Column

Young Feroze Varun Gandhi must be rubbing his hands with glee. There he was, just another BJP member with little to recommend him except his famous surname. That afforded him a tiny cache but little else, since the other scions of the clan were more high-profile. The surname and the pedigree had got him an entry into the BJP, which would have not been interested in him otherwise, but there were no real dividends to show for it. His mother handed over the family borough to him, but a boy has to eventually make his own way in the world.

That he has done and done it with a bang. Now he is on every front page, every television channel’s prime time news and from being the insignificant cousin he has morphed into a budding star of the Sangh firmament. The BJPfirst distanced itself from his comments, but then declared he would be their candidate from Pilibhit--they know they have a winner.

As for young Gandhi, after making that fiery speech, as shown on the channels, he has handled the aftermath like a professional politician. There has been dissembling, denial, equivocation and nitpicking about interpretation but no apology, even of the “if I have hurt someone’s feelings I am sorry” kind. With all this publicity — and come election time, any publicity is welcome publicity — he has established himself as a politico to watch out for.

Much of the comment about what he reportedly said has so far concentrated on a couple of remarks — the fun he made of Muslim names and the bombastic threat about cutting off the arms of anyone who attacked Hindus. His defence - when he is not denying that it was his voice in the first place — has been that he was talking about terrorists who come from across the border into the villages of his constituency. But there is much more in the CD. The speaker also makes many crass references in colloquial language about Muslims. Whether or not young Varun said all that — and he has given some explanation about what he really meant — the phrase shows that the speaker is fully up on street lingo and common slang.

Street slang usually concentrates on minorities, since the majority is not likely to use derogatory phrases about themselves. There is no dearth of phrases to describe the various communities of the country. This is true in India and everywhere else in the world.

Sometimes the words are benign and non-offensive: Bong describes a Bengali-speaker, but it does not offend Bengalis, since they too are comfortable using the word. Similarly, Bawa is used by, well, Bawas as a fond name for Parsis (who are among those communities that laugh at themselves.) But often the slang becomes downright offensive; everyone knows the words but these are not often used in refined company or in public life, even by politicians.

There are politicians of course who revel in using just these kind of words in their speeches. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray is one such.

His speeches used to be peppered with communally-tinged slang. Narendra Modi relies on innuendo - who can forget ‘Miya Musharraf’ — but now has tried to clean up his act. But the norm is to steer clear of obscenities. Varun Gandhi has broken those barriers. Is it any surprise the Shiv Sena is hailing Varun Gandhi?

But just because pejorative words are not used on public platforms does not mean they are not bandied about in everyday life. The casual use of truly offensive words, even by those assumed to be educated and refined is all around us. Dalits and Muslims get the worst of it, even in the glamorous drawing rooms of Mumbai or Delhi. Mayawati may be our putative prime minister, but that does not stop many from referring to her in the most abusive manner. The same goes for Muslims.

The speaker on the CD thus knows that using the language of the street will get applause and an instant connect with the audience (though it is tempting to think what would have happened had he made such remarks about dalits-Mayawati’s followers would have possibly lynched him right there.)

Prejudice is of different kinds. There is the institutional kind, both direct and subtle-the stated aim of apartheid was to suppress black Africans, who were considered inferior. At the same time, it is a fact that Muslims are under-represented in Indian public and private institutions, though there is no law debarring them.

Possibly the worst is small, everyday prejudicial behaviour which we may indulge in casually often because we have internalized the language without necessarily processing its ability to wound. This shorthand can be deployed with great effect to get a point across. Varun Gandhi, or whoever was speaking on that CD understood the impact it would have and therefore used it liberally. This was a well thought out strategy, not a gaffe. The point went home.

The story does not end here. The Election Commission as well as the police are examining the CD. Varun Gandhi will have to answer some tough questions. It can brand him for life, which he thinks will help him, but will have serious negative consequences too. Getting a few laughs - and votes — from the punters may make him a Hindutva hero, but could mean a heavy price to pay in the end.