Love to Burn, kill and maim!!

Recently while catching glimpses of the Sikh unrest on TV, some thing very apparent and common place came to my attention. This observation was not an isolated case, as it turned out, while watching a bit more news than usual sightings were more frequent. Seeing the justifiable unrest of some community or the other time and again what did come to my attention is that the people behind violent protests took some sort of pleasure in their rapacious deeds. They burnt effigies with a glimmer in their eyes and a smile to their lips. Vandalism had some kind of joy only the vandals can recognize, and unnecessary and unwarranted fighting and beating seemed like a well enjoyed cricket match to spectators and players as well. Would I term it sadistic pleasure? In most cases I think I could. The only justification for these smiles is that their hate has over flowed into pleasure! Such a justification would seem far-fetched.

What is actually shocking is that this has already been brought to the attention of the discerning eye, but through subtler methods. ‘Rang De Basanti’ brought to the limelight the lathi charge by the police which was arresting in its brutality. The violence did not recognize man, woman or child, it did not stop to register the fleeing and the battered. It in a frantic frenzy kept the police occupied. A legal sanction to what is commonplace.

Our media industry provides one with many such illustrations of rampant brutality. All one needs to do is watch the clip of any violent demonstration. It’s easy to notice the happiness with which this beating and bashing, burning and smashing is indulged in.

The political arena of this nation is overflowing with burnt effigies and vandalized cities, towns and villages. The blurring nature of Indian diversity permits these burnt effigies and vandal acts to spread into every known public sphere. Even our most popular, most consequential, most powerful medium of communication – bollywood, promulgates the spread of this behavior. Kill joyously, beat happily and do not give inhibition to any other frantic emotional outburst.

Needless to come to the defense of bollywood, it has its own shining moments that speak for themselves, one of which I used al illustration earlier on. Nor is it a continuing trend in our mass media, thankfully. However having sown the seeds, it cant be held blameless. Protest and democracy are two sides of the same coin. Yet what has become of the Gandhian example? The next time you switch on the news, by accident or by purpose, watch it for the same observation that prompted this article. What to do to combat it, is a suggestion even I am open to.