Playing with fire

Is there any end to obscenity in the political arena? For how long has Indian democracy to suffer Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and its thuggish chief, Raj Thackeray?
The egregious act of four MNS legislators assaulting Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi inside the Maharashtra Assembly will go down in history as a black day in the history of modern India.
A good thing is that all parties have condemned the disgraceful act in categorical terms. The Congress reaction, however, reeked of hypocrisy and duplicity. Chief Minister Ashok Chavan called the MNS legislators’ action as goondagardi. Senior Congress leader Satyavrat Chaturvedi said, “Any such activity should be strongly criticised.” Yes, that is right but the question is: why has Raj Thackeray’s goondagardi been tolerated for so long? He has been bullying the people from UP and Bihar living in Mumbai; his goons have indulged in violence against Hindi-speaking people; the MNS has been openly intimidating film stars. All this has been done not by whisper campaigns or in a surreptitious manner; Raj and other MNS leaders have openly threatened to implement their agenda. Yet, little has been done against them. Raj gets arrested—and in no time he is bailed out, much to the delight of his supporters. He receives a hero’s welcome.
Even before the oath-taking incident, Raj had threatened, “If any MLA does not take oath in Marathi, the House will see what happens.”
One need not be a political analyst to find the reason for the appeasement of Raj: he has gnawed into the Shiv Sena’s vote base, and this is a (if not the) most important reason that the Congress-led coalition is back in office after the state elections despite five years of pathetic governance. Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar has a point when he says that “the Congress and NCP owe an explanation because their tacit support has built up MNS to what it is today. They have created a monster just for political purpose—to divide Opposition votes.” Fortunately, there are some signs of hope. There are some good and gallant people in politics, the people who neither scream about their love for the mother tongue nor advertise their gallantry. Congress legislator Amin Patel from Mumbadevi is one of them; he took his MLA oath in Hindi. The simple, dignified move was a big slap across the face of Raj Thackeray. “I had come prepared to take the oath in Marathi, but after what happened earlier in the Assembly I have decided to take the oath in Hindi,” he said. Congress MLA Ramesh Singh Thakur (Kandivali East) also took his oath in Hindi.
The grand old party should laud and follow the leaders like Patel and Thakur, and not the cynical party managers who try to extract political mileage out of MNS hooliganism. The Congress has been successful in the short run; it should be content with its short-term success; it should not try to perpetuate the electoral cynicism. It is time to dump Raj Thackeray and send him where he belongs to—behind the bars. Lest the short-term success becomes long-term pain.