Opinion Make them pay
My contempt for the Shiv Sena is of such a high order that I avoid writing about it. This is why I have steered clear of analysing the Shah Rukh Khan saga....
My contempt for the Shiv Sena is of such a high order that I avoid writing about it. This is why I have steered clear of analysing the Shah Rukh Khan saga. For the record I agree with him totally. He said nothing that requires him to go on his knees to the house of El Supremo and seek forgiveness. It is my sincere hope that by the time you read this he has not been forced to make some ludicrous retraction or joined the queue of scaredy cat Bollywood biggies who routinely trot off to pay obeisance. Who can blame them,though,when you consider the political biggies who do the same. This is why Rahul Gandhi cannot be praised enough for making his contempt for the Shiv Sena loud and clear. He is this columns Hero Number One for the moment.
If I have deigned to write about the Shiv Sena this week it is because I think its activities raise questions that go beyond whether the citizens of Mumbai will get to see My Name is Khan. The most important of these questions is why we do not yet have a system that enforces penalties on every citizen who breaches the peace or vandalises public property. The Chief Minister of Maharashtra has repeated ad nauseum that his government is arresting all those who try to attack cinemas. But every time he says this,another cinema is vandalised.
This is routine political activity for the Shiv Sena. They have burned hospitals,ravaged the lobbies of five-star hotels and smashed up the offices of TV channels that have shown them (correctly) in a poor light.
The question we need to ask is would these so-called political activists be doing this sort of thing if each time they set forth on their next bout of violent protest they were individually fined at least Rs 50,000 and made to pay reparations for the vandalised property?
In my humble opinion they would not. So instead of arresting them and clogging the justice system,dear Chief Minister of Maharashtra just fine them. The Indian penal code has provisions for this. If not it is time for an amendment. This is a good week to introduce a new way of dealing with violent political activity and Mumbai is a good place to begin. As soon as these political activists approach a cinema they should be lined up and made to pay Rs 50,000 each on the spot. Not at the end of some interminable court case. Those caught in an actual act of destroying public property should be fined and made to pay for the damage they have caused. Luckily for the police 24-hour news channels record every move these days making the task of identifying vandals much easier.
It is my humble opinion that most of Mumbais political activists would vanish before the titles of My Name is Khan appear on the screen. The next step has to be that political leaders who lead violent political parties must not be entitled to any security. It is absurd that taxpayers pay for those whose violent activities make our lives hell and yet this happens not just in Mumbai but in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where elected representatives are often people with long criminal records. I have had conversations with senior police officers in UP who complain bitterly about having to provide police bodyguards to murderers,rapists and thugs. If political parties cannot avoid giving criminals tickets then the least we as taxpayers should expect is that our money is not spent on wasting police manpower on saving their worthless lives.
It is more than time that Indian political parties learned civilised ways of protest. Democracy means that everyone,even lunatics,have the right to express their opinion. No matter how absurd the cause. So on Valentines Day last year there was that weird new Sena in Bangalore that was obsessed with womens clothing. Thats fine. Fashion designers are usually men. Where the problem arose was when they stormed into pubs and started dragging women by their hair because they did not like their clothes.
The reason why political leaders and activists have got away with violent protests is because they never actually pay (in cash) for their misdeeds. And,unfortunately,where 24-hour news channels have made communal riots almost impossible,they have facilitated violent protests because everyone loves to be on TV. We cannot deny them this small pleasure but in future what we need to see is activists of the Shiv Sena genre lined up and publicly fined for their violent behaviour.
It would give taxpayers their moneys worth and in my ever humble opinion it would put an end to vandalism and violent protest movements. Law abiding citizens have rights too.
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