Mumbai Marred
Mumbai and most of it’s people are burning under the current attacks by Sena on SRK and other things, with the powerful middle-class left to mutter displeasure under their breaths. This whole episode is akin to an ongoing burglary at the neighbour’s house, where you don’t choose to do anything because it’s after all not you who is being affected. The Mumbai middle class will not do anything in this case, because they might be afraid of what might come down on their families if they defy the Sena, or might even be convincing themselves that this issue is independent of their existence in the scheme of things. So, the simplistic, and probably the most effective step that the people can take, of standing by their strength in numbers against a paltry army of a despot, might fall short of sufficient rationale.
Until and unless, the middle class is directly affected by this problem, our oft inefficient law and order might be left in charge of this mess, when even the perpetrators don’t seem to have their heads sorted out about what exactly they want to support. Do they want North Indians and South Indians and other Indians except the sons and daughters of the Maharashtra soil, er, Maharashtrians among them too that is, to learn Marathi and contribute culturally to the state. Well, maybe not the state, but specifically an important city which represents the state, albeit a city that at it’s core is an endless potpourri of cultures. There are catches though. They are allowed to blacken the faces of fellow Maharashtrians and a research institute in Maharashtra (Shrikant Bahulkar, and the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute respectively on supporting a book that portrayed Shivaji in bad light) towards this quest of spreading their intolerant biases. These biases should definitely be detached of their apparently Hindu roots, because nowhere does the religion propose an intolerance in ideology. It would obviously be too much to ask of these fanatics to use the newspaper in their arsenal for an objective denial of these anti-Marathi, anti-Shivaji sentiments put forth by other apparently ignorant researchers and writers! These visionary thinkers are also allowed to envision a grand novel idea of a 300, well, 309 to be exact, feet-tall statue of Shivaji in the Arabian Sea. So that, like immigrants were welcomed to the US by the Statue of Liberty, the MNS cadre would be welcomed from their pleasure trip to Elephanta caves.
Interestingly, all this comes down to an analogy of a crooked mirror in front of the person doing the talking. If the MNS does the talking, like they proposed the aforementioned grand image of Mumbai, the Sena will ridicule the vision, not because of a difference in ideologies, but simply because it is the crooked mirror. If Sena decides to create ruckus on the streets, place sign boards, ironically, against masses that probably don’t understand what it says, the MNS will laugh it off, simply because that’s a primary agenda. Anything remotely related to being an Indian will be taken up by these vigilantes, much to the chagrin of the people who are supposedly being protected. If Australians attack Indians, the Sena/MNS will attack Indians too. If terrorists kill Indians, the MNS/Sena will not deter from killing Indians too. If a Maharashtrian or two decide to back their country and countrymen, like Sachin did, as expected from a great icon like him, they will outcast him. So, they need, not sons and daughters of soil to prop up their culture and language, but willing sons and daughters, willing with either pin drop silences, or fanatical rants on their side.
There seems to be no peace in our city’s existence today. If there are no terrorist attacks, there are the attacks from these fanatics. When the not-so-friendly terrorist strikes, the fanatics play second fiddle, willingly letting some time pass lest the public vent their frustrations against them. This, ofcourse, well defended by the standard argument of expressing solidarity with the nation. When the terrorists take a break, to plan their next attack, the fanatics conveniently abandon their recently acquired nationalistic tendencies, and launch a full-on attack on people who come searching for a better life. The attack will very well extend to anyone who is a someone that wishes to express displeasure at their antics. Like SRK is doing today, with Johar probably left with no choice but to stand by him.
It is unfair of some people who liken this stand of his to a publicity stunt, because if it isn’t, they have let their simplistic tendencies get the better of them by assuming as axiom that the fortunate do only to extend their fortunes. Does belittling a possibly honest justification of a stance make the cynics any better? Isn’t the root of this cynicism, envy of the better-off? Would any amount of justification from SRK be enough to placate these non-believers, who are conveniently living in the bliss of their ignorance from placing forth the armor of cyncism against anything that might increase the worth of someone whom they have previously assumed as junk? Possibly not.
Admist all this fervor, there are others who make their statements, which the public has to find an appopriate position for in this jigsaw puzzle of a scheme of things. Like Chavan’s ultimate utopia of Marathi speaking cab-drivers to herald Mumbai into the next generation. Or Sharad Pawar’s visit to the Sena supremo, to express god-knows-what, but with the effect of a renewed vigor against screening of the movie. Or for that matter, Rahul Gandhi, who decided to pull in the alternate birthplace of NSG commandoes as the ultimate argument to defeat the Sena policy. What purpose does his statement serve? Of course, that this statement was made in Bihar might convey something. Why does his intelligence betray him to further fuel a regionally biased argument made by Sena? The next step might be a politician from the South rightly claiming the high position of his state by speaking for a Keralite NSG commando, albeit without the knowledge of the poor Keralite boy himself.
South Indians, among the other Indians who aren’t targetted today, feel they are safe, maybe even admitting that North Indians have created some problems as of late, like that of sanitation and a cut-throat business culture. They must be reminded of the 70s, when they were targetted by the then nascent Sena. They must ask themselves whether the target isn’t just revolving and is not as important as the attack itself; maybe the Gujratis would ne next for their fulfilling businesses, the Bengalis for their sweets maybe, the Kashmiris because of their tumultuous birthplace, the Rajasthanis because their music is too loud.
Law and Order as a solution will be ineffective because it is only a temporary respite, because the fanatics will keep coming back. If the police hurt them with violence, they will come back with a worse strike next time. How do you justify the policeman with a soft corner for the Sena? Should he be expected to strike his like-minded comrades? Rather than use reactionary violence as a solution to the problem, a genuine interest in what they have to say might be prudent. Only if all democratic options seem useless, in which case, the objective of the accused parties is clearly not on the side of any people, should violence be used as a retort. Politicians should stop making statements to further justify the Sena anger and create angst-ridden minds elsewhere rather than abating the crisis at hand. Unfortunately, the solutions from the perspective of what politicians must do and musn’t do are so obvious to the ordinary individual, but seldom implemented in our country. Politicians who do not have the baggage of public distrust with them, like Rahul Gandhi, must weigh his words carefully, without being swept off with the new found populistic support. Politicians like him have the power to change a lot, and may they realize this sooner than later to make necessary amends and appropriate statements.
Coming back to the movie. For the few of us outside Mumbai, expressing a stand in the form of some action isn’t too difficult. The smallest of these actions would be to watch MNIK in a theater. An action towards an opinion, no matter how small, irrelevant or futile it may seem, is better than merely enjoying an opinion for the fact that you have an opinion.
