Why people like Raj Thackrey should be stamped out in Indian democracy, right now!

Okay so I have been against Raj Thackrey since the first day he spat his venom on "north Indians" settled in Maharashtra. I used to think that people like him who want to gain votes will keep trying to polarize the historically easily dividable Indians and people should just just ignore him.

But what I realized yesterday, got me scared. It also made me see clearly why people like him should be made to shut up or sent to jail right away. I may look shortsighted and unnecessarily "worked up" but let me try to make you see what I see now.

Let's forget about Raj Thackrey for a moment. Let's see the history of the Hindu-Muslim divide which gifted us Mumbai attacks a few days ago. If you go back to early 1900's, all was well in India. Indians were standing up to oppose the British raj and the freedom movement was building up.Then something happened. Britishers played the "divide and rule" card and turned Hindus against Muslims. From nowhere, a guy called Jinnah became a rival to leaders like Gandhi and sparks started flying everywhere. Soon partition happened and 60 years from then, we are still not able to recover from it. Thanks to the image which was portrayed in Indian movies and media, I used to believe till now that it was Jinnah, who played a key role in this painful partition.

But no. Here I need your attention. This is what wiki says about Jinnah:

"Some historians like H M Seervai and Ayesha Jalal assert that Jinnah never wanted partition of India and independence of Pakistan —it was the outcome of the Congress leaders being unwilling to share power with the Muslim League. It is asserted that Jinnah only used the Pakistan demand as a method to mobilize support to obtain significant political rights for Muslims."

So, he never wanted partition but still used to demand for Pakistan to gain support. Rings bells? This is exactly what I am told by some of my Maharashtrian friends, who don't see anything wrong in Thackrey apart from his violence for North Indians. They say that Raj Thackrey is just doing this to gain votes but his real intention is for upliftment of Maharashtrians and there is nothing wrong in it.

And this is where my dread starts. If my educated friends don't see the far reaching consequences of this separatist movement, even god can't save this country. Remember, what was just a demand for Pakistan, created the great animosity between Hindu and Muslims; animosity which feeds on blood of innocent people. What if same thing happens today? Hatred doesn't take much time to seize control of one's mind. We have seen that again and again. How easily Indians get divided? First came Hindu vs Muslim, then came Mumbai vs Lungi(South Indian), Tamil vs rest of India and north Indian vs Maharashtrian. Somewhere, some self serving leader wants votes, calls conferences, targets a community and people get divided, just at the drop of a hat.

Yesterday I watched "Ek Ruka Hua Faisla" in full. You would be amazed at the fact that the feelings expressed by the characters are so relevant even today. You would also feel anger at watching a few scenes like this one:(the video is a comparison of this movie with its original "12 Angry Men". Listen to the dialogues of the person in the original too, they are relevant in Indian context too )



Now imagine for a second what is being said in this scene about Muslims, being said about a Bihari by a Mahrashtrian in future. Looks ludicrous? Today, yes. But if we don't wake up now it may as well be possible.

I am all for development of Maharashtra by people like Raj Thackrey. Reserve jobs for less privileged if need be. Reserve seats at colleges and schools. But for god's sake don't divide India again. You will come and go, after reveling in power plays but the hatred you stoke today will never wither out. If we don't wake up now, India will again become a collection of small states, as it was before the Indian republic was born.

I see a devil. I see another Jinnah. I am scared.

India waking up...

So it seems it took one more disaster, the jolts from the recent terrorist attacks on Mumbai, to wake the giant sloth of this nation of 1 billion. Or at least thats what it looks like today and as given the forgiving tendencies we Indians nurture, the giant may doze off again soon.

But this time it does look like a different awakening. I am not sure what exactly was different this time around than the previous attacks, most notably the attack on the Indian parliament in 2001. But this time it does look like, at least to me, that the way people are disturbed because of this incident is totally different from the previous ones. This is what I think explains this wide spread public anguish and loud voices to bring about a change:

1. This time it was death, minute by minute, unlike a big blip on the radar, at one point in time. The seize lasted for 60 hours which were covered in detail by the prodding eyes of media. People had their eyes fixated to their TV sets, getting updated about minute by minute actions from both sides.

2. The attacks were carried out in one of the most brazen way, one which took everybody with surprise. No one had thought that out coastline and deep seas were so unsecure that people could sneak in with so much ammunition all the way from Pakistan!

3. The shocking(and myterious) demises of top 3 security forces of India, all the the same time! When the news came that three top bosses from three different security forces fell simultaneously, people were shocked to the core. How can three popular chiefs fall in what can be called a "soft dismissal"?

4. The attacks had all the elements of a typical bollywood flick- corrupt, inept politicians, foreign hostages, black commandos, hand grenades being flung around. All this sensationalized by the media round to clock.

Whatever be the actual reason for this powerful response to this version of the act, I thank god that at least now the general public is taking it seriously and asking the authorities right questions. And the ripples have started getting formed already- state home minister and chief minister are already stripped of their power and asked to resign "on the basis of their own conscience". At the center, the union home minister has been forced to resign "voluntarily" too.

I see a lot of activity on the blogosphere too, with people from abroad reacting sharply and caustically to the incident. Closer home, the reform lists are being prepared by the media(eg. TOI wish list) and I hope new home minister- P.Chidambram will pay heed to these.

Hope this is not an initial euphoria and we all don't just fall asleep again. Not this time.