With another Bollywood film coming up for release, fanatics in India are at it again, finding something or the other to claim their sentiments have been hurt. The extremists, as is almost always the case, are being led by prominent figures of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The current thing to have ‘hurt’ the sentiments is the supposed disrespect of the saffron colour.
However, the extremists — the Hindu Taliban in India, we may well call them — use religion only when it suits them and serves their interests. The politics of religion in India is at a dangerous level whichever you look at it. One is allowed to make hate speech, spread violence against other religious communities, indulge in corruption, and commit fraud if one is wearing the saffron colour, but wearing the same colour in a movie song is objectionable.
BJP power is based on communal politics. The higher the level of hatred in society is, the more popular the BJP gets. The two entities happen to be directly pro-portional, and that is what the problem seems to be with India and Indian politics.
ANWAR SAYAB KHAN
BANNU
