Taming the Thackerays

The likes of Balasaheb and Raj Thackeray are here to stay. There are no two ways about it. Recently Bal Thackeray took on a persona no less than Sachin Tendulkar – the most modest, uncontroversial, one of the best cricketers to have wielded the willow of all times (only next to Sir Bradman and Viv Richards maybe). Most people do not agree with the views stated by Balashaeb and his cronies. Then why do these guys keep coming up with these atrocious statements on a regular basis and how come these guys win assembly seats based on their track record of spreading hate. Not only do they get away with this, they seem to thrive on it.

Shiv Sena and MNS have done nothing for the State or its denizens. So what do they tell the people that gather to hear their speeches? Everyone talks of Garibi Hatao, Roti, Kapda, Makaan and s**t like that. No dice there. The haves are not bothered about triflings like these and the have nots are anyways busy dying of starvation. The percentages of have nots that vote on election day far out number the percentage of haves who prefer staying at home and completing their weekend chores like fixing defective plumbing and so on. Moreover the denominator in the former group is humongous compared to the later. And one thing in common among the poor is a simmering anger. They have been let down so many time by the established parties that any party which feeds their anger, their insecurity and gives them a target to vent their anger would be welcome. This involves smart thinking actually on the part of the politicians as long as one is not too much concerned about the collateral damage caused.

Now when one tries to analyze this the answer that comes to my mind is simple…. It’s the media which is responsible. A nation such as ours, with a vibrant press and a very tolerant and over burdened judiciary is actually an ideal breeding place for vermin like these. The media – perpetually hungry in the eyeball grabbing race – reports every tiny thing that that is said or done by these politicians. So the more muck they can rake, the more footage they are guaranteed. Now no one will report it if Balasaheb says that Dawood Ibrahim is a goon. But take the names of Sachin or a Bacchhan and they just lap it up knowing very well that it is nothing but garbage. This is not a new phenomena… the likes of Rakhi Sawant have perfected this into an art form.

Just imagine a scenario where all the media wallahs come together and agree that they would not report on anything Raj Thackeray says or does for a year - neither the good nor the bad and definitely not the ugly. One year of media silence would be enough to enduringly devastate the MNS. Raj Thackeray would be permanently wiped off the collective public memory, which is deceptively short lived anyways.

But would our media houses actually come together and do this? Not by a long shot. And hence be prepared to hear of increasing atrocities by these politicians and their cronies. In a country where the murderers of a Prime Minister took more than a decade to be hung, where terrorists caught on live video footage blowing up people and buildings are made to go through trials till they will probably die of old age or boredom, where the Liberhan Committee report on the Babri demolition took 17 years and nine crore rupees (and counting) just to be tabled… the Thackerays are small fry.