Hey Ram!

Republic Day has come and gone, but it has left a deep sense of unease in my mind. I am referring to the incident in Mangalore. I am sure you guys must have read about it or seen the pathetic videos on news channels…. I cant figure out what exactly troubles me most about this ‘murder of humanity’ as I would like to put it. A few things I would like to point out….

What exactly were the boys and girls doing in the pub? (I am only addressing them as ‘boys and girls’ because that is how everyone else in the media is addressing them. Honestly, they looked like adults to me. Therefore, I’m sure they were legally allowed to be in that pub.). My point is that, in all the hue and cry that has been raised by those ‘Sena’ people, nobody happened to mention exactly what ‘despicable’ act were those kids doing which warranted such a reaction from them.

Previously, I referred to the ‘Sri Rama Sena’ people as ‘Sena’ people because I don’t think even Lord Rama himself would want his name to be associated with these disgusting people. I would like to ask these ‘custodians of Indian culture’, what exactly do they know about Indian culture. Have they even read Ramayan? I haven’t read it either but at least I know what ‘Lord Rama’ stood for. He was called ‘Maryada Purushottam’ for a reason, you know. I would advise the so-called ‘Sri Rama Sena’ to first read ‘Ramayan’ and learn something from it.

I think the thing that appalls me the most in this tragic episode, is the role of the media. The media was there, with cameras and all, shooting the entire episode from start to end.
Q: How was the media present at the scene even before anything happened?
A: The answer is quite obvious. Someone, most probably from the ‘Sena’ itself, had informed them when and where to come. ‘Sena’ desperately needed publicity; and the media is always desperate for a scoop. A simple matter of give and take!
Q: Why did the media not inform the police about this, before things got out of hand?
A: The police, if they even cared to come, would have stopped this from happening. The boys would not have been beaten up; the girls would not have been assaulted. The media would have lost out on a very juicy story (as sick as that sounds, it is true, isn’t it?) Besides, it would have served as an example to all the other ‘Sena’s looking out for similar cheap publicity. They wouldn’t call the media henceforth, and the channels would lose out on many more ‘juicy stories’ in the long run. Now, they don’t want their channels to suffer, do they? So, they gave the ‘Sena’ exactly what they wanted… cheap publicity.

When the leader of the ‘Sena’ was asked for his reaction, he was unapologetic. He tried to justify their actions by blaming the younger generation for being ‘too’ liberal. Frankly, I don’t even know what to say to that. If he actually believes in what he said, I feel very, very sorry for him.
I don’t know who is responsible for this insanity… but it makes me wonder, how people can be so narrow-minded and insensitive. I don’t even have words to describe my disgust!
This issue is so multi-dimensional that it is difficult to cover all of it….. especially since, I myself don’t understand most of these aspects. But I assure you, as soon as I find out, I will write about it.

Well, since these ‘custodians of culture’ are trying to set an example here, why don’t we follow their example? Maybe we should gather a sizeable crowd, barge into their offices, drag them out by their hair and beat them up… after all, according to them, this is the only way to teach a lesson, right? Then, we’ll see what they have to say when they have had a taste of their own medicine. But unfortunately, I condemn violence and would never stoop to such levels. And who am I kidding? I am just an ordinary citizen of India. No matter how strongly I feel about these issues, there is nothing I can really do about it. (Except write these blogs, of course.)

I strongly recommend that the ‘Sri Rama Sena’ (and other organizations who like to play ‘God’) be disbanded and banned forever. That is the only way to set an example. We need to show them that India will not tolerate such hooliganism anymore!