Talibanisation of Maharashtra
November 10th, 2009Kamleshwar, the late Hindi writer and commentator once said,” Kitne Pakistan”. How many Pakistans do we have within India? He was so right. Pakistan is right here inside us, meaning that we are our own worst enemies. Even as we keep hearing of discrimination against people from North East, subjugation of Muslims in Gujarat or other such biases MNS took this enmity to a completely new level when they assaulted Abu Azmi of SP in the legislative assembly for taking his oath in Hindi. The bias itself may not be anything new but the way it came to the fore it was a brutal slap on the faces of all right minded Indians. For me it signifies the beginning of Talibanisation of Maharashtra where you could see them trying to impose their brand of Maharashtra on others.
Garlanding after the incident: Shameful
It is not just the methodology adopted by MNS which is similar to that of Taliban. Even otherwise you can draw a parallel here. This monster, MNS, has been nurtured and supported by Congress, albeit covertly like Pakistan supports Taliban. Congress needs MNS to keep BJP and Shiv Sena at bay like Pak needs Taliban to keep America and India at bay. Openly both Congress and Pakistan deny that they have anything to with MNS and Taliban respectively but we all know better than that. Though sometimes they inadvertently speak the same language also like Home Minister RR Patil said when the Bihari boy Rahul was shot dead by the police in Mumbai “The killing is correct. Anyone acting funny with Maharashtrians will meet the same fate”. Unfortunately, Congress has not learnt it’s lessons, either from it’s own history or from the predicament which Pakistan is currently facing. Monsters don’t spare the hand which feeds them.
Fortunately, that’s where the similarities end as of now. MNS is not as big a monster as Taliban is right now and it can be dealt with if their is a political will to do so. They are hopefully not armed with weapons. The kind of trouble they are capable of creating will only be a law and order problem and not of security of the whole country as of now, though this may change if they are not dealt with effectively. And thankfully they believe in the democratic process of the country to the extent that they have effectively handed over the reigns of power to Congress in not just Maharashtra but they have been invaluable at the hustings for Lok Sabha as well. And therefore they have effectively served the purpose of Congress at least for the next few years. In plain and simple words it means that for Congress they are now dispensable. This incident in the assembly should’ve brought this stark reality into focus for Congress. The kind of nationwide condemnation this act has evoked should’ve served as an eye opener for them.
Having said this, I would like to point out that they had it coming. Raj Thakeray had openly been saying that he will not allow MLA’s to take oath in Hindi and that’s what they tried to do. Although it backfired for MNS since not just Abu Azmi there were other MLAs also who after this incident decided to take their oaths in Hindi. As for Congress, they should’ve seeing this coming but didn’t. Also, I don’t agree with the decision to suspend the four MLAs on three counts.
First, technically their suspension can be revoked if they offer an apology for what they did. Just imagine, an apology for trying to divide this country on linguistic lines would be enough. Is it fair? I don’t think so.
Second, the constituencies which they come from would go unrepresented for the next four years which is grossly unfair to the voters of those constituencies. It is for these two reasons that I feel that they should’ve instead been expelled from the house and by elections be held for these four places.
Straight out of Bollywood?
Third, these four MLAs are just the foot soldiers of MNS who are doing exactly what their commander Raj Thakeray has told them to. He is the one who has plotted and directed this entire episode from outside the Assembly. If these soldiers are being punished so should Raj Thakeray be. He should be made to pay for plotting to prevent public officials from carrying out their duty in the manner laid down in the constitution of the nation and for all those inciting speeches which he has made so far as well.
And that’s the bottom line. Raj Thakeray cannot be allowed to mess with the constitution of this country because that’s what his over all aim for Maharashtra is. To put it in words, his ultimate aim seems to be to implement Article 370 or something even worse for Maharashtra wherein non Maharashtrians cannot buy property, work or do not even basic have fundamental rights as Maharashtrians. That’s what he wants. If action against him is delayed any further this is what will ultimately happen. Take a break people, and think about it. Are you ready for something like this? I’m not.
Related Post
India needs Raj Thakeray
Rahul could have been saved
Arrest of Raj Thakeray: more than what meets the eye
Raj Thakeray needs to be tamed
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November 10th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
May be you r taking it too far. Raj is not a terrorist. He is just a misguided soul who is in search of his own identity. May be he seriously feels that successive governments in Maharashtra have failed the MARATHI MANOOS. He's right abt the fact that these parties have not delivered at all. Congress and BJP r also to be equally blamed for rise in extremism.
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November 10th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
Why do Hindi speaking people force their language down the throats of others? Why can't they learn the language of the state where they live? It may be right according to the constitution for an MLA to take oath in Hindi in Maharashtra but is it right morally? Why do Hindi speaking politicians and people call Hindi as national language when there is no national language in India according to the constitution (only official languages)? Check this article in Outlook India about Arunachal Pradesh (specifically 'Flashpoint 3 There is resentment over dilution of tribal identity, especially on account of the imposition of Hindi') - http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?262720
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November 11th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
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November 12th, 2009 at 9:32 am
these ppl need counselling.... they are mentally troubled... wot say sush?
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Comment By : Sush
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November 12th, 2009 at 10:02 am
I too accept that NO language should be forced. But speaking a language is one thing and taking oath is different. Taking oath is a symbolic gesture. So it is important to take oath in the language of the state.
And the attitude of some Hindi speakers towards other people is similar to the attitude of colonialists over the natives. In TN where I am from, we lonely fought against the imposition of Hindi long ago. We fought only to protect our language, we never forced our language on others. It was only a language issue. But to my shock, many of my friends from north innocently believe that we wanted independence! They have been made to believe that whoever fought against Hindi were actually fighting against Hindustan! Nothing can be a bigger insult to a Tamil. Subramanya Bharathi said 'ival cheppu mozhi pathinettudaiyaal enil chinthanai ondrudaiyaal'. It means, 'She (Bharata Matha) has 18 languages to speak but a single unified thought'. That should be the spirit. Nobody should say that Bharata Matha speaks only Hindi. It is really unfortunate that still the central govt fails to understand this. Recently Union Minister Kapil Sibal said that steps should be taken to teach Hindi all over India, raising alarm in Chennai and triggering debates once again. No doubt all this posturing is politics. With Congress aiming for the UP elections of 2012, can SP be far behind?
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Comment By : Sush
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November 12th, 2009 at 11:27 am
I too have some close friends whose mother tongue is Hindi. Obviously, we converse in English though I do try to learn Hindi. Though I can understand what they say it is difficult for me to speak. I usually make fun of the fact that in Hindi you say 'kal' for both 'yesterday' and 'tomorrow'. A friend from Bihar is married to a Malayalee girl and a friend from Bengal is married to a Tamil girl and another friend from Jharkhand has decided to shift his entire extended family to Chennai. All these guys speak Tamil well. You see language is not a barrier for these people to integrate well with the society where they live. Even the alias 'shaan' that I use in the web is actually the name given to me by a friend from Delhi.
Here is an excerpt from an article by none other than Shashi Tharoor. When you read this you may understand what I meant by 'symbolic gesture'.
"Twelve years ago, when India celebrated the 49th anniversary of our independence from British rule, H D Deve Gowda, then the prime minister, stood at the ramparts of New Delhi's 16th century Red Fort and delivered the traditional Independence Day address to the nation in Hindi, the language which we have all learned to refer to (though the term has no constitutional basis) as India's 'national language'.
Eight other prime ministers had done exactly the same thing 48 times before him, but what was unusual this time was that Deve Gowda, a southerner from the state of Karnataka, spoke to the country in a language of which he scarcely knew a word. Tradition and politics required a speech in Hindi, so he gave one - the words having been written out for him in his native Kannada script, in which they, of course, made no sense."
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3346890,prtpage-1.cms
By the way, it was good to talk to you. Your husband is a colonel?
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November 17th, 2009 at 9:26 am
[...] Talibanisation of Maharashtra « makeSplash.com by Sush Jaitly [...]
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