So finally the Maratha strongman too joined the long list of our netas getting slapped or booted in public. The TV footage of Sharad Pawar getting slapped seems to have created a sharp divide with the political class and intellectuals on one side and the hoi polloi on the other. The political class, quite understandably, was saying it was an attack on democracy, a Taliban act, and the intellectual class seemed to be seconding it.
The problem with politicos is that they remember about lofty ideals such as democracy, liberty, value of life only when one of their kind gets the rap. Look at the rare camaraderie shown by Parliamentarians in supporting Pawar! It was a sheer act of self preservation.
At heart they are hard core feudal-oligarchic in their dealings. Quite recently a TRS MLA had slapped an official at Andhra Bhavan, wonder why no legislative body bother to condemn it? Harvinder Singh was sent to Tihar; the MLA must be continuing with his king size life. As an aside I feel the VIP inmates in Tihar may now be spending sleepless nights with Harvinder Singh on the prowl! 2G accused A Raja, who never bothered to even apply for a bail may now have started thinking in those directions.
Cut to November 14. Rahul Gandhi while addressing a rally in the dusty hamlet of Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh, is greeted with black flags by some protesters. Congress leaders, including two Central ministers, rush to the spot and beat up the protestors. Wonder where was the consciousness about democracy? Another footage of inimitable Digvijay Singh kicking a protestor is still fresh in mind. The stunts by Lalu Yadav's brothers-in-law on Rajdhani Express may be a fading memory, but worth recalling in this context.
One can cite umpteen such examples of their sheer contempt for democracy and common public. They have no moral right to lecture the aam aadmi about showing Christ-like forbearance for the sake of democracy, while they trample it on a daily or even hourly basis.
By the way how did Pawar's own party react? By burning tyres, stoning buses and putting commuters to inconvenience in many of the towns in Maharashtra. His daughter Supriya Sule put on a martyr's air and said it was the worst time in her life. To which a guy had tweeted "If one slap is your worst time, think of farmer families!". Her father as agriculture minister had done little to arrest the calamity of farmers committing suicides out of crop failure and debt trap.
The TV channels, which had gone on the defensive after Katju affair, were firing all cylinders with the footage of a Sikh man landing a slap and later even brandishing his kirpan. Harvinder Singh may have delivered one slap, but these guys by repeating the footage for the whole day in graphic details, delivered many slaps. They almost seemed to be making up for the forced coyness they had shown during Aishwarya Rai's childbirth. Poor Rahul Dravid! Bad enough that he has to live perpetually under Sachin Tendulkar's shadow, but his 13,000-run milestone too got eclipsed by the Pawar hoopla.
The slapgate had also put the twitter scape in a tizzy. Though the likes of Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt had said it was unfortunate etc there were some really hilarious tweets from the not so famous men on the street. Sample the following:
Shajil Kumar
The problem with politicos is that they remember about lofty ideals such as democracy, liberty, value of life only when one of their kind gets the rap. Look at the rare camaraderie shown by Parliamentarians in supporting Pawar! It was a sheer act of self preservation.
At heart they are hard core feudal-oligarchic in their dealings. Quite recently a TRS MLA had slapped an official at Andhra Bhavan, wonder why no legislative body bother to condemn it? Harvinder Singh was sent to Tihar; the MLA must be continuing with his king size life. As an aside I feel the VIP inmates in Tihar may now be spending sleepless nights with Harvinder Singh on the prowl! 2G accused A Raja, who never bothered to even apply for a bail may now have started thinking in those directions.
Cut to November 14. Rahul Gandhi while addressing a rally in the dusty hamlet of Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh, is greeted with black flags by some protesters. Congress leaders, including two Central ministers, rush to the spot and beat up the protestors. Wonder where was the consciousness about democracy? Another footage of inimitable Digvijay Singh kicking a protestor is still fresh in mind. The stunts by Lalu Yadav's brothers-in-law on Rajdhani Express may be a fading memory, but worth recalling in this context.
One can cite umpteen such examples of their sheer contempt for democracy and common public. They have no moral right to lecture the aam aadmi about showing Christ-like forbearance for the sake of democracy, while they trample it on a daily or even hourly basis.
By the way how did Pawar's own party react? By burning tyres, stoning buses and putting commuters to inconvenience in many of the towns in Maharashtra. His daughter Supriya Sule put on a martyr's air and said it was the worst time in her life. To which a guy had tweeted "If one slap is your worst time, think of farmer families!". Her father as agriculture minister had done little to arrest the calamity of farmers committing suicides out of crop failure and debt trap.
The TV channels, which had gone on the defensive after Katju affair, were firing all cylinders with the footage of a Sikh man landing a slap and later even brandishing his kirpan. Harvinder Singh may have delivered one slap, but these guys by repeating the footage for the whole day in graphic details, delivered many slaps. They almost seemed to be making up for the forced coyness they had shown during Aishwarya Rai's childbirth. Poor Rahul Dravid! Bad enough that he has to live perpetually under Sachin Tendulkar's shadow, but his 13,000-run milestone too got eclipsed by the Pawar hoopla.
The slapgate had also put the twitter scape in a tizzy. Though the likes of Rajdeep Sardesai, Barkha Dutt had said it was unfortunate etc there were some really hilarious tweets from the not so famous men on the street. Sample the following:
- A toast to Harvinder Singh for slapping Sharad Pawar. Pleasure to watch, re-watch :)
- On hearing that Sharad Pawar got slapped for food inflation, the petroleum minister must have quickly ordered a full-face helmet.
- Sharad Pawar to Harvinder Singh: Why this Kolaveri da ???
- Blogger satirist greatbong says: For a second, I thought it was Harbajan Singh who, true to form, has gone and slapped Pawar for being dropped from the side.
- When Harvinder Singh met the ICC president Sharad Pawar he suddenly remembered the ICC World Cup 2011 theme song 'de ghuma ke'.
Shajil Kumar
