Climate of opinion needs to change

We are fond of calling out country as the oldest living civilization. But what kind of civilization is this that tolerates violence in the name of supposedly hallowed regional pride? What kind of democracy is India if the country’s biggest cinema icon, Amitabh Bachchan, is humiliated by the thuggish Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and a great cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, is snubbed by the equally thuggish Shiv Sena?
And what kind of climate of opinion we are condemned to suffer? It could not get more polluted. It is indeed a testimony of the rottenness of public debate that the indubitable criminality of Raj Thackeray and his MNS has been bestowed a semblance of respectability. A few things are manifestly true. The MNS legislators assaulted Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi inside the Maharashtra Assembly because he insisted on taking oath in Hindi. They were ordered or instigated to do so by Raj. The MNS chief had said before the oath-taking ceremony, “If any MLA does not take oath in Marathi, the House will see what happens.”
The offenders have not denied the assault; at any rate, there is television footage which has recorded the outrage. Yet, nothing substantial has been done to punish the wrong-doers; they have been barred from the Assembly for four years, but this is not commensurate with the offence, which is much graver. Further, an unnecessary language debate has begun, engendering meaningless questions and issues. Is it wrong to take oath in the nation language, Hindi? Should a legislator speak only the language of his state? Did Azmi intend to demean Marathi? The chatter is endless; and this endlessness ends up fading the felony: that is, physical violence against a legislator on the floor of the House.
Worse, politicians of other parties have jumped in the fray—not to establish the rule of law but to make political capital. Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray had the brazenness to castigate cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar for the latter’s comment: “Mumbai belongs to India. That is how I look at it. And I am a Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that but I am an Indian first.” Bal Thackeray wrote in the Sena mouthpiece Saamna, “There was no need for him to take a cheeky single by making such remarks.” Well, Mr Thackeray, Tendulkar does not need any cheeky singles; he has done pretty well both on the ground and off it to score a brownie point. He did not make any political statement; he stated a geographical truth and a historical fact. It is another matter that you are so upset with the declining fortunes of your party that you cannot accept truths and facts.
Then there is the Congress which is trying to score a few brownie points. Congress leader Rajiv Shukla, in his capacity as a member of the Board for Control of Cricket in India, said that the Shiv Sena chief was talking like Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Meanwhile, his party has ensured that no action is taken against the outrage in the Maharashtra Assembly. He has also given fodder for another meaningless debate: are Bal Thackeray and Jinnah similar?
There is an urgent need to change the climate of opinion; the way public discourse is currently carried out is an affront to reason and decency.