Virus in the system

It8217;s not the first time that so-called Rajkumar fans have been at the heart of violence in the state. In 1991, when anti-Tamil riots broke out over the sharing of the waters of the river Cauvery, it was the militantly pro-Kannada Rajkumar fans who were involved in pitched battles.

In 2000, when Rajkumar was kidnapped by forest brigand Veerappan, it was again the film star8217;s fans who brought Bangalore to a grinding halt on more than one occasion during the 108-day hostage crisis.

The violence following the actor8217;s death has now left eight people dead 8212;seven fans and a trainee policeman 8212; in clashes around the funeral procession of the actor.

Over 60,000 fans ran the IT capital of the country for over 24 hours. The fans largely comprised less educated youth from the old Bangalore city area, a mix of migrant workers from across Karnataka, rickshaw, taxi and bus drivers, students, unemployed and rowdies. And they revealed a face of Bangalore City that mostly remains camouflaged by its new age reputation.

The city8217;s New Leaders have been swift to condemn the violence. 8216;8216;I personally felt that the way things happened was not the way to pay tribute to a man like Rajkumar. I wish the fans had realized it and not caused the havoc they did,8217;8217; says Infosys chief mentor N R Narayana Murthy, himself a fan of Rajkumar8217;s films.

As the New Bangalore 8212; hi-tech, cosmopolitan, upwardly mobile, global 8212;has evolved out of the shell of its pre-globalisation avatar, Rajkumar and Kannada cinema have provided the vast majority of the local population the moorings and constant reminder of the local culture. The new emerging culture has frequently been viewed as one that will swallow the old Bangalore.

Well, that impression has been effectively dispelled.

Many people now blame Rajkumar and his family themselves for not doing anything overtly to curb the inherent violent streak shown by the legion of fans over the years. 8216;8216;It was used to their advantage whenever required. It was never discouraged,8217;8217; said a senior police officer.

While Rajkumar himself was never a star associated with violent films, his jingoistic stance on Kannada issues evoked strong emotions in his fans. Even as recently as 2005, the film star had made a call for more employment opportunities for locals in Bangalore8217;s IT companies.

The fans saw Rajkumar as the protector of their language and culture 8212; the face of Kannada. They roamed the streets of Bangalore following his death to forcibly shut down shops and business establishments because they believed the new Bangalore did not understand the importance of Rajkumar.

Incidentally, over the years political parties have tried to lobby the support of this untapped, unstructured, loose fan base with little success. Former prime minister H D Deve Gowda8217;s battle with Infosys was an example of this.

Even now a political blame game for the failure to prevent the violence on April 11 and 12 has begun between the ruling JDS-BJP and the Congress. Chief Minister Kumaraswamy has indicated that the violence was not perpetrated by Rajkumar8217;s fans but by a political hand. The Congress has blamed Kumaraswamy for being unprepared to handle the fans.

johnson.taexpressindia.com