Bhopal Gas Farce!

1984 was a particularly unfortunate year in the history of our nation... Even in the best of years, India battles at least 2-3 insurgencies, 4-5 droughts and 6-7 floods... but in 1984, it witnessed the climax of sikh separatism, culminating in the daring attack on the Golden Temple, this was followed by the murder of Mrs. Gandhi by her own bodyguards who she had refused to let go of since she wanted to maintain her secular credentials, the bloody and shameful anti-sikh riots followed soon and much of Delhi and the nation was consumed by hatred... And towards the end of the year, just when it seemed the nation was limping back to a sense of pseudo-normalcy, tragedy struck again in the form of Bhopal Gas Disaster...

Apologies for the verbose introduction to the article, but it is important to realize the context in which the world's worst industrial accident occurred.... I sincerely believe that it was never the fault of the Americans which led to the disaster... The Americans might have been a 'little' careless, but that is completely justified, isn't it? After all, they were dealing with a couple of thousand Indian lives...Indians, used to being brought up in poverty are used to fighting hard for an inconsequential existence... Clearly their lives aren't that important... Like a spokesperson for Dow chemicals said as late as in 2002, An Indian life is surely not more precious than $500!! 

Anyways, enough of America-bashing... I genuinely believe that the Americans didn't kill the 20000 who died in Bhopal, It was the Indian government that dug their graves and spat upon their lifeless bodies... The Indian government showed pragmatism in the most unlikely of places... Imagine you are the government and the choice you have to make is as follows- 20000 people from a semi-urban area whose existence is unknown to most countrymen and Rs. 2 Cr per annum from foreign investments that can potentially pull the country out of poverty...

Of Course you'd choose the latter... Who cares about 20000 miserable wretches? Nobody... That is why Mr. Arjun Singh offered a helicopter to Mr. Anderson to help him flee his arrest... That is why, even as people in the affected areas slept, Mr. Arjun Singh fled Bhopal... That is why, committees were set up and dissolved... And that is precisely why it has taken 26 years of waiting for a sentence of 2 years!

The Bhopal gas Disaster was never meant to be a tragedy, it was meant to be a farce played out by those in power... And some people genuinely believed they would get justice! Wake up already if you've deluded yourself so far... Your immaterial and insignificant existence is of use to none... 

Indeed, lucky were the ones who perished that fateful night... At least they didn't live to see mockery being made out of their misery....

Jai Hind! 

An India Forgotten!

I can bet on the fact that 3 out of 4 indians will not be able to tell the capital of Mizoram... I can also bet on the fact that 1 out of 2 indians, when asked as to what people inhabit Nagaland, would reply with the word Chinese... I think, for most Indians, Assam is as far as India goes in the East... Anything beyond that is simply a tribal area inhabited by Chinky looking Chinese people... And without doubt, this is one of the gravest tragedies to befall the Indian State...Even after 60 years of Independence, we are yet to acknowledge the North Eastern States as equal Indians as perhaps a Bengali, or a Punjabi or a Tamil...

Who cares if governments come and go in the North East as fast as the discount offers on newly launched products? Who cares if the secessionists rule the roost in most parts? Who cares if Indians require Special Permits to visit a part of their own country? Who cares if curfews are clamped in Capital cities of these states at 5 PM and life comes to a grinding halt? Lets not even talk about water & electricity. The Indian state has proven less discriminatory on this count. It has failed all peoples and all states equally as far as impoverishment is concerned...

Little doubt that there are hundreds of tiny insurgencies going on in the North East... People are disgruntled with the Indian State... After all, what has the Indian state done for them? If their daughters and sisters migrate to Delhi for education, they are leered at and referred to as being 'loose'...If the boys want to study, they have to leave their parents and families behind... And even after a worthwhile education, Can they ever dream of returning to their 'homeland' and earning a decent living?... No ways...

Its been 60 days, since the Naga insurgents/activists blockaded the highway leading to Manipur... Fuel costs as much as Rs. 150-170 a litre, hospitals are shutting down for the want of medicines... people are in distress... But does the Indian State care?.. Imagine, secessionists/anti-national elements blockading entry route into Mumbai... What would happen then?

Irom Sharmila has been on a fast unto death for more than 10 years now... All she demands is that people be allowed to live a dignified life... And the oppressive AFSPA be repealed... What has the Indian state done? It has force fed Sharmila for the last 10 years, since it is illegal to commit suicide... Where is the national media?... Why the silence on the misery of 23 lakh people, when there is a flurry on activity to get justice to 1 Ruchika Girhotra??

When people are disappointed, they express their disgruntlement in a variety of measures... In the North East, people have taken to arms to vent their frustration...The Politicians will never care, since the entire North East sends merely 25 MPs to a 543 member Lok Sabha... It is the civil society that must raise its voice against the evident oppression of its brethren in the North East!

It is only if we treat all Indians as equals can we realize the dreams of our forefathers who fought long and hard to win us our freedom... As long as we stay apathetic, we are only sowing the seeds for a bleak future, which is best avoided!

Murder most foul!

Of all the Murders that rock this country, the foulest are the murders of the tongue… Every single day, in every nook & corner of this nation, multitudes of people commit the most sinister of all follies…. The murder of the language they speak… And what is the consequence?… Hindi has been virtually eradicated in the South, English in the North… The West speaks a tongue that is unbeknownst to the rest and the East… Well they talk a wee bit too much in the East…

So if you are to converse in Hindi with a "South Indian" (I mean with a person belonging to one of the 4 southern states, so don't start calling me a North Indian racist), you are more likely to be met with the following 5 letter reply-

"मेरे को हिंदी नहीं आता …."

Only South Indians can tell when and where did the Hindi tongue get its Sex-Change operation… Must have been in the sordid by-lanes of Bangkok… Anyways…

While the South Indians butcher away Hindi, the Biharis aren't far behind…. They have gone global when it comes to murdering languages… They murder the Queen's very own tongue… Shakespeare must be turning in his grave for every syllable uttered by these people….

Where magically becomes Bhere…

You becomes Jhu…

Prepositions end the sentences like Bhat Jhu comes here phor?

Verbs and conjugations have since long lost their importance like… Bhen I was came from the Jungle, the Loin roars me at…. (Its always the Loin that roars... never the Lion)

The Bongs aren't too far behind… they take perverse pleasure in pronouncing both Hindi & English in a Bangla accent…

Savour this-

हामको भोत डड लग डहा था ( हमको बहुत डर लग रहा था )

The Lion doad in the middle of the doad (The Lion roared in the middle of the road)

The Marathis give the rest of Indians a run for their money in emphasizing their love for vowels…

Shiv becomes Shiuu…

Give becomes Giuu….

And the Bhopalis… My… Are they a race apart… They make their vowels long and short as & when they desire…

Black becomes Blake

Cake becomes Cack

snake becomes Snack

Incidentally, in Bhopal, Girls don't get raped… They get wrapped!

All this reminds me of a few lines from the movie "My Fair lady", where Rex Harrison utters these memorable lines-

"Look at her, a prisoner of the gutters
Condemned by every syllable she utters
By right she should be taken out and hung,
For the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue..."'

Now that's not a bad option... Isn't it... :D

The Red Zone

It has been a while since nondescript places like Jhargram and Dantewada made their way into our lexicon for all the wrong reasons. What were to most Indians, random, remote locations in some Godforsaken part of the country have now suddenly been thrust into the limelight. For that, if nothing else, one must sincerely thank the Maoists. They have undone what the Indian State has been trying to do for the last 60 years of its sordid existence, forget that these places exist or their inhabitants are worth anything at all...

The Naxal Problem is not a new phenomenon, nor is it something which has stumped the government out of the blue. Naxalism is in fact a very Indianized form of what the whole world calls a Communist Insurrection. The fact that 1/3rd of India is now a part of the so called Red Corridor where the writ of the Government doesn't run is what makes the matter very serious. Add to it the fact that the so-called peoples' revolutionaries have sworn to overthrow the Indian State and institute a Soviet/Chinese style Peoples'  Government in its place. And lets be honest about it, that is the sole reason why you suddenly have Politicians denouncing the Maoists. They represent a strong challenge to the virtually unchallenged authority of the Indian State.

The Maoists have become Revolutionaries for all the right reasons. It would not be incorrect to say that revolutionaries have been made out of unwilling people by the Indian State. When the state refuses to recognize your existence, how else can you make it listen to your voice. The answer is, by pinching the state where it hurts the most-Throw grenades at convoys of soldiers, derail a few trains here & there, denounce the state and call for its overthrow. If attention is what the Maoists desired, then one must applaud their attempts. They have done a good job. While none can dispute the end (Development of backward areas), the means to attain the goal are certainly open to question.

For a moment, consider the precarious position the government finds itself in. Its writ has ceased to run in one-third of the country. The fact that it and it alone represents the will of the people is being constantly undermined. Bombings, extortion and murder have devastated the otherwise calm & peaceful country-life. It may choose to respond with force, and let their be no doubt, The power of the state will triumph and crush the rebels, but the victory would certainly be pyrrhic.

The Maoists represent the weakest of the weak and the poorest of the poor. These people deserve to be represented and their voices heard. If only the Naxals can retain their political idealism and deploy it democratically, the downtrodden would be immensely benefitted.

None can deny the past wrongs of the state, but never have 2 wrongs made a right. The Maoists need to realize this. The State on its part must push for progress and equitable development. That is the only permanent solution to what would otherwise be a devastating conflict.

Animal Farm Continues...

The sight of the pigs standing on their hind legs, with faces that looked more human than animal, aroused a sense of rage that knew no bounds among the animals of the Manor Farm.... All of a sudden, the reason for their penury and the pigs' wealth became clear to the animals huddled outside the window... It was clover who enunciated this new-found clarity of thought... "All our lives we worked hard to rid ourselves of the despicable humans... How foolish were we, never to realize that we've replaced the humans with the pigs.... Down with the Pigs!!!... Down with Animalism...Glory to the Animals!!!!"... His speech, however was cut short with the growling of the dogs... Squealer, the pig, walked menacingly towards Clover, with a leash in his right hand. "Well...Well..Well..Didn't I just witness the dimwit horse heap ignominy on our glorious regime...Now that I can never let be....Dogs!... Arrest this thankless bastard and put him behind bars...He'll face Napoleon tomorrow at dawn...." By then, a huge crowd had gathered... Many of the animals nodded disapprovingly, but they were all powerless in front of the Dogs... "Glory to all Animals... Woe befall the pigs!... Down with Animalism", Clover managed to shout before 2 punches to his face quietened him.... His limp body was dragged away to the Jailhouse....

That night, no animal in Manor Farm slept.... Dogs kept a close watch on all animals...And their horrible growls kept most animals awake... Muriel the goat announced that her mind was made up... She would not let Clover be lost to the pigs' barbarity.... Along with a few sheep, she drew up a plan to storm the Jailhouse and free Clover... They would leave the Farm and never return... Better to die as a wild beast than to live as Pigs' slaves, she said... Moses, the Raven heard this and immediately took off...hovering above the barn, she yelled..."Animals of the world...Unite.... Glory to Clover... Long live Snowball... Down with the Pigs... Glory to the Animals...."

Moses' words had a magical effect on all animals... The hens created pickets out of their nests, setting a few alight so as to create torches that would frighten the dogs away...The cows wagged their tails with vigor, and anyone who'd come near them would go away whipped and badly bruised...The sheep brayed long and hard, with a passion found only in neo-converts...The army of animals attacked the Dog guarding the barn first... The loud braying of sheep temporarily deafened him, and he didn't even realize the tail that came and smacked him hard...He lay there...In a pool of his own blood..stirring, but barely alive...

Emboldened by their first victory, the animals marched straight towards the Pigs' Palace...By this time, a few of the animals had already defeated the Dogs guarding the Jailhouse and freed Clover... Clover had been badly tortured, but he marched on forth... His weak but determined Neighs still shouted "Glory to the Animals... Down with the Pigs"....

The Pigs had probably seen this coming... They cleverly deployed their Dogs to attack from the sides, and when that failed, they released the Piglets from the front and the humans from behind the animals... The animals were surrounded on all four sides, and were outgunned and badly outnumbered... The Dogs attacked the sheep and silenced their braying... The humans were carrying hacksaws and approached Muriel menacingly... Just when it seemed that the battle was lost and that the tyranny of Pigs' would continue, Moses emerged in the skies above, carrying a lit torch, which he dropped into Napoleon's room... In a matter of seconds, the whole Pigs' Palace was on fire...The defendants broke their lines and ran helter skelter, and the animals chased them... The humans were the first to flee, followed by the Dogs, yelping...

Napoleon and Squealer tried to flee but were caught before they could...A summary trial presided by Muriel sentenced the Pigs to death by sawing...A couple of dogs who were also apprehended met the same fate...Napoleon's last words, drowned in the din of the excited cheering of the animals were "I have done no crime... Death to the counter revolutionaries..."...Piece by piece his body was hacked by the saw operated by Clover and the sheep....Squealer tried to wriggle out of the execution, claiming that he had been brainwashed and that his sympathies lay with Animalism...His conviction and appeal won over many hearts... His punishment was changed from Death by Sawing to Death by hanging... In Muriel's words "Let his hanging body be an example of how we were led astray"...

The next morning, the Animalist Flag was torn from the staff... The horn and the hooves were stamped upon... One of the sheep cut out the horn & the hooves and that became the new flag of the Animal Farm, as it was to be called again...The board containing the Seven Commandments was brought down and thrown out of the Animal Farm... In its place was put up a plain white sheet containing the words "All Animals are the same and will be treated equally"....

Clover was nominated as the Animal-in-chief of the farm after a general assembly of all animals of the Animal Farm selected him... He served for a period of 6 months before his health turned for the worse... Muriel succeeded him...Last heard the Animal Farm was prospering & was the envy of all Neighboring farms...

Munger Diaries III- Mungeristan International Airlines!

In a recent order passed by the government of Mungeristan, it has been decided to launch a national air carrier to facilitate transportation of people and animals across great distances. The last venture of the Transport Ministry of the government of Mungeristan, the 'Bhola Bullock Cart Travels' was a raging success, and the government expects the same result from the national airlines.

1. The national airlines will be called Chidiya International Airlines. The logic behind the name is fairly simple and quite obvious- Like a chidiya in the sky, the aircraft will fly for miles and miles till it reaches its destination. The national animal of Mungeristan- Bhola the Bull, will be mascot of the airlines, symbolizing warmth, hospitality and the fact that the passengers, like the Bull itself will constantly have something to chew on...

2. The airlines will transport Mungeri nationals to exotic locations... The government of Mungeristan is yet to finalize the cities between which the airlines will operate, but grapevine has it that there will be uninterrupted connectivity between Munger & Kampala (Uganda), Munger & Dhaka, Munger & Danapur and Munger & Jhumritalaiyya... Mungeristan's only International airport will be constructed at Sitakund, Munger, on the banks of the river Ganges. This would make for an excellent view. The airport will be at a distance of 2 kms from the national capital, Mungerabad...The government has also decided to prosecute anyone who throws stones at the aircrafts from atop their huts while the planes are in descent.

3. A set of 6 crew members has been finalized for each aircraft. It would include the following

a. The Pilot (Qualifications: 12th Pass & an LMV Drivers' License from the government of Mungeristan)

b. Assistant Pilot (Qualifications: 10th pass & Bullock Cart Drivers' License from the government of Mungeristan)

c. Cook (Qualifications: Education no bar, should know how to cook the following items: Sattu ki roti, Litti Chokha, Bhindi ki Sabzi and Nimbu ka Achaar)

d. Air Hostess 1 ( Qualifications: Education no bar, should be beautiful (waist size< 36" , fair complexion and no grey hair), should be well conversant in one of the following languages-

i. Bhojpuri (must)
ii. Nepali
iii. Ugandan
iv. Santhali

e. Air Hostess 2 (Qualifications: At least 6th pass, dark complexion would do, should be able to assist cook in preparation of items, should have a mellifluous voice and be able to sing Bhojpuri numbers)

f. Security Officer (Qualifications: 6th pass, should have a moustache, should weigh more than 78 Kgs, should be capable of wielding a lathi, should be well versed with Bhojpuri gaalis)

4. Protocols to be followed-

a. All passengers to be smeared with a tilak upon arrival at the airport
b. Unnecessary hassles such as check in to be done away with; Passengers to carry their luggage till the airport exit where they can load their baggages on to a waiting bullock cart
c. No animals to be allowed on the craft. Sole exception to be made in case of cows/bulls/bullocks & Oxes. Dogs are to be allowed if they are a family i.e. 1 Dog & 1 Bitch & minimum 2 puppies
d. Rice to be thrown at passengers when they board the craft. Rice throwing ceremony to be accompanied by Singing of Mungeri national anthem "Hamra Pyaara Mungeristan" by Air Hostess 2.
e. Ganga Water to be served to passengers once they are seated. Passengers to be provided with a towel to clean up, in case they suffer from air sickness.
f. Passengers to be given a choice of meals : Litti Chokha/ Sattu ki roti/ Pyaaz, Namak & Roti
g. Airhostess 2 to sing a Bhojpuri Item number while meals are being served. Passengers are to be encouraged to join in singing. Dancing is to be tolerated.
h. No alcoholic beverages to be served during the flight. Only exception to be made in case passengers are carrying their own Desi Tharra
i. Once the plan begins descent, Airhostess 2 is to start chanting "Raghupati Raghav". Passengers are to be encouraged to join in. Dancing is not to be tolerated
j. Once the plane lands, air fare is to be collected from all passengers at the flat rate of Mungeri Rs. 250 per pair of legs

Here is hoping that the Mungeristan International Airlines does well.

Comrades!

Jyoti Basu's death is certainly going to be a set back to the Commies in India... After all, Jyoti Basu was a phenomenal leader from a Party which in its 80 years of history in India, and which, in spite of all the bassistance and sympathy from hundreds of Commie Sister Organizations has just managed to hold on to power in 2 states in India. Had it been any other country, the Communists would have surely managed to usurp power, but that just didn't happen in this case.

Before you get the idea that I am another of those neo-capitalist Commie bashers, Let me clarify that I am not one of them... I happen to harbour deep sympathies with the Global Communist movement and I am genuinely pained by the fact that Pseudo-Capitalist nations such as China are nowadays considered as the torchbearers of Communism..

Karl Marx' s communism truly arrived on the world stage with the usurpation of power by the Bolsheviks in Russia and the consequent birth of USSR. And there can be no doubt about it, the Communist philosophy does have its heart at the right place. From each according to his ability to each according to his needs, it was declared... And since Communists were a horrendously despised breed in the 19th-20th cent. Europe, it meant that any chance of having a Socialist/Communist Utopia would remain a dream as long as Communists stood in isolation from each other.

Nationalism was the biggest enemy of the Communists...And invariably, like most Occidentalists (if that is even a word), they despised heterogeneity. Differences in language, race, religion were abhorrent to the Communists... The only division that mattered, was the difference between the Rich & the Poor... The Rich were always to be lampooned as the dogs of imperialism while the Poor, irrespective of the facts were the soldiers of Communism.

Unfortunatley for the Communists, what is most appealing to human intellect is pecuniary distinction.... A Rich will never want to be impoverished and a Poor man would always want to become Rich.... So, as far as the Communist movement was concerned, its mandate was clearly laid out.... All it had to do, was to ensure that everyone was made rich ( or equally poor) and at the same time alter the human intellect to ensure that any need for monetary distinction was erased... And That is not all, man, by design, dislikes authority... Every man wants to be a Napoleon, and despises being told what to do... Sadly, that is precisely what a Communist State entailed... Complete and Unopposed servility & loyalty to the ideology. As awful as it sounds, within the ideology of Communism, lay the seeds of its destruction...

Noone in the 60s could have imagined the implosion of the Soviet Union, lesser still of Yugoslavia... Everyone was confident that a Soviet controlled Afghanistan would overrun Pakistan... But that sadly was not meant to be... So the rump of Communist global polity that is still surviving includes such awe-inspiring examples as North Korea, Cuba & Pseudo-Communist China & Vietnam. Add to it the glorious Indian Communist Party...If nothing, it has at least managed to hold the record of the longest serving democratically elected government in West Bengal.

Curious Reservations!

It was certainly an unmatched feat as the government managed to bulldoze its opinion in the Rajya Sabha and get the 108th Amendment to the Constitution approved. One point that stands out distinctly is the fact that if the Congress & the BJP join hands, there is nothing much that the others can do... Its more or less a fait accompli... In a democracy, this kind of collusion between the governing party & the opposition parties can imply dangerous trends... But lets not discuss that... Lets discuss something about the Women's reservation bill...

I have a singular question to ask... How did the UPA/NDA arrive at the figure of 33%... I mean, I am all for reservation of seats for women in the Parliament & the state legislatures, but I don't understand why only 33% of the seats should be reserved... I presumed that since half the population of this country is made up by Womankind, of all the people, women should at least have lobbied for 50% reservation... I am sure that the sex ratio in India isn't so skewed that there exist only 1 woman for every 2 men... Thus 33% reservation is simply ridiculous...At least 50% of the seats in all Legislatures should be reserved for women...Any other figure is simply illogical and should be rejected...Why 33%?...Why not 20%?... If the argument is affirmative action, then I believe 20% reservation sends out just as good a message... Probably, the government would have had to handle much less chaos had it proposed 20% reservation...

Another point is Reservation within Reservation, which is what the Yadav Troika has been yelling out loud... They fear that the bill is discriminatory in nature as there is no protection granted to the weaker sections among women... All I can say is this... Lets have caste/creed/region/language based reservation everywhere...So assuming 10% of India is Bengali... Lets reserve 10% of the seats in the Lok Sabha for Bengali Speaking people... Of this 10%, say 20% is Muslim, so 20% Muslim quota within the Bengali Quota... Also, of the entire population of West Bengal, 10% may be non Bengalis, so reserve another 10% within the Bengali Quota for the Non Bengalis... Say 40% of Bengalis are communist... So now take that in account...And you'd end up with nothing but chaos...

The very fact that we need to reserve seats for women is extremely sad... It just implies that for 60 years, we as a nation have done everything to impede their progress... So much so, that now the government needs to step in and improve their lot... And that is a fact... Had it not been for our reluctance to take all sections of our society along in our quest for progress, we would never have needed reservations in the first place...

But surely, Kudos to the UPA and Mrs. Gandhi... They've taken a huge political gamble for the sake of fulfilling their electoral promises... Something which is rarely seen in Indian Politics...

Freedom!

Rosa Luxembourg was absolutely correct when she said Freedom is always the freedom of dissenters... I mean, what use are your rights to freedom of speech & expression, if they only serve to curb dissenting voices... Ultimately, who do these rights seek to protect??.. Is it the majority who try and impose their version of facts & beliefs.. or is it the minority who are forced to suffer in silence??... If you seek to block all contrarian ideas & ideologies under the garb of disruption to public morality & order, then what good to these rights serve??... In any state, where the government is all powerful, the freedom to speech & expression always signifies the rights of the opposition...And more often than not, the views of the opposition would be such that the government would be tempted to censure them... But it does not... Why?... Because that is where the freedom of speech & expression comes into play


Take the example of India, with its great pseudo-secular polity... We claim we hold secularism on the highest pedestal...It is perhaps even more sacrosanct than our existence as a democracy... This is the majority view... But then there are quite visible minorities that affiliate themselves with majority/minority 'so-called communlaists'... They co-exist in perfect harmony with the secularists.. If the secularists were to decide to censor all matter that they deem communal, where would these minorities go??... There is nothing worse than curbing dissent..It only pushes mionorities to the periphery and gives rise to separatism...All you can do with dissenters is to try and assimilate them...And more often than not, it is not impossible to do so and live in peaceful co-existence...

I have just purchased Lajja by Taslima Nasrin and was going thorugh an article about the author... The way she has been victimized because she holds a set of beliefs contrary to the gigantic majority is a sad testament to our own faith in the freedom of expression & speech.. Just because a set of mullahs, who incidentally might not even represent the majority of Muslims in this country, went on a rampage, the government of India forced her to leave India.. Similarly, just because M F Hussain drew something which was objectionable to the fringe elements of the Hindu community, he was booted out of this country...

Freedom is always the Freedom of dissenters...Governments at times choose to ban certain items as they may provoke anger & cause protests, but that is not for the governments to decide... Governments invariably represent the majority opinion... Only courts should decide what is harmful to public morality and suitable action can be taken...But this needs at all times to be an exception & not the rule!

My Name is Can't!

Is exactly what Bal Thakrey must be thinking right now... The old tiger sought to give Mr. Khan a good fight and what did he get in result??... Broken teeth at the very least... The failure of Shiv Sena to dissuade the masses, Marathi & Non Marathi, from indulging themselves by watching MNIK is probably the last nail in the coffin of Shiv Sena... And it is quite sad that a party which was founded on a just cause, although the means it used to attain that cause were never right, now finds itself in an unenviable place... Almost universally despised, it is now shorn of the last vestiges of support that it might have had...

Before you declare that Shiv Sena was always fighting a losing battle and that its heart was never in the right place, Consider this... Uptil almost 1960, Gujarat & Maharashtra were one state which went by the name of Bombay State... The capital of Bombay State was Bombay, a bilingual Cosmopolitan city, with Gujjus & Marathis as the 2 main communities which vied for power & influence. The Gujaratis had the money, the Marathis had the numerical superiority... Once it was decided that the Bombay state was to be partitioned into a Marathi speaking Maharashtra & a Gujarati speaking Gujarat, the issue of Bombay proved to be a contentious one... Proponents of Marathi statehood (call them Marathi nationalists if you want to) were genuinely concerned that the new state of Maharashtra would be deprived of the city of Bombay , which was to become a Union territory... For any Marathi, Bombay was the epitome of the greatness of a Marathi speaking state... Inspite of the fact that the city was what it was as a result of the efforts of almost all Indians irrespective of caste, or language, Bombay to any Marathi 'manoos' in the 60s was the heart of Maharshtra... And since then, even though a Marathi speaking state with Bombay as its capital came into existence, there has always been a section of population that feels insecure & threatened that Marathi culture & language are under attack by some mysterious evil force...

And at some level, they might not be entirely wrong... Can you imagine being in Chennai and talking in Hindi??..You'd feel socially ostracized to the point that you'd either leave that city or you'd learn Tamil in bits and pieces... Now imagine Mumbai... You wouldn't need to know Marathi to survive Mumbai... Pune, may be... But Mumbai not at all... So, it is not entirely illogical that some persons, you may judge them as bigots and separatists, feel threatened that the Mumbai, they won by sactificing their blood is again slipping out of their hands....

Which brings us to the point of the Shiv Sena... It needs to make up its mind on some points, if it is to remain politcally relevant and not be reduced to the status of a politcal irritant...

1.) What is its ideology?... It can either be Hindutva Or Marathi Nationalism... It can't be both at the same time... Shiv Sena can choose to support the 'Hindu Cause'... or it can support a 'Marathi' Cause...If it chooses the former, then Backward castes from U P should be as much relevant to it as are Marathi Brahmins in Pune...If it chooses the latter, then Muslims in Malegaon should be of as much concern to the Shiv Sena as are Hindus in Kolhapur...

2.) If political relevance is of any concern to Shiv Sena, then it must choose between what can be described as Political Conservatism and Extremism... Being Conservative would mean that they support traditional Hindu/Marathi Values... Being Extremist would imply that they would impose those values on others...

3.) And Finally, Shiv Sena needs to decide who its political Opponents are... Congress with its history of minorityism seems an obvious choice... But the BJP, which is on a similar pseudo-conservative-extremist platform has emerged as a new bete-noire... Shiv Sena can choose to ally itself to Sambhaji Brigade which is Casteist, but at least Marathi or other similar fringe elements...

Shiv Sena can choose to break windows, tables, desks... Set things on fire... Let loose thugs chanting "मराठी माणूस जागा हो !"... assault couples & lovers... or it can choose to find Political Relevance which would actually further the cause of Marathi Manoos....The choice is theirs to make!