The real Inglorious bastards...

fas⋅cism [fash-iz-uhm]

noun - a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

It's like a bad day at school for the little kid. Being pushed around, bullied, having your lunch box stolen, slapped around... all by a big bully who threatens to hand your teeth over to you in a paper bag if you snitch on him. The only difference is usually that all this occurs behind the eyes of the authoritative teachers of the class.

We're in that school today. And boy, have things changed. Today, the bully beats you up in front of the class teacher, then turns around and hands the principal the one-fingered salute. And the principal simply coughs into his handkerchief and turns around, pretending he didn't see anything. And the little scrawny kid gets beaten up day after day.

What am I talking about ? What else gets my goose feathers so ruffled ? Of course, it's our nation's bully - the Sena Boys. Every week, there's some idiocy going on and we just sit and watch and crib while the authorities who have the power to do something productive just look up and count the pretty birdies flying over their head, turning a blind eye to the mayhem.

The latest incident involves stopping the shows of MY NAME IS KHAN, the Shah Rukh Khan starrer, which (ha ha) is based on segregation in the USA after 9/11. That's ironical, considering he really didn't have to go all those miles to shoot this film when segregation lies right here in the tiger's den. All because he felt people should not have mixed sports with politics, he's been labelled a Pakistani, a traitor, a terrorist and what not by an old senile man. And guess what ? That old senile man's word is enough to make even SRK's own fans amongst the Sena turn rabid. Now that's power. But of course, in this case, with great power, comes great cunning too. The latest ploy, of claiming to back down from their stand, ensuring police protection would be minimal in the theatres, and then attacking those theatres is a step down even from their usual foul tactics. Promising peace and delivering pain. Giving hope of normalcy and then taking it away. Why we need to be so dependant on their promise of peace is another question altogether.

It's really schoolboy pettiness. Being mean to those you don't like. And yet, it's a deadly game because these kids play with knifes and forks ( trishuls are big forks, right ? ) and they don't care who dies because they know they're not accountable. A random statement made by a superstar shooting in USA could result in the death of an autodriver parked outside a theatre with 5 mouths to feed... welcome to India , folks. Land of countless possibilities. Where blood is cheaper than water. Add to this, Valentine's Day, the Sena's favourite day of hate, is around the corner and you know it's gonna be a rough weekend in India. A day of celebrating love universally is suddenly a day to be really afraid... where married couples need to carry their marriage certificates around town and show it on demand to be able to have a "pleasant evening."

All for the preservation of our culture.

It begs the question ... what's the use of having an election if you have this kind of political hooligans dictating the people's mandate, irrespective of the government chosen ? Why is it that, even after a decade, we see the same ol' drama unfolding before our eyes - detain some 50 Sena workers before Valentine's , allow the remaining 5,99,950 jobless monkeys to run amok in the streets and then let the remaining 50 go once the day is over. Does anyone ever remember a Sena man actually getting convicted and serving proper jail time for his acts ?

What's the point of mocking the 'new craze' of celebrity reality shows when the real publicity seeking clowns were here more than 2 decades ago, catering to the power lust of the ignorant ?

More importantly, when these 'political groups' go against the declaration all political groups have to make to honour our democracy and secularism, then why does no authority have the guts to deregister them.. seriously ?

Hard-line Hindu religious group, my butt. Call them terrorists and be done with it instead of trying to turn a blind eye to their every move. Or else, atleast have the decency to correct the article I read in the BBC website the other day calling India the 'only secular democracy in Asia'.

Secular ? Democracy ? Tell that to Shah Rukh "My name is Khan... and I am not a terrorist" Khan. Guy looks like he could use a laugh..