The raining insensitivity under demonetization

“500, 1000 ke note bandh hogye. Ab na chalne waale,” the boy at a local restaurant cum café in Delhi’s South Extension told me as I checked in for a cup of coffee after returning from my office. At first I thought it was just one of those hoaxes that make their way into mainstream public through WhatsApp messages, but one look at the TV screen on my right prompted my stomach to sink distressfully as I thought about the first salary I had received just yesterday… in cash.

However, this blog isn’t about me complaining against a decision that put an entire nation into panic mode and the problems I faced owing to its implementation. I shall write about that some other time. For now, allow me to shift the focus of this hullabaloo towards some of our politicians who, let us say, blurted out some of the most insensitive things about the issue.

Subhash Chandra: BJP MP, chairman of the Essel Group and media baron tweeted this: 

To this statement, there’s simply one thing I’d love to say: “Well done, Sherlock!”

Here’s another pointless tweet, this time from Baijayant Jay Panda, BJD MP:

“It's normal 2b frustrated at a cpl of days hassle. But if u go on & on, recall Shakespeare: thou "doth protest too much, methinks," is fishy”

Besides missing out a lot of vowels, Mr Panda seems to have missed out the common man’s struggles too, although he later clarified that he understood the people’s problems.

And then there was Ramdev Baba, who stated this: "During war, our soldiers fight without eating food for seven to eight days. So, can't we do the same for our nation? Many people are showing their opposition to the Prime Minister but nothing is bigger than the nation."

Well, the armed forces are, without doubt doing a job that deserves only utmost respect from us all, but dragging their sacrifices into any crisis ensuing within the country is a bit uncalled for.

Anyway, this statement from BJP National Vice President Vinay Sahasrabuddhe might just be the most insensitive thing to say, especially when people are dying around you:

"Logon ka (bank) line main lagkar marna ye sirf hadse hain. Log ration ki line main lagkar bhi marte hain.”

So, after coming across such responses, one could definitely say that it was raining stupidity owing to the sudden demonetization move by the government. However, on a different note, I wonder how many of our leaders actually thought of putting in some effort to ease the conditions for the innocent people troubled without cause instead of debating with each other and shouting out unfeeling comments for opposing demonetization or for supporting its credibility to suffer for the greater