There was a time when I used to write about things that have a hue of politics and religion – solely to call out people’s double standards and blatant hypocrisy when it comes to having different behaviours in response to the same acts based on who it came from, someone who aligns with their political/religious (at the end of the day, they have become synonymous) views and agendas or someone from the other end of the spectrum. Being in the centre of this spectrum, viewing things case by case, based on their merits, and criticizing or praising something irrespective of political/religious affiliations is a concept alien to such hypocrites – from both ends of the spectrum, to be honest. And being in that alien zone, people were always confused as to where exactly to place me, what label to give me, and being conveniently selective in picking out my views or articles to go with the labels they wanted to give me. Funnily enough, those labels clashed a lot of times. Probably because I got tired of the whole thing, I stopped writing about the same hypocrisy over and over again and started discussing them only in my close circle.
But when I saw the thumbnail from The Print for madame Shobha De’s “intelligent” critique of nationalism based on an acceptance speech Arjun Rampal had made at a recent awards function, I had to break the promise I made to myself and write about it. That was prompted when I saw Ms. De’s trigger for writing her column – Bharat Mata Ki Jai!
If Rampal had said, Jai Shri Ram, and she got triggered by it to write one of her preachy columns about the scary growth of right-wing ideologies, I would have laughed, of course. Because any time Shah Rukh Khan says “Inshallah” in the multitude of functions he attends, never for once have I got triggered by the religious element. I’m sure there are hardcore right-wingers who do get triggered by it. But for Ms. De, it has never been a problem. It is simply freedom of speech and one of SRK’s endearing ways of replying to questions posed to him, which is how I see it too. The problem is that while “Inshallah” is branded a peaceful reply, “Jai Shri Ram” is immediately branded a war cry by the likes of Ms. De. So yeah, if Rampal had said that and triggered Ms. De into writing this funny column, I would laugh, but not choose to write yet another post about hypocrisy and double standards, because at the end of the day, it boils down to a religious hypocrisy.
However, here, the problem is deeper. He said, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai!” And she wrote a two-page column about the dangers associated with this “high-minded cry,” for which “a few in the startled audience clapped uncertainly.” And this very “high-minded cry” later made her wonder “…how Bollywood’s Hindutva agenda has sneaked up on us, when nobody was looking. Did we have blinkers on all the while? Or are those (like me) who choose to remain on the fringes of the most powerful soft power on earth—Indian cinema—being too naive?” THIS – this association of a nationalist slogan, one that hails Mother India, with something totally religious and political – this is where the danger lies.
I hear people complain about how right-wingers use nationalism and patriotism (in their words, jingoism) as political and religious tools – which a lot of them do, I won’t disagree with it. But why do you think they started using an innate feeling of loyalty to the motherland as a political tool? Because the ones on the other side of the spectrum talked about this very same loyalty as a weakness, something to be laughed at, something to be afraid of, something that is dangerous to “freedom” and “democracy.” For her, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai!” is enough to startle people and make them uncertain how to react. This trend is what came to be called “antinational” mentality. And when basic nationalism and patriotism is mocked as jingoism, how can you blame anyone who call these people “antinational?”
According to Ms. De, Rampal’s “Bharat Mata Ki Jai!” is a warning of how pro-Hindutva sects have taken over Bollywood, for long, the land of the free. And her worry is that the three reigning kings of Bollywood, the Khans, will gradually be phased out with “made-up” excuses like “They’re old,” or “Their movies are not pulling people to the theatres.” That they are old is not a made-up excuse, no matter how much they try to play the part of 20- or 30-year-olds. And while their movies are still pulling people to the theatres based on the Khan brand alone, it’s an open secret that their movies are bad. These have nothing to do with nationalism or communalism. Despite these reasons, the Khans still pretty much rule Bollywood and anything associated with it. No matter how good the new generation of actors are or how good their performances and movies are, the reins are still with the Khans and those close to them. This is a truth that Ms. De is conveniently blind to.
Which is why she has to put in the word “gradually” when alluding to their demotion that might happen someday. She turns a blind eye to all the valid reasons, including their age, for that, and instead, tries to pin it all on, in her words, “the likes of Aditya Dhar,” and pro-Hindutva filmmakers, who are now apparently holding Bollywood in chains based on the “political briefs dictated by Delhi.” That is how she chooses to talk about a director who has given quality movies one after the other, only because his movies have had themes of nationalism and fight against terrorism. If it was yet another “softy ISI agents against rogue RAW agents” movie, she would have hailed the attempt at restoring peace with a beautiful neighbour. But show things as they are on the ground and end a speech with “Bharat Mata Ki Jai!” and all hell breaks loose for this woman.
In the first place, she openly talks about how she is sad about “Demonising Pakistan and Pakistanis and declaring Pakistan the number one terrorist state in the world,” when the truth is that the very movie she is ranting against is solely about the never-ending struggle and fight our country is enduring against cross-border terrorism bred by her beautiful neighbour’s government and military forces combined. But no, twist that into “Islamophobia” and lo and behold! She becomes the messiah of peace and the ones who raise the slogan “Bharat Mata Ki Jai!” become the enemies.
On a related note, this convenient use of communalism is nothing new, what with someone like AR Rahman using it as the reason for his dwindling impact in Bollywood. Here is an Oscar-winning music director who people still hail for the wonderful songs he gave us years ago, whose impact came down only after decades of undisputed, strong run – something pretty normal in a career of this length. And there is no sugarcoating the fact that the quality of his music has drastically come down in the last decade, with his last real good outing being Rockstar probably.
I still have Fanaa from Yuva as my ringtone, but ask me which of his latest songs I like, I might not be able to name any. That has not to do with his religion, but only with his music, which is somehow failing to strike a chord with the masses. But instead of introspecting where he might be going wrong, his go-to for this was communalism and even speaking of a movie like Chhava he did music for as divisive, when poked by a despicable interviewer from BBC. In an industry still very much ruled by the Khans despite their below-average movies, if someone who is so “privileged” (to use the favourite word of a section of people) had to use “communalism” as a pathetic victim card ploy, what reason would people genuinely struggling give if their religion does not match this agenda?
The bottom line is this – you can keep calling nationalism and patriotism as jingoism, you can call “Bharat Mata Ki Jai!” a war cry, you can hide dwindling quality and consequent dwindling opportunities behind the curtain of communalism. But as long as you play that dirty game, you have no right to complain about how the very nationalism and loyalty for our motherland that you chose to discard to please the handlers who fill your pockets are being upheld by others. If that nationalism is now a tool for politics, that is your own doing. And just so you know, anyone who says “Bharat Mata Ki Jai!” is not pro–right wing. They are pro-India! Something you never will be!
Also published on Medium.
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