Poisoning minds

As if unhealthy competitive politics of the Thackeray cousins was not enough, the state of Maharashtra has plunged into noxious provocative politics. This week’s disruptive raucous in the state assembly virtually muted leaders of all the four major parties, Congress, NCP, BJP and Shiv Sena.

Abu Azmi, the lone Samajwadi Party representative, was the target of attack by MNS MLAs for flouting their boss’s diktat of taking oath of membership of the assembly only in Marathi. Azmi was obstructed, abused, even slapped.

The podium was removed and slogans were shouted. Azmi, who is no saint either, on his part, was seen taking his footwear in hand in retaliation to his detractors. He has ever been ready to play political mischief. 

If in two and half decades of his residence in Mumbai Azmi has not picked up even rudimentary knowledge of Marathi and cannot read a few lines of the oath in the official language of the State, can he claim to be an MLA from Maharashtra? Therefore who provoked whom, could be a moot point and a matter of investigation. But that such an incident took place in a temple of democracy is a disgrace to all.

This single incident has disrespected all those guardians of democratic norms who strived to lay down sound and healthy traditions of party politics in Maharashtra. This week’s incident does not appear to be an impulsive misadventure as both sides seemed to have planned their strategies. The signs of the times are that this is not going to end here. Azmi is a compulsive instigator and Raj, like his uncle, a compulsive reactor.

Raj will not relent in his campaign because brothers and sisters of the Marathi people from Maharashta have been residing in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Haryana. The Marathas went to North India on war campaigns in the 17th and the 18th centuries and many continued to stay there. These families are trying to retain and foster their Marathi culture in whatever way they can. Even in Karnataka Assembly the Marathi MLAs from Belgaum insist on taking oath in Marathi and not in Kannada.

What will happen to all of them if they are forced to eschew their Marathi pride? What if every Indian state starts insisting on observance of local traditions and customs and speaking only the local language? Will the trend ultimately lead to linguistic balkanisation of the country? Parochialism in a limited quantity does help development of the region, but when let loose it can kill the unity of a diverse nation.   Mumbai being miniature India can ill-afford to lose its cosmopolitan character.

A small measure of initial political success seems to have given Raj Thackeray unlimited confidence. He has started issuing fatwas like his uncle Bal Thackeray. But the senior Thackeray operated in a different social milieu. The new saviour of the Marathi language had proclaimed that every member of the newly formed assembly must take oath in Marathi, the official language of Maharashtra.

Even Hindi won’t do as the Constitution does not recognise Hindi as the “national” language, contrary to the common belief. Raj did not seem to have read that the same Constitution has termed Hindi as the “official” language of the new nation. 

The followers of Raj ever willing carry out with great enthusiasm the “virile” diktat of their party boss particularly when Marathi honour is challenged. Convinced that the Marathi manoos is getting a raw deal in his own territory, they dutifully translate into ‘action’ his instructions and go on rampaging, ransacking, intimidating and even manhandling to “save the honour of Marathi manoos”.

Has the Marathi manoos become so vulnerable that he is ready to indulge in violent acts at the slightest provocation? Is his mind so much infected with ill-conceived and unwise answers to complex issues? Shiv Sena leaders have been doing it for years.

Now Raj hopes to beat the party his uncle founded for similar causes on their own ground with his MNS. Marathi men and women ever in search of magical solutions appear to be convinced that Raj is on the way to righting the wrong done to them. On the other hand the migrants from UP and Bihar look to Abu Azmi as their saviour. 

Faced with a similar situation, Cicero, the Roman statesman, is reported to have publicly stated, “How can people be called back when the crowd is urging them on?” Years of poisoning the minds of lower orders of society appear to result in the naive, emotional crowd urging both Abu Azmi and Raj Thackeray on.

The joy of being able to keep the Shiv Sena dream and shatter the dreams of Uddhav seems to have made him supercilious. Aren’t there more important issues of the state that are waiting for Raj’s attention? How to restrain both Raj and Azmi will be a priority issue for both chief minister Ashok Chavan and home minister RR Patil.

The writer is a commentator on political affairs