Divided We Fall

My thoughts on maintaining a safe distance from politics and religion was carried in the article published in The Free Press Journal on November 21, 2021. https://www.freepressjournal.in/weekend/divided-we-fall-when-politics-strainspersonal-relationships

Veteran advertising professional and founder of Katha Kathan Jameel Gulrays has suitably amended Karl Marx’s statement to better fit our current context. He says, “Both religion and politics are the opiate of the people. Both work as drugs that can dumb the mind and make people believe that these two alone can guarantee the future vitality of our nation. They divide people, and yet, we still find ourselves taking the opium every day, hoping that somehow it can do wonders for us and the country.” In reality, Gulrays adds, how a combination of these two drugs is lethal and has the power to do more harm than the most powerful nuclear bombs. “In our country, it is this combination which could destroy us. I have a simple solution, I refuse to discuss these two topics,” he says, on dealing with people with political differences.