Absolutely Unjustified…..

Responding to How Free Freedom is? - From THE END VIEW by Addu

The Sh** Sena (no puns intended, please do not arrest me!) is a party or rather a congregation of unsettled minds who have suddenly lost the only man who had the aura that appealed. And the son, shadowed by a fairly popular nephew needed something to start making a mark finally (to his credit he runs the most popular Bus Service between Pune and Mumbai, although very very few people really know about it). This is how the father remained relevant – essentially making very drastic and controversial statements. The only agenda for his party was to encourage laziness in the name of a boundary that was loosely defined by a language. So the son does the first thing that is most relevant in his bereaved mind – get someone arrested.

Let’s see what one of the arrested women said. “Everyday 1000s of people die but still the world moves on. Just due to one political leaders death... everyone just goes bonkers. They should know we are resilient by force, not by choice. Respect is earned, not given and definitely not forced. Today Mumbai shuts down due to fear and not due to respect.” And for this she was arrested. Is it just me or do I sense a terrible insecurity in facing the truth. The raw truth! And her friend LIKED it. A police case was registered and the women were arrested the same evening. Besides my awe at the unbelievable speed of action on behalf of the Mumbai Police, I am at a lack of words to describe the level of stupidity and directionless sense of misadventure demonstrated by this action.

The fact that this was designed to fuel an agenda is further demonstrated by the Sh** Sena calling for bandh in Palghar district in protest against the suspension of two policemen for arresting the two young women. A spokesperson from the party said “….’s death has been a shock to the entire nation. Sainiks showed tremendous restraint in controlling their emotions”. Even if I consider an understanding of shock to a section of the country I do not understand the issue of “tremendous restraint in controlling their emotions.” This is a behavior I have seen once before when a South India demi-God (read actor) passed away. What would a lack of restraint have meant? Besides bringing the commercial capital of a country to a standstill, would lighting the city on fire be justified? Or just breaking and shattering a few windows? Or just a hammer on the knuckle of Freedom of Speech and Expression?

I was there and all I saw and heard were people enjoying a surprise holiday in the middle of the week. I even know a few who drove to Mumbai for respite from the humidity. If this is not something one can protest against in a public domain of expression, we are not an independent country but one that is run by the goons of public politics.

Thankfully for the women the soldiers have turned their attention now to the illegal monument they are bent to build and the tiff with the local Municipal Corporation. It’s almost as if the law of the land does not mean anything anymore.

PS: You would have noticed me using ** here and there and that is because I am scared of being arrested and beaten up without just cause.