We must embrace our common humanity

Samarpan Society in Ghatkopar West. Pic/Sameer Markande

The Marathi-Gujarati divide, which hit the news sporadically, seems to have bubbled up once again. Our report stated that tensions between the communities seem to have spiked when a Ghatkopar housing society, seemingly dominated by Gujaratis, barred Shiv Sena (UBT) members from distributing election campaign material.

The UBT party workers alleged that they were stopped from campaigning in a Ghatkopar West society. There have been clarifications though that society watchmen are supposed to stop all outsiders from entering the society.

As the accusations fly, let this be a cautionary sign that we should not fall into divisive mode and traps. This schism is a political gimmick, and in fact, as elections come around (May 20) for the city, it is our opportunity to show all those who seek to divide even temporarily that the citizenry is wise to their ways and will stand united.

In unity, there is strength, even for smaller local issues like trying to get a representative to hear you, water, traffic, greening and parking problems, all this part of our daily life.

Keep your eyes and the focus on the real issues such as corruption and safety. While many may argue that a national election is not about that, these are issues that go to the very root and we do see citizens speaking out about these in their manifestos. They are not small or trivial but do give citizens the reassurance that their voice is being heard.

We need people speaking as one to add decibels to those voices. So, while debate is healthy, hateful divisions are not. We have a shared, common humanity and rifts within small units like housing societies certainly spill over into larger problems. See through all attempts to create strife and do not vitiate the atmosphere. The world's biggest democracy is voting. Show the finger to hate.