Exemplary strictures

To expect introspection from a man who has long gloried in his image as a regional and religious chauvinist is to expect the impossible, but Thackeray must realise that even he is not above the law. Fortoo long has he got away with public stances that no democratic polity can condone. Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde, reacting to the EC ban, decried this attempt to undermine Thackeray’s right of expression, as he put it.

Someone should tell Munde that freedom of expression is abused every time it serves to persecute another’s right to live with dignity. The struggle to bring Thackeray to book was a long and tortuous one. The story goes back to the election campaign for the Vile Parle assembly elections in late 1987.

The Shiv Sena had mounted a particularly noxious and communal campaign and went on to win that seat. It was a petition against the victorious Shiv Sena candidate and his mentor for their communal speeches and for exploiting religious sentiments for electoral gain that finally ended in Thackeray’s present reversal.

There is however no denying that the process of administering justice took an unconscionably long time — 11 years in fact — to reach its logical conclusion, with the stategovernment having deliberately delayed referring the case to the Rashtrapati Bhavan as it was bound to do. Many believe that had Thackeray and his party been reined in earlier, the Bombay riots may never have assumed the dangerous proportions it did.

Meanwhile the man in the spotlight, characteristically enough, attempts to wear a brave face on the strictures clamped on him and even claims that the decision would have no impact on the elections and will, on the contrary, cause people to turn out in large numbers and vote with a vengeance to ensure that the BJP-Shiv Sena wins. Thackeray is, of course, entitled to his fantasies but there is no denying the fact that nemesis has finally caught up with him.

What is even more important is that his present discomfiture serves as a clear warning to politicians everywhere who may be tempted to adopt his tactics of trying to reap rich electoral harvests by sowing the seeds of communal discord. A timely lesson indeed, considering that elections are just a littleover a month away.