Saturday, August 13, 2011

Ban, Ban, Ban - The Super Sensitive Indian

Ours is a true democracy. Actually maybe even bigger than a democracy. We, as people are really more powerful than everyone, including the government, the 'system' i.e. the corrupt system that operates in the unseen sidelines, the politicians, the mafias, the business class and so on.

And this power does not come because we have muscle, it comes from an entirely sissy trait of ours. It comes mainly because we are a touchy lot. I mean, we don't touch people (even that we used to do, but now we have progressed to bigger things), but these days we get touched quite often. We get too sensitive to everything. So much so that we are now sensitive to things we have not seen, not read, not felt. That is how super sensitive we are now. As a nation we are just waiting for anything that might cause 'hurt'.

So it came as no surprise when 'Aarakshan' was sought to be banned because our super sensitive brigade started 'hurting'. Most of them got hurt even before they saw the movie of course and decided that were better off banning it. For some reason some governments were also quick to jump on and ban the movie, some suspended it. Their reason is simple - the people might get 'hurt'. One wonders why this super sensitive side does not come out when people are really getting hurt - as in getting raped, murdered, limb broken, burned, decapitated, tortured etc. Surprisingly very few political organisations (and that includes most right wing ones who tend to get hurt at the drop of the hat) are completely insensitive to physical hurt. In fact they are the ones who perpetrate physical hurt to get over their emotional hurt. Have we ever heard these same people raise their voices when the real atrocities take place? No, it is the job of a separate lot to go and protest. The NGOs, the Human Rights people. The police will look on.

So the super sensitive brigade will ban books, paintings, sculptures, ideas - and beat producers (no, they have money, so they should not be beaten else they may not shell out some protection money to buy the balm), authors, painters, editors, journalists as they are normally soft targets. Carrying their 'hurt' by an idea, an interpretation of an idea, they now put their idea forward. No such idea shall be entertained - though we don't know what the idea is. Ban. Burn. Break. Let us physically hurt, maim, murder. Else we may get 'hurt'.

Of course the governments watch all this quietly. They cannot afford to 'hurt' anyone lest they lose their votes. So they tiptoe on the highwire. The police which is so active and brave in shooting fleeing farmers in the back, shows amazing restraint and watch as the 'hurt' citizens, physically 'hurt' those poor sods. The irony of it all!

Who are these 'hurt' people? What is 'hurting' them? How can we treat them of this extremely sensitive condition?

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