Our Prime Minister has ruled out free lunch for people below the poverty line. Fair enough. He has taken on the Supreme Court for “straying into the executive’s domain by ordering distribution of free food grains for the poor”. But isn’t the Supreme Court the conscience-keeper of the executive and legislature? After all, in our democracy, we are at the mercy of the executive and legislature, apart from the fourth estate. Mercy, yes, we are at their mercy.
The Supreme Court had banned bandhs to help the ubiquitous common man, the aam admi, to commute, to earn his daily wage. But our political parties continue calling for such bandhs. The latest one was today to protest price rise that is seemingly hitting the common man the most. Thank you very much. They have managed to throttle the day’s earning for their aam admi. The government, against which such reckless shows are performed, has even stopped thinking about the bandh as a major pressure move aimed at coercing any reversal of decisions. And, at the end of the day, it is the daily wager who is denied of that day’s earning.
Mr Manmohan Singh has given a wonderful solution to narrow down the income imbalances in our country. He has suggested shifting to industrialisation from agriculture, citing low returns in food production. But, Mr Prime Minister, is there an alternative solution to our nation’s food security? Who will grow our food? Or are we planning to import rice and wheat in exchange for other favours we will have to dole out to the lenders.
Mr Manmohan Singh has also been very vocal about rearranging priorities. He feels the country’s poverty could not be solved by leaving the nation’s rich mineral resources, which happen to be in tribal areas, untapped. Yes, Mr Prime Minister, the country’s poverty levels will not drop. Rather, if these mineral resources are untapped, the billions in the conglomerates’ bank accounts will drop. That will be sad. India will not be able to showcase the growing number of billionaires in Forbes. So what if the country’s poverty line keeps getting altered according to statistical juggling?
But Mr Prime Minister, your party’s dashing poster boy, Rahul Gandhi, has told the tribals that he is their sipahi in Delhi, who will fight for their rights. The aam aadmi would like to know who is the party’s ‘right’ face?
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
'Cheques' and balances
Shall we corporatise our polity? Can our MPs then learn corporate etiquette, now that they have arm-twisted the government into handing them fatter pay cheques?
The MPs are now officially and legally a well-paid lot. The Cabinet approval of a 300 per cent hike closely followed by another hike in the already revised constituency and office allowances to Rs 25,000 will now be denting the exchequer of over Rs150 crore. Their take home, or to use a corporate jargon, CTC, includes Rs 50,000 salary, daily allowance of Rs 2,000, constituency allowance of Rs 45,000 and office allowance of Rs 45,000. However, the bungalows in Lutyens Delhi or the free air and train travel are beyond the purview of the CTC.
The second increase in the constituency allowance was when a dissatisfied Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav clamoured for more. And in their quest for a pay hike, they stalled the proceedings in the Lok Sabha last week. Obviously, they felt the Cabinet must have followed the House panel’s recommendation of a five-fold hike to Rs 80,001. The ruling party had to keep in mind the stubborn price rise, hitting consumers. A large, blatant pay hike would not have gone down well among voters.
But let us try to look at the sunny side. We are suddenly thinking about spiraling prices when it comes to paying our MPs. We do not think twice about throwing obscene amount of money into the Commonwealth Games. Or the innumerable official `dos’ that eat into our coffers. Or the extensive use of official vehicles, in the name of security. Or the “official” frequent flier miles they gather. These are anyway the perks that come with power.
It is nice to argue that the pay hike might encourage young talent into politics. It might streamline the process of entry into politics, irrespective of the dynamics of dynasties and godfathers.
Second, it might try and teach a lesson or two on morality and ethics to our political leaders. A full stomach will never ask for more food. There is, however, a fundamental difference between food and money. You can stuff food and fall sick, but you can never stuff wads of notes and fall sick.
Probably, we can justify this hike by involving a few corporate mechanisms. There could be an annual, foolproof performance appraisal system for MPs. Then there could be a strong, apolitical vigilance system that could rap the MPs on their knuckles whenever their long arms dip their hands into dirty money. If the government is parting with a significant amount of the tax payers’ money, it better be responsible for the accounting.
The MPs are now officially and legally a well-paid lot. The Cabinet approval of a 300 per cent hike closely followed by another hike in the already revised constituency and office allowances to Rs 25,000 will now be denting the exchequer of over Rs150 crore. Their take home, or to use a corporate jargon, CTC, includes Rs 50,000 salary, daily allowance of Rs 2,000, constituency allowance of Rs 45,000 and office allowance of Rs 45,000. However, the bungalows in Lutyens Delhi or the free air and train travel are beyond the purview of the CTC.
The second increase in the constituency allowance was when a dissatisfied Laloo Prasad Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav clamoured for more. And in their quest for a pay hike, they stalled the proceedings in the Lok Sabha last week. Obviously, they felt the Cabinet must have followed the House panel’s recommendation of a five-fold hike to Rs 80,001. The ruling party had to keep in mind the stubborn price rise, hitting consumers. A large, blatant pay hike would not have gone down well among voters.
But let us try to look at the sunny side. We are suddenly thinking about spiraling prices when it comes to paying our MPs. We do not think twice about throwing obscene amount of money into the Commonwealth Games. Or the innumerable official `dos’ that eat into our coffers. Or the extensive use of official vehicles, in the name of security. Or the “official” frequent flier miles they gather. These are anyway the perks that come with power.
It is nice to argue that the pay hike might encourage young talent into politics. It might streamline the process of entry into politics, irrespective of the dynamics of dynasties and godfathers.
Second, it might try and teach a lesson or two on morality and ethics to our political leaders. A full stomach will never ask for more food. There is, however, a fundamental difference between food and money. You can stuff food and fall sick, but you can never stuff wads of notes and fall sick.
Probably, we can justify this hike by involving a few corporate mechanisms. There could be an annual, foolproof performance appraisal system for MPs. Then there could be a strong, apolitical vigilance system that could rap the MPs on their knuckles whenever their long arms dip their hands into dirty money. If the government is parting with a significant amount of the tax payers’ money, it better be responsible for the accounting.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Salaam Mamata!
Mamata Banerjee dared to keep her date with Lalgarh, and how. One of the most underdeveloped parts of West Bengal, covering Midnapur, Purulia and Bankura, yesterday rallied for a face of democracy.
Mamata swept Lalgarph off its feet by simply stepping on a terrain “left” virtually untouched for very long. She spoke the language of development and peace. She did not elaborate on both. But at least she rolled her dice in one of the most dangerous gambles, both political and personal. And, she has come out unscathed. She attracted members of the People Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), including activist, Medha Patkar, whose presence is a giant endorsement for her. The swelling crowd in the Marxist stronghold and Maoist hotbed, bitter with government apathy, was probably giving Mamata a chance.
The left is crying foul, of course. The party’s top leaders are resorting to puerile rhetoric, obviously fearing Mamata’s march into the hitherto Marxist stronghold. Calling her Trinamool Congress as Trinamool Maoist Congress, the CPM leader, Mr Sitaram Yechury, has alleged, “Mamata can go to Lalgarh without arms because Maoists are carrying the arms for her.” He said the rally would hamper the peace process in the area, and allow the Maoists to regroup. (source: The Times of India). Earlier, Prakash Karat had slammed Mamata Banerjee for her rally plans. Obviously, these meek voices of protest are natural for a party that fears losing its three-decade-old grip on Bengal soil.
The August 9 rally not only brought villagers from Punnapani, Bamal, Gohomidanga, Lakshmanpur and Jharnadange, but also from nearby towns like Haldia, Dispur, Garbeta, Ghatal, Midnapore and Tamluk. (source The Telegraph).
A neutral skeptic would easily see Mamata’s rally and rhetoric as a pre-election gimmick, and her desperate attempt to get rural Bengal divorce its Left affiliation, and fall for her hook, line and sinker. Mamata has played her political card like a shrewd poker player. She has used the Lalgarh unrest well to her political advantage to batter the already-bruised Left in Bengal.
But at the same time, Lalgarh had almost fallen off the map of Left Front’s governance. So the neglected people of Lalgarh were all the more interested in lapping up the attention of a Central government minister. They have nothing to lose anyway. Rallying behind Mamata would give them some positive mileage in the media, which has always painted them with a black brush. They have been seen as villains of peace and democracy by the home ministry and the elite holding forth drawing room discussions while tinkling champagne glasses. No wonder that the elite news media uses the derogatory expression for Maoist strongholds: they call them “Naxal-infested areas”. The media discusses them with disdain, without even caring to devote an inch of newsprint to the other side of the story where the rich are mining into the villagers’ right to livelihood, and displacing them in return.
It is high time to test the sincerity of politicians to assure the Maoists of their humane face.
Salaam Mamata! Whatever is her gameplan. At least, she has inadvertently gifted the Maoist struggle an element of credibility.
Mamata swept Lalgarph off its feet by simply stepping on a terrain “left” virtually untouched for very long. She spoke the language of development and peace. She did not elaborate on both. But at least she rolled her dice in one of the most dangerous gambles, both political and personal. And, she has come out unscathed. She attracted members of the People Committee against Police Atrocities (PCPA), including activist, Medha Patkar, whose presence is a giant endorsement for her. The swelling crowd in the Marxist stronghold and Maoist hotbed, bitter with government apathy, was probably giving Mamata a chance.
The left is crying foul, of course. The party’s top leaders are resorting to puerile rhetoric, obviously fearing Mamata’s march into the hitherto Marxist stronghold. Calling her Trinamool Congress as Trinamool Maoist Congress, the CPM leader, Mr Sitaram Yechury, has alleged, “Mamata can go to Lalgarh without arms because Maoists are carrying the arms for her.” He said the rally would hamper the peace process in the area, and allow the Maoists to regroup. (source: The Times of India). Earlier, Prakash Karat had slammed Mamata Banerjee for her rally plans. Obviously, these meek voices of protest are natural for a party that fears losing its three-decade-old grip on Bengal soil.
The August 9 rally not only brought villagers from Punnapani, Bamal, Gohomidanga, Lakshmanpur and Jharnadange, but also from nearby towns like Haldia, Dispur, Garbeta, Ghatal, Midnapore and Tamluk. (source The Telegraph).
A neutral skeptic would easily see Mamata’s rally and rhetoric as a pre-election gimmick, and her desperate attempt to get rural Bengal divorce its Left affiliation, and fall for her hook, line and sinker. Mamata has played her political card like a shrewd poker player. She has used the Lalgarh unrest well to her political advantage to batter the already-bruised Left in Bengal.
But at the same time, Lalgarh had almost fallen off the map of Left Front’s governance. So the neglected people of Lalgarh were all the more interested in lapping up the attention of a Central government minister. They have nothing to lose anyway. Rallying behind Mamata would give them some positive mileage in the media, which has always painted them with a black brush. They have been seen as villains of peace and democracy by the home ministry and the elite holding forth drawing room discussions while tinkling champagne glasses. No wonder that the elite news media uses the derogatory expression for Maoist strongholds: they call them “Naxal-infested areas”. The media discusses them with disdain, without even caring to devote an inch of newsprint to the other side of the story where the rich are mining into the villagers’ right to livelihood, and displacing them in return.
It is high time to test the sincerity of politicians to assure the Maoists of their humane face.
Salaam Mamata! Whatever is her gameplan. At least, she has inadvertently gifted the Maoist struggle an element of credibility.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Dry ideas
The monsoons arrived in Pune on time, but somewhere lost its way. So the initial promises of wiping off the dry spell waned as June and almost the first three weeks of July were bone dry. I procrastinated the replacement of our worn-out umbrella as it would just be lying without work on our empty lobby bench or overflowing shelves.
Then the media woke up to the receding water levels in the dams near Pune. And the municipal corporation, too, announced severe water cuts fearing scarcity of the precious liquid. The media began running stories on ways to save water now. The usage of the word, now, bothered me. Why now? Why not always? Predictably, citizens rose to the occasion, saying they used clothes-rinsed water to clean their bathrooms and vegetable-washed water to water their garden etc etc “now” that the water levels have hit bottom markings in the catchment.
The day after the papers carried these fancy save-water campaigns, with elements of citizen activism thrown in, down came the rain and washed these campaigns out. The corporation then decided against water cuts as dams were getting filled up. The stories on saving water dried up, too.
Why is it that we wait for a crisis to react and act? Water is most easily available to us, and most easily misused. And the media, too, projects any save-water campaign only with reference to its crisis during that period, convincing its readers that water had to be used carefully only in times of a shortfall.
I remember, when there was a petrol supply strike in Chennai, the newspapers were full of stories on how to save petrol. There were generous inputs from residents on how they saved the pricy and precious liquid in times of that crisis. People heaved a sigh of relief that they did not “have to drive” and could spare themselves the “horror” of manoeuvring the traffic. They all claimed they loved taking the public transport system, including the MRTS trains. They said the air they inhaled was better as more and more people relied on walking or cycling to their nearest grocery store or vegetable vendor, ignoring their long-time partner-in-crime, their gas-gurgling four-wheelers. The media romanticized the spirit of the people and how they handled the crisis.
Water or petrol, we have limited resources of both. The person using petrol has the added guilt of leaving behind carbon footprints. Is it not the responsibility of the media to not restrict themselves to select occasions, but familiarize the reader regularly with the need to save water and petrol? Now that the rains have lashed Pune, and water is back in the dams, will those responsible citizens who used clothes-rinsed water for bathrooms, and vegetable-washed water for the gardens continue to do so? Or will they keep their taps on while scrubbing their utensils, which is unnecessary anyway as we need water only for rinsing them.
We are approaching the time when wars might be fought over water. It is better we save that for those rainy days.
Then the media woke up to the receding water levels in the dams near Pune. And the municipal corporation, too, announced severe water cuts fearing scarcity of the precious liquid. The media began running stories on ways to save water now. The usage of the word, now, bothered me. Why now? Why not always? Predictably, citizens rose to the occasion, saying they used clothes-rinsed water to clean their bathrooms and vegetable-washed water to water their garden etc etc “now” that the water levels have hit bottom markings in the catchment.
The day after the papers carried these fancy save-water campaigns, with elements of citizen activism thrown in, down came the rain and washed these campaigns out. The corporation then decided against water cuts as dams were getting filled up. The stories on saving water dried up, too.
Why is it that we wait for a crisis to react and act? Water is most easily available to us, and most easily misused. And the media, too, projects any save-water campaign only with reference to its crisis during that period, convincing its readers that water had to be used carefully only in times of a shortfall.
I remember, when there was a petrol supply strike in Chennai, the newspapers were full of stories on how to save petrol. There were generous inputs from residents on how they saved the pricy and precious liquid in times of that crisis. People heaved a sigh of relief that they did not “have to drive” and could spare themselves the “horror” of manoeuvring the traffic. They all claimed they loved taking the public transport system, including the MRTS trains. They said the air they inhaled was better as more and more people relied on walking or cycling to their nearest grocery store or vegetable vendor, ignoring their long-time partner-in-crime, their gas-gurgling four-wheelers. The media romanticized the spirit of the people and how they handled the crisis.
Water or petrol, we have limited resources of both. The person using petrol has the added guilt of leaving behind carbon footprints. Is it not the responsibility of the media to not restrict themselves to select occasions, but familiarize the reader regularly with the need to save water and petrol? Now that the rains have lashed Pune, and water is back in the dams, will those responsible citizens who used clothes-rinsed water for bathrooms, and vegetable-washed water for the gardens continue to do so? Or will they keep their taps on while scrubbing their utensils, which is unnecessary anyway as we need water only for rinsing them.
We are approaching the time when wars might be fought over water. It is better we save that for those rainy days.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Crash of hope?
As news channels continuously aired the crash clippings, with Google maps showing the site of the crash, my daughter asked me a very fundamental question: “Amma, what if we are in a plane and something like this happens to us.”
I was shaken by her thought process, but pretended to be calm. The news channels had successfully sown the seeds of fear in my daughter, and I am sure into many other minds, not just children, on air travel safety. I managed to tell her it was an accident and such things do happen once a while. I could not lie to her that this was just a once-in-a-life event, and that such things would never recur. That would be a lie, and would leave her unprepared for any possible shocks in future. But I know she would think about this tragedy for a long time to come. The fear may fade with time, but will never get erased.
Then the “miraculous” escape of eight passengers aboard the same plane flashed in my mind. I have often told my journalism students that miracles never happened in news stories. So when there is a news item which says three escaped miraculously in a train or car accident, I would ask them to edit out the word ‘miraculously’. I would say, “Just begin with three persons escaped, instead of inserting the word miraculously.” But the Mangalore plane crash and my daughter’s anxiety sent me thinking about miracles. Do they really happen? Does a little prayer help? It is not just about air. Five days back, Naxalites blew up a bus, killing civilians, including children. Two days later, the Naxals destroyed a train track and blew up a few of the tankers. Then, of course, there are signal errors that cause train accidents. So is train travel safe then? Either way we are caught. Air travel or train travel, life has become a gloriously uncertain entity.
I have a habit of thinking about God each time someone I care for leaves the house. I do not say accidents will stop because of that, or my selfish wish that at least those I care for do not become victims. But the prayer gives me the satisfaction of fortifying myself with hope. This might sound bizarre to atheists, but the truth is prayers do make me wish for the best, and in strange situations hope that miracles do help our loved ones. This might sound selfish, but isn’t it true?
I might probably pass on this habit of saying a silent prayer before leaving the house to my daughter. She has asked me multiple times why I say “Durga, Durga’ when someone or we leave the house. I would just say it makes me feel good to call God before leaving the house. When she grows up, I intend telling her that I feel a prayer nurtures optimism, a hope, an anticipation of a miracle in the event of something untoward.
Do pilots pray before take off and thank god after a smooth landing? It is their skill that will ensure safe travel for the passengers. But probably a little prayer to the Pilot Above might just help.
I was shaken by her thought process, but pretended to be calm. The news channels had successfully sown the seeds of fear in my daughter, and I am sure into many other minds, not just children, on air travel safety. I managed to tell her it was an accident and such things do happen once a while. I could not lie to her that this was just a once-in-a-life event, and that such things would never recur. That would be a lie, and would leave her unprepared for any possible shocks in future. But I know she would think about this tragedy for a long time to come. The fear may fade with time, but will never get erased.
Then the “miraculous” escape of eight passengers aboard the same plane flashed in my mind. I have often told my journalism students that miracles never happened in news stories. So when there is a news item which says three escaped miraculously in a train or car accident, I would ask them to edit out the word ‘miraculously’. I would say, “Just begin with three persons escaped, instead of inserting the word miraculously.” But the Mangalore plane crash and my daughter’s anxiety sent me thinking about miracles. Do they really happen? Does a little prayer help? It is not just about air. Five days back, Naxalites blew up a bus, killing civilians, including children. Two days later, the Naxals destroyed a train track and blew up a few of the tankers. Then, of course, there are signal errors that cause train accidents. So is train travel safe then? Either way we are caught. Air travel or train travel, life has become a gloriously uncertain entity.
I have a habit of thinking about God each time someone I care for leaves the house. I do not say accidents will stop because of that, or my selfish wish that at least those I care for do not become victims. But the prayer gives me the satisfaction of fortifying myself with hope. This might sound bizarre to atheists, but the truth is prayers do make me wish for the best, and in strange situations hope that miracles do help our loved ones. This might sound selfish, but isn’t it true?
I might probably pass on this habit of saying a silent prayer before leaving the house to my daughter. She has asked me multiple times why I say “Durga, Durga’ when someone or we leave the house. I would just say it makes me feel good to call God before leaving the house. When she grows up, I intend telling her that I feel a prayer nurtures optimism, a hope, an anticipation of a miracle in the event of something untoward.
Do pilots pray before take off and thank god after a smooth landing? It is their skill that will ensure safe travel for the passengers. But probably a little prayer to the Pilot Above might just help.
Monday, April 5, 2010
A ‘racqueteer’
Television channels are having a ball. What with Ayesha Siddiqui creating a “racquet” by suddenly surfacing overground with claims of marriage, “physical intimacy” and even a “miscarriage” to Pakistan cricketer Shoaib Malik in the wake of his sudden engagement to Sania Mirza. The marriage is 10 days away and the cricket star is in the Hyderabad police net on charges of cheating and dowry harassment.
Why is it that whenever there is an Indo-Pakistan alliance, matrimonial or otherwise, the spokes are sharpened and then poked on the wheels of some progress? It has been almost 10 years since the alleged marriage between the Hyderabad girl and the Pakistani cricketer. The sudden resurfacing of the controversy springs up a vague suspicion of a “foreign” hand. Is someone instigating Ayesha against the Indo-Pakistani match? Suspicion is what keeps the RAWs and the intelligence agencies working. But the sheer timing of the controversy does not bode well for any positive relationship between the two siblings of colonial parentage. It has been 67 years, and we are yet to grow beyond suspicion and hatred.
As if these are not sufficient, there are saffron gatekeepers “advising” Sania Mirza not to get married to the Pakistani, and if she did, not to play for India in the Olympics. This display of abject patriarchy is nothing new to India, but it is high time we take the country forward progressively without engaging in regressive comments.
In high school mathematics text books, we were given a time and work problem sum about a monkey climbing a tree of a specified height but slipping back to a specified level of the tree. The problem question was how long it would take for the monkey to reach the top. Weak as I was in math, I could never solve this problem. The Indo-Pak ties are like this monkey, we take a few steps forward, and there are people to pull us backward. At this rate, when will we ever reach the pinnacle of positive Indo-Pak ties?
Why is it that whenever there is an Indo-Pakistan alliance, matrimonial or otherwise, the spokes are sharpened and then poked on the wheels of some progress? It has been almost 10 years since the alleged marriage between the Hyderabad girl and the Pakistani cricketer. The sudden resurfacing of the controversy springs up a vague suspicion of a “foreign” hand. Is someone instigating Ayesha against the Indo-Pakistani match? Suspicion is what keeps the RAWs and the intelligence agencies working. But the sheer timing of the controversy does not bode well for any positive relationship between the two siblings of colonial parentage. It has been 67 years, and we are yet to grow beyond suspicion and hatred.
As if these are not sufficient, there are saffron gatekeepers “advising” Sania Mirza not to get married to the Pakistani, and if she did, not to play for India in the Olympics. This display of abject patriarchy is nothing new to India, but it is high time we take the country forward progressively without engaging in regressive comments.
In high school mathematics text books, we were given a time and work problem sum about a monkey climbing a tree of a specified height but slipping back to a specified level of the tree. The problem question was how long it would take for the monkey to reach the top. Weak as I was in math, I could never solve this problem. The Indo-Pak ties are like this monkey, we take a few steps forward, and there are people to pull us backward. At this rate, when will we ever reach the pinnacle of positive Indo-Pak ties?
Monday, February 1, 2010
Marathi manoos, rest assured
Osama Bin laden did more harm to Muslims across the globe than to the American, or the global non-Muslim psyche. He isolated the Muslims from the rest of the global community and made them the subject of suspicion and mistrust.
The same is happening to Maharashtrians in our country. The Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are slowly isolating the Maharashtrians with their parochial politicking. “Mumbai is for Indians” has become a highly explosive statement that has the potential to detonate a political explosion, causing toxic fumes across the country. Sachin Tendulkar tried the line and got caught behind. Mukesh Ambani tried it too. His position and wealth did not allow more than a few murmurs of protest. When the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mohan Bhagwat, came up with the same sound byte, the Marathi champions were livid. The BJP’s new chief, Nitin Gadkari, a Maharashtrian, cleverly reworded the “Mumbai for Indians” slogan, saying, “There are regional, linguistic and other identities of people, but they all converge into the larger identity of Indianness. There could never be or should be a conflict among these various identities.”
Brave words from the Shiv Sena’s alliance partner, especially amid the recent row over making knowledge of Marathi compulsory for Mumbai taxi operators. There was an official decision to this effect, then a U-turn. But the Sena rivals already have their fingers ready on the linguistic trigger to cause trouble to non-Marathi taxi drivers.
The BJP has so long been swallowing the Shiv Sena’s bitter pill for north Indians, without letting it affect its sweet tooth. Suddenly, the BJP has decided to coat that pill with sugar to get sweet returns in the Bihar Assembly elections this year-end.
The Marathi manoos campaign has discoloured the saffron parivar for now, with the RSS and BJP vociferously carrying out a “Mumbai for Indians” campaign.
But the biggest loser in this political game is the Marathi manoos. There is already a growing mistrust among the north Indian community against the political perpetrators of this linguistic campaign. But if stern action is not taken against the villains of peace, the animosity might soon invade the middle class Indians’ drawing rooms, and kick up dust, that might hurt the Marathi eyes.
The need of the hour is for progressive Indians to assure the Marathi manoos that they need not panic about being alienated by the non-Marathis just because a handful of power-hungry politicians are scheming an ominous plot to grab the seat of democracy.
The same is happening to Maharashtrians in our country. The Shiv Sena and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are slowly isolating the Maharashtrians with their parochial politicking. “Mumbai is for Indians” has become a highly explosive statement that has the potential to detonate a political explosion, causing toxic fumes across the country. Sachin Tendulkar tried the line and got caught behind. Mukesh Ambani tried it too. His position and wealth did not allow more than a few murmurs of protest. When the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mohan Bhagwat, came up with the same sound byte, the Marathi champions were livid. The BJP’s new chief, Nitin Gadkari, a Maharashtrian, cleverly reworded the “Mumbai for Indians” slogan, saying, “There are regional, linguistic and other identities of people, but they all converge into the larger identity of Indianness. There could never be or should be a conflict among these various identities.”
Brave words from the Shiv Sena’s alliance partner, especially amid the recent row over making knowledge of Marathi compulsory for Mumbai taxi operators. There was an official decision to this effect, then a U-turn. But the Sena rivals already have their fingers ready on the linguistic trigger to cause trouble to non-Marathi taxi drivers.
The BJP has so long been swallowing the Shiv Sena’s bitter pill for north Indians, without letting it affect its sweet tooth. Suddenly, the BJP has decided to coat that pill with sugar to get sweet returns in the Bihar Assembly elections this year-end.
The Marathi manoos campaign has discoloured the saffron parivar for now, with the RSS and BJP vociferously carrying out a “Mumbai for Indians” campaign.
But the biggest loser in this political game is the Marathi manoos. There is already a growing mistrust among the north Indian community against the political perpetrators of this linguistic campaign. But if stern action is not taken against the villains of peace, the animosity might soon invade the middle class Indians’ drawing rooms, and kick up dust, that might hurt the Marathi eyes.
The need of the hour is for progressive Indians to assure the Marathi manoos that they need not panic about being alienated by the non-Marathis just because a handful of power-hungry politicians are scheming an ominous plot to grab the seat of democracy.
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