BAL THACKERAY
Rumours are rife that this man is no more and that the news is being suppressed to allow troops to be deployed for keeping peace in case his militant followers go berserk. Analogy is being given of similar delay alleged in the case of Rajesh Khanna.
Be that as it may, and tomorrow, if not today, but this is one of the few obituaries I hate to write.
Thackeray has caused India umpteen embarrassments, the latest being opposition to Indo-Pak cricket match. He insulted iconic figures of our times such as Sachin Tendulkar, Lata Mangeshkar and Amitabh Bacchan. No film of Bollywood could see the light of the day unless his own censors cleared it first.
He brought about the massacre of Muslims which unfortunately led to the equally reprehensible Bombay blasts by Dawood company.
He harassed the Gujaratis [even did not allow a monument to the memory of India’s former Prime Minister, Morarji Desai], Tamilians and lately the Northerners.
His politics has always been about lawlessness, muscle power and plain old dadagiri. It is a telling irony of our infirm body-politik that the man had to be kept in good humour by the powers that be.
For many sensible and coniscientious Indians he has never been too different from men like Dawood, except that he enjoyed larger support. His writings in his party’s mouthpiece SAMNA are easily classified incendiary and inflammatory but no one, not even judiciary, dared to take on him.
Men like him and Modi will be remembered for the harm they did to humanity. Little can their followers cite by way of their constructive contribution to humanity.
Let’s hope that if he is gone his scions can be checked and reined in by a strong-willed government and let’s hope, too, that no one is now allowed to grow this tall in bullying. The government will do well to pay attention to small time Muslims satraps in various districts, as well. These goons do not let saner leadership emerge in their shadow. And what comes out is equally negative reaction..resulting into a vicious circle of negativism and violence.
