| Published on 16-02-2008 In National |
| Viewed 1600 times |
|
Written by
Cho Ramaswamy |
[This article was written before Wednesday's arrest-release drama of Raj Thackeray lasting a little over 90 minutes in Mumbai, which had triggered statewide panic.]
What happened in Mumbai, for want of a better word, is barbarism.
The rabble-rouser behind it all is [Raj Thackeray] the leader of a party called Maharashtra Navnirman Sena [which translates into English as 'the army for Maharashtra's resurgence'] and an estranged nephew of Shiv Sena boss Bal Thackeray.
Having made little headway since he distanced himself from his uncle, Raj embarked upon this perfidy of public-disservice hoping that it will fetch him political mileage.
The 'protest' against north Indians' growing influx into Mumbai has resulted in several instances of mayhem.
Cabs were reduced to cinders, cinemas became combat-zones and innocents reduced to instances of irate mobs' timid, terrified targets.
In a nutshell – it was the worst kind of violent anarchy.
The elder Thackeray had whipped up passions against south Indians, Muslims and non-Hindus on earlier occasions.
He, however, eschewed those pursuits due to a realisation that such acts would fetch him neither votes nor popularity.
I have no way of knowing as to how long this apparition of a political evolution will last, but that is another thing altogether.
One does not have to be a Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the young whippersnapper has aped the actions of the party to which he once belonged hoping to cash in on base regional sentiments by fanning flames of hatred.
Raj's diatribes against prominent personalities starting with movie icon Amitabh Bachchan and ending with {Union Railway Minister] Laloo Prasad Yadav are reprehensible, to say the least.
The Indian Constitution assures every citizen of this country an inalienable right to relocate to any part of this nation, pursue any vocation of his/her choice and earn a living peacefully.
Those like Raj Thackeray who make a mockery of this guarantee are acting against our very sovereignty and national integrity.
If north Indians cannot live in Mumbai, can Maharashtrians be denied the rights to live elsewhere in India? Will Raj undertake to nonsensically call for a recall of all such people?
It is common knowledge that many regional parties have indulged in some variations of this madness. Electoral niceties have ensured that some of them saw reason. Quite a few of them are turning over a new leaf for the better.
That said, it should also be stated simultaneously that many of these outfits continue to depend on evil, fissiparous shortcuts for political sustenance. We have witnessed this in Tamil Nadu in the past and the present.
Enough laws have been enacted to nip such tendencies in the bud.
Yet, central and several state governments hesitate to take stringent action against these vermin fearing loss of vote-banks and thereby become accessories to such atrocious audacities.
For the time being, no political party has condoned the cruel acts of Raj Thackeray.
Even the Shiv Sena has condemned Raj's antics.
The time is, therefore, ripe for mercilessly stamping out this stampede of scum using every subsection of the statute. It would send a strong message that these kinds of misadventures of other far-flung fascists will be dealt with an iron fist minus a velvet glove.
Hence, it would serve as a timely, useful deterrent.
Regional chauvinism is like a burning torch that can be flung at a tightly-knitted cluster of thatched huts called the Union of India by the hands of antinational, antisocial elements. The hands ought to be manacled without tarry and the flame doused ere it unsettles the entire settlement.
(Translated from Thuglak by TSV Hari)
|
|
|
|
|
| Social Web |  |
| |
|
|
| |
Processing please wait ...
Top Stories
