A lot has been happening in India since the past two or three months. Sena Supremo Bal Thackrey died; Kasab was finally sentenced to death though secretly; liquor baron Ponty Chaddha was killed in a freak shooting incident; the LGBT community took out a queer pride procession where they celebrated their being and amid all this Arvind Kejriwal launched his new political party aimed at fighting corruption aptly called the ‘Aam Aadmi Party’.

In India, too, like any other society, we habitually create the ‘other’ – the one who is not one of us. Then, just like any other society, we demonise this ‘other’ and make it the cause of every wrong. Statistically speaking, Thackrey killed more people than Kasab did but who was hated more? Twitter or Facebook posts against who caused no police intervention?

Kasab was the other; he came from a foreign land and killed people to fulfil his own agenda. Thackrey was our own and even if he did more harm than Kasab he was given state honours on his funeral. He was part of the family.  

This ‘othering’ syndrome is manifested not just in such grand moments such as terrorist’s execution or a political leader’s death but in small moments in everyday life in India. People from North East are teased in mainland India for not looking and behaving like them. A north Indian thinks that all South Indians are ‘Madrasis’ and ‘very dark in colour’ while for a South Indian a north Indian cannot think beyond his looks. Even at Governance Now we call reportage from rural areas as "reports from the other India". Also, contrary to popular perception, globalisation has made us more parochial than ever.

And this is why I think Kejriwal has got it all wrong; by blaming the government for all that is wrong he makes it ‘the other’. It’s ‘us’ versus ‘them’ and the government becomes the sole entity responsible for everything that is putting the country behind. For a young democracy this can be fatal because when you blame the government, you also serve a strong dose of disillusionment to the citizens. The everyday unearthing of scams and sensational media coverage of the same can be just the excuses a young urban Indian needs to not go and cast his vote during the election. When "everybody is corrupt” becomes the refrain and when there is no belief left in the government process, I doubt whether even the ‘Aam Aadmi Party’ would be able to make any impact.