Fascist Legacy

Two girls were arrested yesterday for posting a message on their Facebook wall. The message is:

“With all respect, every day, thousands of people die, but still the world moves on, Just due to one politician died a natural death, everyone just goes bonkers. They should know, we are resilient by force, not by choice. When was the last time, did anyone showed some respect or even a two-minute silence for Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Azad, Sukhdev or any of the people because of whom we are free-living Indians? Respect is earned, given, and definitely not forced. Today, Mumbai shuts down due to fear, not due to respect.”

It is said that, 21-year old Shaheen Banu posted it on her wall copying it from somewhere else. Her friend, Renu Srinivasan ‘liked’ it. Mumbai cops arrested both of them and sent to jail.

Girls’ crime? – Hurting religious sentiments under section 295 of the Indian Penal Code and sending false information under section 66A of Information Technology Act. Later cops changes charges and booked these girls under section 505(2) of IPC which pertains to statements which create or promote enmity, hatred or ill-will between classes.

If one reads the message that was posted on Facebook and observes carefully the names of ‘GIRLS’; one can draw correlation between the two. They were arrested because they belonged to a religion and  a region – hating whom Balasaheb Thackeray built his politics. One girl is Muslim, another is from South India. And they are GIRLS.

Police, whose brains are in the hand of brainless politicians, act impulsively on the command of their masters. Politicians lack common sense, hence, police lack them too.

The man who styled himself after Hitler is dead. His legacy is not. Ironical though, a day after his death, his style of politics was on display through the arrest of two innocent girls who did not belong to the classic definition of ‘marathi manoos‘ , and through ransacking of an hospital run by a girl’s uncle.  Violence and hatred are  the hallmarks of Thackeray’s party.

Neither the CM, nor PM, or for that matter any Bollywood celebrities, or liberal politicians raised their voices against this arbitrary arrest of two innocent girls – fear is in their heads too.

One exception is Justice Markandeya Katju – on the very day of funeral he boldly wrote an article despising Balasaheb Thackeray’s style of politics. Today he has again criticized harshly the Maharashtra government for its mindless action.

A government run by the Congress party arrests two girls because they hurt a dead man belonging to a far-rightist party! What more can I say?

Shiv Sena thrives on fear. May be the intention was good as far as securing rights of Marathi people of their livelihood, but the means adopted to secure this was through breeding hatred and propagating violence. Which is a short term solution and a dangerous one in the long-term.

Justice Katju has asked Maharashtra government to arrest police personnel who arrested these two girls. Along with this, around 2000 ‘Sainiks‘ who vandalized hospital belonging to a kin of one of the arrested girls must also be booked.

Isn’t it hypocritical that girls who innocently pasted some message are arrested so quickly, but goons who indulged in violence are still scot-free?

This is the legacy Balasaheb has left behind for us.