What's the difference between Kasab and Mutalik?
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Rabble-Rouser: Who decides what's moral and what's not? Mutalik making a vitriolic speech fileu00a0 pic |
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Seems to be nothing at all. Except Kasab is a little more photogenic.
One fights for the Islamic Jihad, the other fights for the Hindutva path. One shoots people in a hotel, the other beats up innocent women at a pub. One gets put into prison for life, the other, pulls strings and gets let off.
So really what is the difference between these two guys?u00a0 One is a terrorist who crosses the border. The other just crosses the road, to create havoc with his own countrymen.
At least Kasab has been rendered ineffectual. Mutalik, on the other hand, is on the prowl for more fodder and media coverage. And with tacit encouragement from those in power, what is he going to do next? Beat up some guys because they wear jeans? Walk into a restaurant andu00a0 gherao the patrons there because they choose to spend their hard-earned money on pizzas instead of raagi mudde?
Who decides what's moral and what's not? When someone isn't stepping on someone else's toes, how dare a non-entity Mutalik or Putalik walk in anywhere and decide he needs to decide my life for me.
This diatribe against Mutalik sounds like impotent rage right now. And it is. With the government clearly on the side of the Hindutva hardliners, there's nothing an ordinary guy, who doesn't mind sitting with a pretty girl to enjoy a draught, can do.
Except sit at home and hope that they don't barge in there too. Like the cops did last weekend at a friend's place. It was a quiet evening, not a rocking party at all. But hey, those men in khaki were there, asking us what we were doing beyond twelve thirty on a Saturday.
So is there no freedom left in this city? You can't dance. You can't party. You can't even sit at a pub in the afternoon, for God's sake. Or you could go home with a disfigured face.
And there's nothing, absolutely nothing anyone can do. Which is the tragedy of the shocking situation. You either turn a blind eye to it all, until it happens to you - or you simply adjust maadi.
Today there's nothing to differentiate Bangalore from the heartland of the cow belt.
We used to call it Garden City. Until they cut down the trees. Then they called it Silicon City. Until the meltdown happened. Now Pub City seems to be a misnomer too.
Rumour has it that votes are out for the new pseudonym. Until the government bans that too.
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