The country’s various Legislative bodies from Parliament to Panchayat, thanks to the people voting in favour of members with despicable profiles, barring exceptions, are in full glare of the media by virtue of the law-makers preoccupied with dissidence for causes other than their sacred duty of governing the nation, adhering to the path of harmony while expressing dissent free from indecent exchanges and even active quarrelling, often with no holds barred. The conduct of the elected representatives of people seems to have clouded the atmosphere of conflict among different segments of the land’s populace, marital discord resulting in not only brutal assaults on the life partners but also divorce cases of which are reportedly rising in the country at rates more than in the West, street brawls snowballing into group clashes, all types of the fallout of discord upsetting normal course of life in public domain. Family discord and politically caused strife are different kettles of fish, although both have a common thread running through their fabrics while the art of resolving either with finesse is woefully lacking in the country, unlike in the past.

The manner of Indians at large identifying themselves on the basis of multitude of societal diverse descriptions, clearly falling into distinct divisions of the country’s population seems to mock at the oft-quoted saying that the world is one family. The division of the diaspora, based on castes, a consequence of the Constitution’s glorified script, has only added insult to injury of discord as it were.

Diversity in a given population on various counts of social and economic distinctions cannot be wished away, but the offending part of that diversity, bugging the land’s masses being their hierarchical arrangement which is hurting harmony in society. The segments of the country’s population that are not only guaranteed favour of preference in jobs of Government Departments but also relaxation of age as well as qualification often figure in clashes and public outrage only because of discord from the segments denied preferential favours. The issues traced to yet another set of segments, namely the minorities, have proved knotty to successive Governments finding themselves at their wits end.

The problems being faced by the masses may not be wholly due to discord, the problem is the masses themselves. The cost of their discordance to the nation being incalculable, the people who exercise their franchise to elect the law-makers hold the key to come out of the mess, much like the proverbial rats undecided about belling the cat.