#dnaEdit: Bajrang Dal rules

The silence of the Indian State to the vandalism committed on movie halls screening the Hindi film PK by fringe right-wing outfits like the Bajrang Dal who claim to be upset with the film’s portrayal of Hindu gods is disconcerting. Hundreds of thousands of moviegoers, most of them presumably Hindu, have already watched the movie and expressed no outrage about its contents. On the contrary, the positive word-of-mouth publicity is helping catapult the film to one of the top grossers of the year, in an industry where critical and commercial successes are rarely synonymous. So this brings us to Bajrang Dal and their authority to act as arbiters of the Hindu faith or policemen of artists and artistic expression. When a petition seeking a ban on PK was brought before the Supreme Court, the honourable judge had a simple and straightforward suggestion to those offended: “If you don’t like it, don’t watch the film. Don’t bring religious facets here...These are matters of entertainment. If you restrict it, it will affect others’ rights.” With judicial help not forthcoming and the Censor Board in no mood to oblige, those offended should have taken the cue and backed off.

But in a country where vandalism of public property, especially by those outraged at purported infringement of moral, cultural and religious values is met with remarkable benevolence from governments, it is not surprising that the Bajrang Dal has behaved no differently. It is incumbent on the governments of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat—where most of the violent protests against PK have been staged—to come to the support of the beleaguered exhibitors. The other option of a civil society response to moral policing is an excellent option as the Kochi “Kiss of Love” protests against a Hindutva outfit’s act of vandalism showed. However, the state police and politicians are more likely to range alongside the conservative elements and quick to blame those whose works fan conservative outrage and violence. This has been their stock line since the 1980s, when filmmakers, artists and authors like Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, Deepa Mehta’s Fire, MF Husain’s paintings, and James Laine’s biography on Shivaji faced right-wing ire. Even the Kiss of Love protesters had to face the brunt of both policemen’s lathis and Hindutva fanatics.

The irony of the attack on PK is the baffling inability of those offended to comprehend the film’s obvious denunciation of false godmen who have mushroomed and become a serious threat to society. The film has come at a time when serious charges exist against godmen like Asaram Bapu, Rampal, Nirmal Baba, who were all gladly taking their disciples for a ride, professing non-existent spirituality and divine powers. Even BJP patriarch LK Advani’s enthusiastic endorsement appears to count for little among these misinformed zealots who cannot distinguish between religion and entertainment or fake babas conflating religion with superstition and even crime.

Further, the tenor of the Bajrang Dal’s personal attack against PK’s lead actor, Aamir Khan, accusing him of denigrating another religion and sparing his own, is alarming. The “Hinduism in danger” slogan has been wielded with unsurprising regularity and donned several avatars even in this year of Hindutva’s ascendancy. After the discredited love jihad and ghar wapsi campaigns, the Bajrang Dal hordes have found in PK a convenient vehicle to stay in the public imagination until another bogey can be found. Unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP Chief Ministers realise the menace these fringe elements pose, India’s claims to be a liberal democracy are only marginally better than some of the theocratic Islamic states.