A story of two brothers

A Story by Ajit Singh

A story representing the current state of affairs in India on the issue of religious intolerance...

It's a story of two brothers - a stronger elder brother (Hindus) and a weaker younger one (Muslims). They are both kids. The younger one is weaker as he was starved in his childhood days. They once fought brutally and were full of bitterness for each other, but eventually came to live together with their foster parents (Government). There is a lot of rivalry and they continue fighting every now and then, sometimes in the presence of their foster parents and sometimes otherwise without getting noticed. They fear each other but are assured that they will each be looked after if there is a crisis.

The foster parents pamper the younger child more as they believe that its he who can support them in the future. They give him more candies than the elder one. As a result, the elder child gets more angry with the younger one. He is also dissatisfied with the parents as he wants those candies too. Though he is stronger and also has access to a lot more goodies (resources), his interest in those little candies is no lesser. He is not willing to give those away.

One day, the foster parents change. The new foster parents probably think that the more capable elder child can support them better. So the elder child is the new favourite and there are enough signs of this in their behaviour. This makes the younger child a bit suspicious. The new foster parents care little to address his worries. Instead, they spend time comforting elder child. The candies are now available for him. The younger child gets scared and his fearful questioning eyes get no clear answer from the new foster parents.

The elder brother who is already better off in many terms sees this as an opportunity to settle scores. He bullies his younger brother at times in the presence of the parents and gets away. He feels that he can now possibly teach him a lesson for the earlier fights and the candies he was deprived off. The younger brother is now more afraid.

A notorious neighbour (media) finds fun in this rivalry. He enjoys the excitement of their fights. The new situation is very interesting for him. He adds fuel to the fire by bringing up all the controversial matters again and again. He keeps probing the parents and the kids about who the favourite child is. He is helping prolong the fights which is increasing the jitters for the younger child.

The younger child is complaining. The elder one doesn't like these complaints and he is shouting at the top of his voice trying to silence him. Parents are quiet and the neighbour is having fun...