Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has passed an order. Creative Pakistani people should leave India within 48 hours (perhaps the deadline is over by now). Now the question is: Who or what is MNS? Nobody has an answer. Well, it's led by Raj Thackeray who parted ways with his illustrious uncle and former Shiv Sena Chief, the late Bal Thackeray.
Fair enough! Ask an average Indian film buff and he/she will pour praises on Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan. Because they are fabulous actors and beyond that, they are icons. When Uri was attacked, they were probably busy shooting. When 26/11 happened, neither of them deep down approved of the killing of innocent souls. So, where does this ultimatum work? It falls flat because Bollywood or the Hindi film industry protests against it. When Shah Rukh Khan appoints Wasim Akram as a key force in his Indian Premier League (IPL) team, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), he gives a damn to Akram's nationality. Rahul Dholakia who directs Raees, with Shah Rukh and Mahira, closes in on the script and conceives a leading lady who is apt for the film. Atif Aslam sings Tere sang yaara from the film Rustom, and we are hooked on to it. Rest assured, even some or many from MNS have fallen in love with the number.
On one hand, activists display their love for the country by shunning creativity filtering from across the border, but on the other hand, a little bit of snooping will reveal that, it's the very same people who alleviate their boredom by watching a Khoobsurat (starring Fawad) or shedding their tiredness over a Rahat Fateh Ali Khan or an Atif Aslam number in a Bollywood film.
It's a given that the Pakistani government surrenders before the Army. It's a given that Pakistan's Army is obsessed with India. But does Fawad or Mahira or Rahat have any hand in it? Now a message for the so-called-self-proclaimed patriots, look within and spare a moment for the rampant atrocities on Dalits, minorities, women and kids. Where is MNS when a 90-year-old woman, also a cancer patient is raped in Kerala? Where are you when a mentally-challenged woman is forced to eat on the floor of a hospital in Ranchi? Where are you when a woman is stabbed in the National Capital?
Please leave it to the authorities to deal with Pakistan. What our neighbours are indulging in, isn't sacrosanct. But instead of looking at a solution, stop making headlines by victimising actors and singers from Pakistan who have nothing to do with the troublesome period the two countries are going through.
MNS, you are not true patriots. The whole aim is to get some mileage, so that in the polls coming up in Maharashtra, you gain in terms of numbers. The Maratha Manoosh plank and attacks on North Indians have paid you almost no dividend, and now the desperation to woo voters emboldens you to resort to an exaggerated form of activism.
It's time to take the bull by its horns. The Narendra Modi-led government is busy mulling over options to retaliate post Uri. But, parties like MNS which thrive on fabricated patriotism should be ignored. Because their intentions are not noble enough.
