by B. R. GOWANI
A portrait of right-wing Hindu nationalist politician Bal Thackeray is pictured through the heat haze rising from his cremation pyre during his funeral at Shivaji Park in Mumbai, November 18, 2012. PHOTO/Vivek Prakash/Reuters
Fear factor
Most of us human beings are fearful of people with power, especially those who misuse their power; even “the world’s most powerful person” (the US president) lives in fear of powerful corporate CEOs and so he tries to avoid introducing any policy, which in any way hinders their ability to accumulate unlimited wealth. So it is understandable that most people avoid talking bad about such people. But then there are people who are never tired of offering their peans to abusers of power.
One such person in India who, few days back, received a litany of praise is Bal Thackeray, an admirer of Adolf Hitler. He was a political cartoonist and the founder of Maharashtra State based political party Shiv Sena, that is, Shiv’s Army (named after Shivaji Bhonsle, a 17th century Maratha leader). The Shiv Sena’s work is to terrorize people by vandalizing cinema houses running movies Thackeray didn’t approve of, or to force ban of books, or to force one or other ethnic group to leave Mumbai, or to indulge in communal riots, and so on. He died on 18th of this month, after a long illness. He exerted great control over the State of Maharashtra and its capital Mumbai, India’s (and world’s fourth) largest city.
The leaders who wants to create a personality cult has to adopt certain kind of clothes, vocabulary, manners, and speaking style. But how to tackle the aging process? There is either a cosmetic surgery or make-up. Thackeray opted for make-up. Praveen Swami points out:
“Fascism is a politics of the young, it is no coincidence that Thackeray, until almost the end, dyed his hair and wore make-up to conceal his wrinkles.”
Makeup was necessary as Mumbai, formerly Bombay, is also the Bollywood, the world of glamor where aging is considered an anathema. Thackeray’s goons supplied security to Bollywood and the Bollywood returned the favor by giving legitimacy to Thackeray. One actor who was very close to Thackeray is Amitabh Bachchan. Sanjay Kumar is absolutely correct about Amitabh Bachchan, when he writes:
“His popular poet father, Hariwansh Rai Bachchan, dedicated all his muses for religious syncretism and secular traditions of the country, but the son has shown a remarkable ambivalence on this issue.”
Thackeray was implicated in the 1992-1993 Bombay riots in which 1,000 Muslims died. Nothing happened to Thackeray.
Mandatory mourning
After the terrorist attacks in the United States on September 11. 2001, it was mandatory for the people of the world to join in mourning and to condemn the attacks-even the victims of the US terrorism had to mourn. There were some people, victims of the US imperialism, whose sighs, for a moment, turned into celebratory cheers. The US didn’t like that.
Thackeray’s death can be a cause for celebration for millions of people. But the open display was not possible, because Maharashtra is under Shiv Sena’s control and people were scared of violent response.
Even complain about inconvenience due to the shut down of Mumbai could land you in trouble. And it happened with Shaheen Dhada. On her Facebook account, she had posted the following remarks:
“Every day thousand of people die. But still the world moves on… Just due to one politician dead. A natural death. Every one goes crazy… Respect is earned not given out, definitely not forced. Today Mumbai shuts down due to fear not due to respect.”
Shaheen Dhada (left) and Renu Srinivasan leave court in Mumbai on Nov. 19. Dhada was arrested for a Facebook post questioning the shutdown of Mumbai for the funeral of a powerful politician; Srinivasan was arrested for “liking” the post. PHOTO/AP/NPR
Her friend Renu Shrinivasan “liked” it and said so. When they learned the reactions their postings were getting, they deleted the comments on their Facebook accounts, and as per the advice of their friends, went to Palghar Police Station to apologize. They both were arrested. The initial police report refers to Dhada as a “Muslim.” Later, after posting bonds, they were released. Dhada’s uncle’s hospital, which was ransacked, has been provided a police protection. Police is also protecting the Shrinivasan family. Meanwhile Shaheen Dhada, with her family, has temporarily moved to Gujarat, a neighboring state, to avoid the extreme attention the family was garnering.
Palghar’s sub-divisional police officer, Ramdas Shinde, defended the arrest:
“Over 500 Shiv sainiks had come to the police station. They had the printouts of the Facebook message and the addresses of the girls. Since it was a sensitive issue after the death of Bal Thackeray, we initiated the action.”
When Shinde was asked whether it was proper to charge the girls for hurting religious sentiments, he replied:
“Though the offence did not hurt the religious sentiments in the proper sense of the word, it hurt the sentiments of a particular group.”
A Supreme Court lawyer, Karuna Nundy, points out the “chilling effect” the Dhada/Shrinivasan episode has on the social media. The internet users are now communicating in an unclear language about Thackeray and the part he played during the 1992-1993 communal riots in Mumbai. She further said:
“If you say something on Facebook or Twitter, you have to worry about goons on one hand and criminal laws on the other.”
Upon the orders of the state government, two police officers, involved in the arrest of Shrinivasan and Dhada, were suspended, and nine persons were arrested for ransacking the Dhada hospital. The Shiv Sena called for a strike in Palghar on November 28. The Hindustan Times headline says it all:
“Nervous Palghar obeys Sena, stays home”
High hopes
Who will fill the vacuum created by Thackeray’s death? There are two contenders: Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav Thackeray and his nephew Raj Thackeray. Raj left Shiv Sena in 2006 to form his own Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. However, in July, Uddhav’s illness brought them closer again. And now Bal Thackeray’s illness and death.
Many people must be building high hopes that the two Thackerays never reconcile, and thus Maharashtra and its capital enjoys freedom from these fascists.
The chances are bright. The elder Thackeray is gone. And it usually happens that the power-hungry young ones go for a dogfight. Because both Thackerays are strong, the chances of any one of them emerging as the supreme leader is minimal.
B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com