I surprised a few friends by not becoming an SRK fan after the recent clash with the Sena. While it is true that the entire episode has not particularly made me respect SRK, I still laud him for standing up against Thackrey (though he needs to be a lot more forceful). It has also made me realize why I will never ever respect Shiv Sena and its ilk.
I will not go into why I don’t like SRK, but it is important for anyone getting into an argument with me after reading this to know that I don’t hate him either and I have not allowed either to influence my view on the topic.
Why I have not become a fan of his after his comments is simply because I do not agree with his view point. I honestly believe India should put all non-political ties with Pakistan on hold till we ease the political tension. Now, many of you may argue that this is precisely why arts and sports should carry on, I think not. I believe that cultural ties (broadly speaking) with Pakistan will not heal the wounds of the past, instead, will numb it. To draw a line from The Last Lecture, treat the disease, not the symptoms. I understand the need to nurse the symptoms and it seems logical – when the disease is finally cured, these symptoms may trigger a new disease altogether.
Sorry, I just love analogies. What my euphemism implied was that, these cultural connections will help ease the tension on a people-level (the symptoms); they wont stop terrorism or solve the border problem(the disease). So when finally the latter problems are solved, we may find that the people still hate each other and the cause is lost. While this seem logical, I feel this is insufficient. The problems are over 60 years old now and do not seem to improve. Cricket has helped argue some, but I doubt it. I honestly think sports and arts are far too insignificant when the flip side is carnage. And boycotting miscreants is not new to sports – South Africa was banned from a majority of the sports during the apartheid regime, the Moscow Olympics was boycotted during the Afghan invasion and many more such instances. Unfortunately for my argument, but positively overall, art has no boundaries and it is not practical to ban one country’s art in another, though even that has been done in the past by oppressive regimes (which I do not support). Having said that, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s contribution to ARR’s Vande Mataram did not endear us to Pakistan. We applauded Nusrat’s nice gesture and enjoyed his music, but were very clear where we stood a couple of years later during the Kargil War. So, my point is this, arts and sports and trade and cultural exchanges are amazing and I fully support them, but not when the sincerity of the target government is in question.
So am I profiling all Pakistanis unfairly and saying that the players are to be treated hostile? Hell no! I am just of the view that governments of both countries are using non-political contact in the wrong sense. They should be used to promote and maintain good relations, not be used as a cover for political incompetence. The bottom line is that these ties are not helping the big picture. And let’s face it – IPL is not a cultural endeavor by either governments, and to debaters who say peace talks need not be government initiated, let me say not for a moment do I think IPL is a any form of peace talk between the two countries. It is just a big, starry, fun-filled show out of which people make huge sums of money. I don’t think Modi or any of the team owners or the players themselves think of it otherwise. It’s no more a contact building endeavor than the Oscars.
All this could have been avoided had the Indian government been bold enough to take a stand on the whole Pak players in India. None of the politicians had the balls to say Pak players are banned or for that matter assure them and the teams that they are safe were they to come to India. The government was and still is an embarrassment in this particular aspect. Things were not helped by the slimy BCCI either. And who can blame the team owners for not taking Pak players? Imagine they pay dear money to buy a Pak player and there are visa issues or Sena tantrums and are not allowed to play. I mean, they are businesspeople and nothing more should be expected of them. But we needn’t have humiliated the Pak players by taking them in for the auction and not picking them. That is unforgivable.
Coming to the Seniacs (note my word play on maniacs). I think they are unreasonable, undemocratic, regressive people who should be banned. Although I may seem to agree in principle to what Thackrey has been shouting about, as far as this issue is concerned, I have nothing but disapproval in response to the kind of tactics he employs to convey it. What has the country come to when a Minister has to go to a thug and give a presentation for his ‘approval’ for playing in a state that he does not govern in the first place? He is not in power, he is not a cricketer, he has not invested in the League and more importantly, has done absolutely nothing for him to label an Indian unpatriotic. I respect democracy far too much for me to ever support his ways. I am not a Maharastrian, so cannot say how legitimate his ‘fight’ for the Marathi manoos is, but whatever the justification, I cannot digest autocracy. A big no to moral policing, a big no to regionalism, a big no to racial profiling and a huge-ass no to Shiv Sena and its ilk.
So what do I feel about the whole episode?
Phew! So, who do you think is gonna win the IPL this year?
I will not go into why I don’t like SRK, but it is important for anyone getting into an argument with me after reading this to know that I don’t hate him either and I have not allowed either to influence my view on the topic.
Why I have not become a fan of his after his comments is simply because I do not agree with his view point. I honestly believe India should put all non-political ties with Pakistan on hold till we ease the political tension. Now, many of you may argue that this is precisely why arts and sports should carry on, I think not. I believe that cultural ties (broadly speaking) with Pakistan will not heal the wounds of the past, instead, will numb it. To draw a line from The Last Lecture, treat the disease, not the symptoms. I understand the need to nurse the symptoms and it seems logical – when the disease is finally cured, these symptoms may trigger a new disease altogether.
Sorry, I just love analogies. What my euphemism implied was that, these cultural connections will help ease the tension on a people-level (the symptoms); they wont stop terrorism or solve the border problem(the disease). So when finally the latter problems are solved, we may find that the people still hate each other and the cause is lost. While this seem logical, I feel this is insufficient. The problems are over 60 years old now and do not seem to improve. Cricket has helped argue some, but I doubt it. I honestly think sports and arts are far too insignificant when the flip side is carnage. And boycotting miscreants is not new to sports – South Africa was banned from a majority of the sports during the apartheid regime, the Moscow Olympics was boycotted during the Afghan invasion and many more such instances. Unfortunately for my argument, but positively overall, art has no boundaries and it is not practical to ban one country’s art in another, though even that has been done in the past by oppressive regimes (which I do not support). Having said that, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s contribution to ARR’s Vande Mataram did not endear us to Pakistan. We applauded Nusrat’s nice gesture and enjoyed his music, but were very clear where we stood a couple of years later during the Kargil War. So, my point is this, arts and sports and trade and cultural exchanges are amazing and I fully support them, but not when the sincerity of the target government is in question.
So am I profiling all Pakistanis unfairly and saying that the players are to be treated hostile? Hell no! I am just of the view that governments of both countries are using non-political contact in the wrong sense. They should be used to promote and maintain good relations, not be used as a cover for political incompetence. The bottom line is that these ties are not helping the big picture. And let’s face it – IPL is not a cultural endeavor by either governments, and to debaters who say peace talks need not be government initiated, let me say not for a moment do I think IPL is a any form of peace talk between the two countries. It is just a big, starry, fun-filled show out of which people make huge sums of money. I don’t think Modi or any of the team owners or the players themselves think of it otherwise. It’s no more a contact building endeavor than the Oscars.
All this could have been avoided had the Indian government been bold enough to take a stand on the whole Pak players in India. None of the politicians had the balls to say Pak players are banned or for that matter assure them and the teams that they are safe were they to come to India. The government was and still is an embarrassment in this particular aspect. Things were not helped by the slimy BCCI either. And who can blame the team owners for not taking Pak players? Imagine they pay dear money to buy a Pak player and there are visa issues or Sena tantrums and are not allowed to play. I mean, they are businesspeople and nothing more should be expected of them. But we needn’t have humiliated the Pak players by taking them in for the auction and not picking them. That is unforgivable.
Coming to the Seniacs (note my word play on maniacs). I think they are unreasonable, undemocratic, regressive people who should be banned. Although I may seem to agree in principle to what Thackrey has been shouting about, as far as this issue is concerned, I have nothing but disapproval in response to the kind of tactics he employs to convey it. What has the country come to when a Minister has to go to a thug and give a presentation for his ‘approval’ for playing in a state that he does not govern in the first place? He is not in power, he is not a cricketer, he has not invested in the League and more importantly, has done absolutely nothing for him to label an Indian unpatriotic. I respect democracy far too much for me to ever support his ways. I am not a Maharastrian, so cannot say how legitimate his ‘fight’ for the Marathi manoos is, but whatever the justification, I cannot digest autocracy. A big no to moral policing, a big no to regionalism, a big no to racial profiling and a huge-ass no to Shiv Sena and its ilk.
So what do I feel about the whole episode?
- The Pak players should have been treated far more courteously.
- The disease needs to be treated and the symptoms will treat themselves.
- The governments have to get a pair of balls each.
- The Shiv Sena and MNS (to name a couple) have no right to tell the rest of the country (or other countries) what to do.
- The entire episode should not be confused with patriotism, or the lack of it.
Phew! So, who do you think is gonna win the IPL this year?
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