In support of SRK but not Pak

There is chaos in the newspapers. Actually, there always was, but the fresh crisis has everyone wondering the fate of an upcoming movie. Now, no prizes for guessing that I am referring to My Name is Khan (MNIK – this abbreviation, unlike HAHK, DDLJ, and K3G is difficult to say but much easier to write).

Shah Rukh Khan (SRK – this abbreviation though is easier both on the lips as well as the fingertips) commented on something not at all related to the movie (for the uninformed, SRK questioned the sense of including Pakistani players in IPL auction recently when no one was inclined on bidding for them); and the useless, non-sensical and opportunistic Shiv Sena grabbed the opportunity to draw an excuse to vandalize public property and cinema halls. How fair is this? If this is called Democracy, I am sorry to say but we could do with some discipline instead of free-for-all in our system of Democracy.

Then again, media ignited the fire by giving it much more footage than it deserved. But, this was nothing new either, was it?

One more debate that was going on was why SRK is alone in this fight and why no one from Bollywood or any other field comes out in support for him? After all, he did nothing wrong by voicing his opinion on an issue. If Shiv Sena can vandalize property, traumatize people and act as violently as possible, all in the name of “Freedom of expression”, any normal person can and shall be able to speak his/her mind out per his/her fundamental right of “Freedom of expression”. I feel that one need not confirm to SRK’s views in order to support him in his stand not to apologize for what he said. This act of disrupting the screening of MNIK by a bunch of hooligans should be condemned and stopped.

I have not yet mentioned that MNIK should be saved from the hands of these mindless vandalists because it caters to a social issue, or because it seems to be an intelligent film etc. etc. Yes, it does seem to be an intelligent, well-meaning film and whether it actually is so or not, we will soon see (the non-Mumbaiites, at least). But, for me, that also seems irrelevant. Even if it was some pathetic C-grade film, money has gone into making it and it deserves a fair chance to recover it. More importantly, all films too are an expression of a person’s sensibilities, thoughts and viewpoints and deserve a freedom like all other expressions. The constitution did not restrict this right to a set list of mediums, did it? The answer is a clear NO.

As for my view on what SRK actually commented on, I feel it’s hard for me to come out in support of Pak whatsoever. Although, I must mention that coming out in support of Pakistani players does not make SRK any bit less patriotic than me, but I simply cannot bring myself up to it. My mind does reason that the players should not have been insulted like this, but my heart says that the players should not have been invited in the first place and that they shouldn’t even have been included in the IPL at all or in any matter whatsoever. Our sports teams and industry are embracing Pakistani players with open arms. Is there a dearth of talent in India? Or are we Indians trying to prove a point by favouring Pakistani’s over Indians? Are we trying to prove that we are moving towards peace with Pakistan? What with campaigns like “Aman ki Asha” and all?

No, I do not support them. The day “Aman ki Asha” was announced, there were huge bombardments on the LoC and our soldiers died. Then, how can someone expect us to support this cause, when they cannot induce that kind of a trust in us? Last time when we were focusing on introducing a “Samjhauta Express”, their men were busy climbing on Kargil peaks loaded with ammunition behind our backs. Kargil war had the largest no. of casualties India has ever seen in any war. How can we support it? Would that not insult the martyrdom of our soldiers who are fighting for our blissful night’s sleep and security? I feel, instead of trying to prove that we are moving towards peace with Pakistan, we should rather focus on maintaining as much distance and indifference as possible – no war, no friendship; just status quo. That should be the best approach for the good and individual peace in both the countries.