Sri Ram Sene

In 21st century when we Indians are celebrating our 60th Republic day, we get to hear the horrific incident in Mangalore by the self-appointed cultural cops calling themselves Sri Ram Sene. The chaos unleashed by the so-called samaaj ke rakhwaale has outraged in the coastal city acting as catalyst in some other parts of the nation. The lethargic response of the police in this matter is the best example of our incompetence and rise of Jungle Raj. Sometime back in one of my posts, I mentioned how we Indians take extreme pride in our culture and go beyond our ways to protect it and pass on to the next generations; but I didn’t thought my article will jagaao all the wrong kinds of people. LOL Jokes apart, violent attacks by hoodlums inspired by extreme ideologies — be it regional chauvinism, religious prejudice or a twisted sense of our Indian tradition and ethos — are becoming an alarmingly frequent feature of our times. The incident sometime back in Mangalore, in which women were physically assaulted by a bunch of goons bearing allegiance to the Sri Ram Sene — simply because they chose to visit a pub is further evidence of this phenomenon. Like those associated with other extremist right-wing groups, members of the Sri Ram Sene are self-appointed custodians of ‘Bharatiya Sanskriti’. Is beating up women also part of this culture? Our culture and traditions have never been static. Through the centuries, they have been shaped and reshaped by historic events and interactions with other cultures. Today, there could be more than a billion ways of being Indian in the Indian Silicon Valley. It’s worrying that small groups of people can hold the public to ransom and assault our collective liberties with such perceptible ease. Aren’t we part of a democratic country where we have the freedom to our actions? Today some group thinks pubs are not a part of culture, agreed. What if other group feels that we should stop talking in foreign languages (English included) and stick only to our local languages? What if some other group starts harassing people saying that t-shirts and jeans are not part of our culture and we should only wear dhoti/lungi and kurta? On that note I remember reading in the paper where 2 girls were beaten up for wearing jeans in Bangalore. Where do you draw a line to such ideologies? Such groups act like an anchor stopping the nations progress. The most troubling fact is that our state home minister has not helped in this matter at all. He told that the pub owners must “augment security to prevent this kind of incident in future”. What is the minister suggesting? That we privatize the enforcement of law and order? Isn’t it the government’s job to ensure public security? What are we paying the taxes for? Be it against Raj Thackeray in Mumbai or similar troublemakers elsewhere, administrations move too slowly and feebly, undermining citizens’ faith in their ability to secure law and order. Couple of dozen men involved in the pub attacks have been taken into custody but immediately released without any action. The state government’s condemnations of the incident and stated resolves to suitably punish the guilty have evaporated long back. People say times have changed. What are we referring to when we say that? Is it India winning gold medal at the Olympics? A black becoming President of USA? India bagging an Oscar? Or is it John kissing Abhishek? Is this what we call change? Is it what we are referring to progress? Nothing has changed for the common man. Common man still struggles to meet his basic needs. Its time that we rise to the calls of time and use the grey matter, for country’s progress and self in real terms.