What is wrong with series - India

INTOLERANCE. Not to say that this is the most important one but is certainly the most ignored one and in my belief one to look at if we want to make the leap from a good nation to a great nation.

There was a little noticed event recently that made me stop and think – how much progress have we made as a nation if someone like MF Husain cannot even die and be buried in the land of his ancestors. I am not qualified to comment on his artistic capabilities as unlike the written word, I do not have much knowledge about things on a canvas.  But to come to think of it that a person of his stature and individuality had to go on a self imposed exile at an advanced age, relinquish Indian citizenship and die in a foreign country, shakes me to the core. It tugs at the little piece of Indian-ness that I want to carry inside me always as a proof of belonging to and being part of an ancient, tolerant and plural culture.

Isn’t India the country that always touts to have been able to absorb everything that has come in or has been thrown at her? As a country we have survived so many ups and downs for the last 10000 years. I am not sure how one man – no matter how imposing he looked with his tall frame and flowing white hair – can be deemed a threat to all of it, unless it is done to wrangle some extra votes from the masses or to hide people’s own inadequacies. We have cities like Banaras, and I have been fortunate to spend 4 years there, said to have a continuous history of 5000+ years, a city where Gods dwelled at one time and even with all the issues and problems there, you could still feel the energy, the ancientness, the cultural milieu every where you go. And this is a city that has been plundered and fought upon and rebuilt over the ages. We have temples like at Somnath – again destroyed and rebuilt over 20 times and 1500 years. Not sure how a few paintings can destroy or put to risk something so resilient. How many of our temples have similar paintings and sculptures to the ones that got MF Husain in trouble and even though Mr. Husain seemed to be 400-500 years old with his looks, I doubt he was around to build and paint all of it. I don’t hear anyone renouncing those temples or filing a petition to build drapes around these temples to ensure they don’t corrupt or insult our culture. Are the divine so weak that they need protection and support from us mortals like they are politicians looking for vote and financing. And the worst part is that some of our courts deemed fit to issue non-bailable warrants to this guy – who was an embodiment of the art and culture and tolerance of India.

Who is to blame for this – the zealots who have more brawn than brains or the politicians or us who elect them and perpetuate them? I was reading recently about the slain governor of Pakistan, Salman Taseer and his 22 year old very pretty reporter daughter. Most of us will remember the reception his murderer received but what is more noteworthy is the fact that all the people and parties who came out in support of the murderer never win any elections in Pakistan. Discounting some of the corrupt practices that may be prevalent in elections and garnering and falsifying votes, it still goes to show that the support they receive is from a very small minority but that is all we hear about the incident and the country. Though some of us may bristle at the thought of this comparison but my simple question is – how is that any different than what happened to MF Husain? Though there may not have been processions celebrating his demise, but the incidents have the same outline. And to add insult to injury our government offered to bring his body to India for a burial – the same folks who wouldn’t defend him, protect him, offer to bring him back while he was alive, give him protection from frivolous lawsuits, had the audacity to put forth that offer. I was so glad to hear that his family politely and strongly refused and made sure that this will be etched on the country of India as a whole as a matter of shame forever – similar to our capitulation to the Kandahar hijackers or government’s betrayal of the armed forces in the war of 1962.

I don’t know if you have watched the movie 15 Minutes starring De Niro and Edward Burns – movie itself was average but it touched upon this weighty subject of everyone’s desire to have their 15 minutes of fame. I think a lot of what is afflicting India today is this mindset. Couple of years I was surprised to read of protests in Patna and Ranchi and some other cities in India against the supposed ill treatment meted out to “Bharat ki Beti” Shilpa Shetty on the Big Boss show in UK. Now I have no interest in these reality shows but this really piqued my interest. I couldn’t think of a reason as to what can possibly connect the protesters in Patna and Ranchi and Indore and Madurai to Ms. Shetty, who was probably following a script anyway and got a million dollars and a multi millionaire out of all the drama. But that incident goes to show how far our brethren are willing to go to get the needed attention. Attaching a party or organization for or against someone so visible as MF Husain or Dilip Kumar or Amitabh Bachan or Aamir Khan among others is a sure fire way to stardom. And this is not just restricted to them but the judicial system, and the posse of useless intellectuals who call themselves journalists in India. Why cannot cases as frivolous as the ones against MF Husain or the movie Delhi Belly be just dismissed and the petitioner fined for wasting court’s and everyone’s time and banned from filing another petition for 2 years. That will solve a lot of issues and give the courts time to focus on real issues. But no, when petitions like these give the courts, the judges, the petitioners, the lawyers and the journalists their 15 minutes and who are we to break this juggernaut.

I didn’t really understand his paintings as I stated earlier and didn’t watch any of his movies either, though I believe they were mediocre at best but I am ashamed that we couldn’t celebrate him, critique him, argue with him, dislike him, laugh at him, mock him and praise him as an Indian, in India till his death and then let him be buried where he belonged. As I write this with a heavy heart I truly believe that more than anything else Intolerance is what worries me about India and her growth or maybe the very survival.