of social equality and justice in India. V. S. Minimol, a municipal councillor in Kerala belonging to the BJP, was recently taken to task by her party’s leadership for seeking a probe by the National Investigating Agency against rapper Vedan for allegedly using “divisive lyrics which lampooned Prime Minister Narender Modi as a fake patriot.” Rajeev Chandrasekar, the President of Kerala BJP, publicly expressed his concern that Minimol’s action had tarnished the party’s image. That is proof rapper Vedan’s message has gone home to those who it really matters. May many more join the new Pope’s call to “Give voice to the poor.”
