Lagegi Aag

On the night of April 21, 2024, I happened to read and get deeply invested in two seemingly disconnected news items, which I realise now how related they are:

First

Our great supreme leader, the honourable fancy dress competition winner, said yesterday in an election rally in Rajasthan that the Congress party wants to take your wealth and give it to those who have more children and (if that particularly horrible stereotype peddling wasn't enough) "infiltrators". Then he went on to say that they are planning to take wealth and gold from women and give them to Muslims and that they will also take your mangalsutra. Oh, and if all of this wasn't enough, he used the dog whistle of "urban naxals" too. This was all in a 2 minute clip. I haven't heard the full speech from the rally. All of these are lies, hate speech and propaganda. That the PM of a country which has 22 crore Muslim citizens says this is just unimaginably horrible. If a fact check is needed, one can read this statement in the PMO archives themselves (from an era where PMO actually stood for something). The clarification is really worth reading. It is something which each and every Indian government as well as the powerful elite should strive to do. The Congress manifesto of 2024 too is worth reading. It is well made as opposed to the BJP manifesto which was released as a formality and contains 56 photos of Modi in different fancy dresses. My favourite is the CPI(M) manifesto but that's a different conversation. In the meantime, instead of reading different links, just see this amazing video on the hate speech and its fact check by Dr. Medussa:

Second

Chinmay Mandlekar (popular Marathi actor) and his wife Neha are facing immense trolling ever since the right wing trolls found out that their son's name is Jehangir. Trolls are pouncing on the fact that Chinmay has played Shivaji Maharaj multiple times on film and TV. They both have released statements. Neha's statement is good and worth hearing. Chinmay's statement has some problematic aspects like patriarchal language ("head of the household") and refusing to utter any 'M' words like Mughal or Muslim. Chinmay is also fiercely 'apolitical' and says that he has voted for different parties in every election and has never promoted any specific party. That holds up well upon a cursory glance of his Instagram timeline. But he has played the significant role of Farooq Ahmed Dar a.k.a Bitta Karate in the "oscar award worthy" film Kashmir Files. The film resulted in actual Islamophobic slogans in theatres and its success prompted a glut of other propaganda films. Granted that Chinmay did not make the film and perhaps for him getting a role in a big Bollywood film was a big deal. He might have acted very well too (I haven't seen it) but after the movie came out and he saw it (hopefully) and the reactions and discourse around it, shouldn't he be feeling any remorse? It’s a difficult question to answer but it is an important question to ponder. On a related note, Adil Hussain recently expressed regret on playing a role in the horribly misogynist film Kabir Singh made by Sandeep Reddy Vanga (director of ‘Animal’). Adil said that he finished his scene in one day but after seeing the movie he felt embarrased and hoped that his wife will never see the movie. This is the kind of reflection that we need.

Coming back to our supreme leader behaving like a Bajrang Dal shakha pramukh and making deplorable comments – the rot stems from the top. Seeing the PM make such statements gives impetus to all his ministers (chief or otherwise) to say similar and more horrible things. The Election Commission of India being mute spectators and mainstream media just ‘reporting’ the speech as it is without fact checks or calling it out, gives even more leeway to hate mongers. This trickles down to common people and they start believing that it is normal and actually rewarding to say such statements. And ultimately, social media which breaks the barrier between celebrities and their fans/haters makes it possible to say whatever you like to celebrities. The trolls who are hounding the Madlekars for naming their son Jehnagir are just building on the Muslim hate espoused by their hero, the Prime Minister. 

I really feel bad for the Mandlekars and even more so for their 11 year old son. They should not have to go through this. It’s great that they are standing up for this, albeit with some misplaced beliefs. But they and their oppressor caste community members (like me) need to realize soon that remaining ‘apolitical’ is a privilege and a complete disservice to humanity. Chinmay Mandlekar remaining apolitical, deciding to act in a propaganda film, remaining aloof about what is happening in his country and the world never thought that he will be personally affected by this just for naming his son Jehangir. But, as Rahat Indori has said, 

“Lagegi aag toh aayenge ghar kayi zad main

Yahan pe sirf hamara makaan thodi hai”

(Rough translation)

“Any fire will consume the whole neighbourhood

My house doesn’t stand apart on its own”

The Secularist's Conundrum

On Monday, 7th April 2014, India will begin it's longest and according to many people the most important election since Independence. The pre-election opinion polls have confirmed the 'Modi wave' and the lotus seems to be blooming. 

There is no doubt in my mind that from the point of view of development, economics, jobs etc. BJP is the best party for India. The Congress, AAP and Third Front don't even come close. Narendra Modi's Gujrat model, track record and proven credentials as mentioned very nicely in this article cannot be doubted. Sure there are questions about health, education, inclusive growth etc. but there is no doubt regarding the development. People who have been visiting or staying in Gujrat since the last decade and dealing with its extremely efficient bureaucracy say the same things. Unlike Rahul Gandhi who is just talking and that too sparingly and Arvind Kejriwal who is only interested in activism, Narendra Modi has shown his merit time and time again. It is not easy to win 3 elections on a trot. I think that the Indian voters are quite clever and they always support development. I'm sure people of Gujrat wouldn't have voted for Modi unless there was a reason even leaving aside the polarization of votes. Even Modi haters (and there are many) need to appreciate these facts just like Modi lovers need to appreciate the fallibleness of their beloved leader. So the real and only question which remains is whether you can forgive or ignore or brush aside or neglect the incidents in Ayodhya 1992 and Godhra 2002? And that is the big conundrum faced by the secularists.

I have thought a lot about this and have gone back and forth, but I don't think I will be be able to just blank out the pogrom of 2002 and horrible riots of 1992. Recently Cobrapost released videos of a sting operation about the Babri Masjid demolition in '92. Basically, it proved what was known all along that BJP, Shiv Sena, VHP and Bajrang Dal leaders had planned the demolition and it was not a mob gone crazy as they claim. While BJP has cried foul over the timing of the sting, Pramod Muthalik is confused why BJP are denying their involvement and says the sting is completely true. Sanjay Raut has defiantly said that the fact that Shiv Sena and BJP had conspired to demolish the mosque is nothing new. Some of the details really shocked me, like the fact that there was a training cum brainwashing camp a month ago and they wanted some Hindus to die at the hands of the police so that it will prove to be a catalyst. Apparently Shiv Sena were planning to blow up the mosque using dynamites if petrol bombs and other techniques failed. More than 2000 people died in the resulting communal violence. This does not include loss of property and the tremendous blot on communal harmony. The 1993 bomb blasts were also done as a revenge to this incident.

Godhra and the resulting communal violence is another issue. It is true that the SIT appointed by the Supreme Court haven't been able to prove anything against Narendra Modi yet. But the fact remains that Modi has not shown adequate remorse nor did he take adequate action to stem the riots. It was a political move to polarize Hindu votes or worse a planned revenge. There has been a sting operation by Tehelka on this too where in people have confessed saying that the state helped them and supported them. Maya Kodnani, who was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison was till 2009 the Minister for Women and Child Development of Gujarat in Narendra Modi's BJP government. Whatever be the situation, the 2002 riots will be a huge blot on Modi's efficient governance.

India does not have a direct democracy so let's take Modi out of the picture. So the real question is whether you want to vote for BJP or not. My stance is that I am not willing to vote for BJP even though I think that they are the best party for India at this moment. The reason is that I cannot bring myself to vote for a party which came into prominence and power based on planned communal violence and a publicly anti-secular policy. Leaders who instigated the violence like L.K. Advani and Uma Bharti are still very much active in tihe BJP. Their ideology and hunger for power has cost thousands of innocent Indian lives and a double digit economic growth is not enough for me to forget that fact. Shiv Sena who came into prominence by beating up innocent South Indians, planned to blow up the Babri Masjid and have done everything they can to spread communal disharmony in India are the long term ally of BJP. There is no way I can vote for these kind of parties whatever be the big picture.

So what're the options while going for voting? Congress is definitely not one. Their shamefulness while dealing with scams, only populous moves and "convenient" secularism is not worth voting for. Plus, they have also actively contributed to the pogrom of Sikhs in 1984. The AAP is the biggest disappointment of the year. For me in Pune, the only option seems to be the People's Guardian Party whose candidate is Arun Bhatia. A clean and incorruptible guy who gets things done.

The reality is that Arun Bhatia won't win. I think that he will get even lesser votes than last time when many young voters voted for him and his campaign was really active. There is almost a certainty that the BJP and its present and future allies (new ones always come up after the results) will form the government. I am optimistic that the Indian media, the opposition and our leaders in and outside politics will keep the BJP in check. They might have no other option than showing inclusive growth and development to ensure that their government stays in power. So all is not lost. But in the end your vote is your choice. You have to make the choice whether you can forget the deeds of BJP in 1992 and the pogrom of 2002. If yes, go ahead with BJP. I cannot.