Ideological Sickness!

Nothing defines us, not even what we believe ourselves to be. We are nomads in spirit, shedding associations as we go. Novelty pulls us forward, and yesterday’s identity becomes today’s burden.......

.......But we are soaked in a sea of illusions - crafted by circumstances, upbringing, and future fantasies. We have slashed our potential – to be as vast as this universe, as expansive as forests, and as still and substantial as lakes. Ideologies have assassinated our common sense. We survive on the whims of monsters infamous for smashing what it means to be human. We are victims who, like zombies, perpetrate violence on others ourselves.

When news breaks into the limelight, our neurons ignite, and in a fit of ‘Waahiyaat,’ we unleash our ogre within. When Hitler massacred the Jews, his belief at play stuck out glaring – ruthless and ravaging. When Zionists inflict unbearable pain on Palestinians, their ideologies lurk in the background – dark, disastrous, and devilish. Just as a rotten core of a cake emits a stench, actions carrying fixed ideologies give away their foulness.

From abusing ancestors to histories to each organ and cell, ideologues manage to outdo even Lucifer in disgrace. When it comes to us – as Muslims and Hindus – context is forgotten, nuance discarded, and history buried. We hurl nauseating comments on each other, as if competing in a wicked test. In an attempt to ensure our deep infatuation with our orthodoxy, we invoke and tamper with the most sensitive aspects of each other’s religion. We become degenerates – zealots of the worst sort.

Once we are done unloading our brute remarks on our fellow counterparts, the other side doesn’t give in. They launch their own volleys, full blast, driven by vengeance and the hunger for engagement. The close combat, oral or otherwise, between the two is less a debate and more a symptom of lifelong indoctrination by other broken minds.

All diseases can be cured or treated, but this one has now taken deep roots. Open social media, and see for yourself: it is fear-inducing. We understand everything, but our cognition fails to grasp the real beneficiary here. Demagogues? Power brokers? Ramifications remain clear, though: hatred, jealousy, resentment, militancy, fear, and a spiritual rot. That’s what is wreaking havoc on the ordinary folks.

When an ordinary citizen of nay country is mocked by some die-hard nationalist, it reveals the disease of ideology at work. When any person is so mocked, it shows the same sickness from the other side of the spectrum. Blinded by doctrinal blinkers, we have forgotten how to respect each other’s individuality and faith. That’s tragic!

Let the curtain drop – and let’s plunge deep into the pool of love. Ideologies are illusionary; let them be restricted to that only. Today we believe one thing, tomorrow something else. That’s life.