Shiv Sena smears black paint on Sudheendra Kulkarni's face to protest Pakistan politician's book lau

[sherin616]

Now every one know why china is far ahead of us
We need both educational and mind set to improve

 

[saurav]

End the Sena’s veto power

What the Shiv Sena could earlier do only with threats of violence, it can now do with a mere letter or an appeal. The organisers of concerts planned in Mumbai and Pune by Pakistani ghazal singer Ghulam Ali were quick to cancel the programmes after the Shiv Sena asked them not to host a singer belonging to a “country which is firing bullets at Indians”. A meeting with Sena supremo Uddhav Thackeray must have convinced the organisers that the letter of request to cancel the show had the sanction of those at the very top of the Sena leadership, and that the “request” was no less than a threat in disguise. Now that it is in power, the Sena can effectively veto any cultural programme without even organising a public protest. The lesson that the organisers would have taken from the Sena’s missive is that no help would be forthcoming from officialdom in a State where a party that draws support from lumpen elements is in power. From digging up the cricket pitch and forming balidani jathas to stop matches between India and Pakistan, the Sena is known to oppose any kind of cultural or sporting interaction between India and Pakistan. Now that it is in power, the Sena seems intent on its agenda of imposing a boycott on all things Pakistani without resorting to open threats or violence.

The irrationality seems to have struck all but the most ardent of the Sena’s supporters. While Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spoke to Ghulam Ali and persuaded him to agree to come to Delhi for a concert in December, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offered to host him in Kolkata. But the issue is far more important than Ghulam Ali being able to perform in India. This is not on whether art, culture and sport can bring people together or worsen relations between nations. Whether they do one or the other depends on the peoples involved, and not on some intrinsic quality of these forms. The issue actually relates to the unbridled political power that the Sena wields in Maharashtra, a power that is not drawn from any electoral mandate, a power that is not accountable to any democratic institution. The Sena quite arrogantly assumes it can speak for all people when it asks for a show to be cancelled “considering the emotions of the citizens”. If the Sena was so offended by a Pakistani artiste performing in Maharashtra, it could have asked its supporters to stay away from it. The Sena’s senior ally in government, the BJP, and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, need to guard against a repeat of such incidents. What is at stake is not the right of a Pakistani artiste to perform in India, but the right of Indians to decide who they can listen to or watch in India.


"The Hindu" Editorial....

Hypocrisy at best from Hindu.. Hosting Ghulam Ali makes Bengal a leader in free speech ? Selective amnesia just does not go away for a section of press. But what else can e expected from a newspaper which publishes a numer of articles praising Aurangzeb the moment name of Road is changed.

 

[nair]

The world doesn't care about such issues. India was being portrayed as a rapist, intolerant, uncivilized cesspool even before this incident.

I agree, and with this kind of incidents we are giving opportunity for them to cement such views....

Hindu nationalists.......closely aligned to Mr Modi......rising intolerance.....even since Modi came to power.....Muslim man lynched on suspicion on eating beef....

These incidents were happening even before Modi was in power, So attributing this to him would be wrong...... Having said that, ever since modi came to power, the confidence level of this so called "Hindu nationalists" have gone up......

 

[ranjeet]

Some of us did not like that either, I actually wrote my displeasure here if I recall correctly.

I am not accusing people here of anything, it's the main stream media I am talking about. We have seen how they outrage on Pakistan but start sucking up to Pakistanis when it comes to Aman ka Tamasha.

 

[Asian.Century]

What is at stake for common 1.2 billion Indians is not the right of a Pakistani artiste to perform in India, but the right of Indians to decide who they can listen to or watch in India....in this case Shiv Sena, an unelected man decides.

 

[Roybot]

I agree, and with this kind of incidents we are giving opportunity for them to cement such views....

No we are not. Protests at book launch/events is a very common occurrence around the world. We care too much about what the "World" is going to think, its pointless.

 

[Bang Galore]

.

These incidents were happening even before Modi was in power, So attributing this to him would be wrong...... Having said that, ever since modi came to power, the confidence level of this so called "Hindu nationalists" have gone up......

Of course, they have very little to do with Modi. I was pointing out what the headlines will scream......

No we are not. Protests at book launch/events is a very common occurrence around the world. We care too much about what the "World" is going to think, its pointless.

Not incorrect.Except that this will get caught in the rest of the drama that has been going on.

 

[Darmashkian]

@nair Kulkarni was Advani's PA, but he is a total Adarsh liberal at heart.. I can say after following his tweets+election gyaan+articles in the last 1 year that this guy must have been one of the biggest reasons why Advani could never become the PM.

With advisors like him, who needs Rahul Gandhi?

LK screwed up heavily by making him PA & privy to the BJP's secrets.
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[Sugarcane]

Looks like Shiv Sena is better than RSS in dealing with Sickulars and Anti-India elements. godspeed...

 

[vsdoc]

That is because they are stupid enough to believe that will always be on the side of the mob......(except for those who actually will be part of every mob.....)

Or that the mob will remain the same indefinitely.

 

[Assault Rifle]

Great job by Kulkarni for not backing down after paint attack.
Now Shit Sena and BJPigs can do nothing but moan like the whores they are.

 

[Darmashkian]

.


Of course, they have very little to do with Modi. I was pointing out what the headlines will scream......



Not incorrect.Except that this will get caught in the rest of the drama that has been going on.

Headlines will scream whatever the editor wants them to, the editor will do what his bosses/funders want him to.

& if the aim is a negative picture of Modi, then even the smallest of incidents which are panchayat level stuff will be portrayed as a conspiracy of Modi against opposition'/liberals/kashmiris/global peace/muslims/christian.. Did I miss anyone out?

In the end it is up to Modi to take on those against him & up to the readers to make out truth from fiction.
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TBH back in the days of Balasaheb Thackeray, kulkarni would have got a good trashing , what is there to fear from an ink attack??

 

[ranjeet]

Bravo logic, just because you never heard any secular protesting about the exclusion of Rushdie from a literature festival or the repeated rejection of Taslima's visa appeal, it is justified to abuse the very basic laws of secularism? And what exactly secular principles had to deal with a Pakistani book?

heard spokespersons of other parties saying this is an attack on secular India.

 

[nair]

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Of course, they have very little to do with Modi. I was pointing out what the headlines will scream......

Yeah..... But then Modi is doing little to stop these headlines, which is giving confidence to the likes of shiv sena

 

[Bang Galore]

Hypocrisy at best from Hindu.. Hosting Ghulam Ali makes Bengal a leader in free speech ? Selective amnesia just does not go away for a section of press. But what else can e expected from a newspaper which publishes a numer of articles praising Aurangzeb the moment name of Road is changed.

That's the problem. We only have hypocrites. Makes it easy to laugh at their actions & continue with more of the same. The hypocrisy makes it impossible to take these objections seriously.

Einstein once said that "we are all ignorant, only on different subjects". Could easily be used here as "we are all hypocrites, only at different times". Hiding hypocrisy behind slogans like secularism only reduce the value that the people at large will place on secularism itself. Sad, but true.