February 12, 2010

My name is

Here's a great way for patriotic Indians to fight Pakistani terrorists: tear down posters of an upcoming film, vandalize the theatres that plan to show it, threaten violence against it to the extent that police personnel have to deployed in front of all such theatres.

I'm sure that's deterred plenty of terrorists already. I can see it now. The next time a boatload of armed men turn up on this city's shores, intent on mayhem and slaughter, they will be met by people shouting: "Get lost! Before we tear down the posters of My Name is Khan!"

That'll show the terrorists.

More seriously.

Is there someone who can tell me of one positive thing the Shiv Sena has done for the Marathi manoos? I mean, at their inception nearly half a century ago their beef was with the non-Marathi "outsiders" who, they said, were taking away jobs that belonged rightfully to Maharashtrians. Today their beef is with the non-Marathi "outsiders" who are, they say, taking away jobs that belong rightfully to Maharashtrians. If after nearly half a century this party's rhetoric and argument remain absolutely unchanged, the question must be asked: what has it achieved in 50 years?

The answer must be given: nothing.

And that is why they must pretend that patriotism and defending India equates to vandalising film theatres. Terrorists out there must be quaking in their boots.

***

May plenty of Bollywood folks and others show the spirit and decency of Hrithik Roshan.

11 comments:

Chandran said...

re: above comment. I cant see the relevance to post, ie to Shiva Sena attacking SRK's film.

If Shiva Sena is so patriotic, why they wont sign up in Army to fight? Why they are fighting only to vandalise cinema theatres?

Joker said...

Dilip,
I've been a silent reader of your blog for quite some time now, but I need to ask you this. Do you think SRK's comments on Pakistan are justified?

I'm against violence. There is no question that what Shivsena is doing right now is barbaric, but I think the insensitive comments of SRK have been quietly buried in the background. I am not sure whether it was intentionally done by our television medium though.

Dilip D'Souza said...

Joker, what comments do you mean? The one I remember that may have caused some heartburn is where he said we cannot judge the whole country by the actions of the few bigoted criminals who come from that country. (Words to that effect). I find nothing wrong with that statement. He went on to say that in the same way, we cannot consider India a nation of rapists because a young Russian woman was raped in Goa. Makes sense to me.

What's insensitive about this? If it's that some people can't stand to have their perception of all Pakistanis challenged, I'd say there should be more of that.

It's pretty much the same question that I ask here -- in the last three paragraphs.

Joker said...

He called Pakistan 'great neighbors'. Do you agree with that?

Surya said...

"Great Neighbours" do not have Hindu hatred Indoctrined in their textbooks. Textbooks for 6th and 7th grade carry hate material against HIndus. These textbooks are published by the State.If thats the national policy can someone tell me how come its a great neighbor? In India I have not come acorss a single textbook or media tht spews venom on Pakistan. If this the difference, how come this neighbor to the West of us is a great neighbor? As a Country don't we need to stand up against an enemy? Just as the Media was able to gang up against so called internal Enemy "Modi". I am surprised we still bend our backs to Pakistanis after all these years of hostility. How can someone every in right state of ming call Pakistan a Great Neighbor??

Jai_C said...

1. SRK:
I disagree with SRK's assessment of Pak being a great neighbour.

However this doesnt require an apology. Its also not in any way relevant to the movie MNIK.

It would have been nice if he retracted or climbed down a bit from that "great neighbour" stand. But that's not required. He has the freedom to hold onto that opinion.

Ppl who are vehemently opposed to this statement should have oppty to peacefully protest and express their anger.

2. SS/MNS and the manoos:
--------
deccan chronicle had an article that says there is fair amount support for marathism among the working class in Mumbai; SS started from the textile mills; and most political parties in MH practice some soft "Marathitva".

Vasantdada Patil said something like: Mumbai is in MH but you cant find MH in Mumbai.

--------

SS then serves as the most visible and aggro version of some genuinely felt resentment. What did it achieve in 50 yrs?

Well for one thing it probably gives other parties a base to push thru softMarathitva policies if they wish to (or need to). SS will be the big bad wolf at the door that has to be factored in.

thanks,
Jai

Chandru K said...

"we cannot judge the whole country by the actions of the few bigoted criminals who come from that country."

You would have a case if you could point to some kind of public, mass movement for secularism, pluralism, tolerance and non-violence. There's nothing to suggest that there is any large scale public disapproval/condemnation of events like Mumbai, the support for the Taliban, or terror in Kashmir in name of religion or religious commonality. A voice here or there does not prove anything.

Let Pakistan come out in the open and state that secularism and pluralism are worthy values to be striven for, and that Hinduism is as valid a path to revere the divine as Islam is. State it officially and publicly.

Jai_C said...

I thought I had a 2pointer comment here abt SRK & SS/MNS but nevermind.

Jai

Dilip D'Souza said...

Jai_C: you did. Forgot to send it through, sorry. Now done. I'll return to comment soon.

Jai_C said...

Please allow me to thank, in this space, TimesNOW and some other news channels for running back-to-back in a loop:

- Zardari's pronunciations post 26/11 (this is a cancer that I have sworn to uproot at whatever cost, will not allow this etc)

-JuD deputy chief Makki's open and hugely attended, applauded hate speech from a few days before; that among other raves and rants also specifically threatened Pune.

Thank you guys. I dont know what this does to Aman ki Tamasha though with our great neighbour.

thanks,
Jai

nikhil said...

the senas list of achievements: beat up tamilians in the 70s, killed muslims after babri, changed bbay to mumbai, innovated concept of remote control cm (an idea that even sonia adopted) during five yrs of golden rule - flouted all possible building/planning norms that maintained all sainiks, helped cops find new modes of revenue as govt didnt pay enough while eliminating the underworld, helped in paving the way for indo-us ties: accepted enron's let's be friend bribe, got mj to perform and pee at my house, made sure mcdonalds burgers were indianised, set standards of governance that has been the benchmark for subsequent govts (who have even surpassed it and hence back in power), made big b and big b's small wife say sorry, k jo visited house to say sorry, got mani and rgv to give exclusive premieres, made sunil dutt and sanjay to beg on their knees, created a new bunch of goons to make ppl still fell insecure since the underworld is not around (what if a joker-like character shows up), sent over ambassadors to other parties to keep up the high standards in political discourse, made pratibha tai president, would support pawar ji for pm, didnt allow pakistanis to play in bbay, called chidu home min of pakistan, told rss to fuck off (something that even great cong leaders and bjp didnt do), worked towards equitable distribution of resources by making other states great invt destinations, esp modi bhai's gujarat, trying to get rid of khan culure from bollywood (indicated by the deep-seated aversion to my name is khan), got every possible thing under the sun named after shivaji, plan to now give exclusive rights for unchartered shivaji territory while ensuring more celebs visit our homes and promote the idea of peace and goodwill... this was what one of my friends had to say about the sena drama and Bal T