Showbiz celebrities around the world have a lot in common with politicians than what is normally perceived. Both crave publicity, relish the spotlight and thrive in controversy. It is not uncommon for popular culture to get enmeshed with political culture, especially during an election season where political parties actively make use of “star power” of showbiz and sports celebrities to manipulate public opinion.
The Pulwama incident triggered a familiar anti-Pakistan hysteria across the border and the Bollywood roster seemed more than eager to join in the chorus orchestrated by a bunch of war mongers pulling the levers of a gigantic brain washing machine. The usual ban on Pakistani artists was reinforced, followed by Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi calling off their trip to Karachi so as to “stand in solidarity” with the soldiers who died in “the line of duty.”
Indeed, loss of life is irreplaceable: it is a tragedy irrespective of the identity of the casualty, be it a soldier or a citizen. If we agree on the fundamental morality of this proposition and truly value the sanctity and dignity of human life, should we not also mourn and condemn the plight of thousands of Kashmiri men, women and children who are routinely subjected to the most grotesque forms of torture, from gang rapes to amputations and cold-blooded mass murders - all at the hands of the very jawans being mourned by the Indian public?
Reactions from Bollywood and sports celebrities on their Twitter feeds ranged from absurd to provocatively unintelligent. To substantiate the claim, here’s a piece of mind-numbing paranoia bursting out from one of the B-Town’s leading ladies, “Bharat is bleeding today, killing of our sons is like a dagger in our gut, anyone who lectures about non-violence and peace at this time should be painted black, put on a donkey and slapped by everyone on the streets.” Perhaps that is enough to make any living Gandhi go red in the face. For those who would bring the roof down with their #MeToo rants in pretentious talk shows, to callously ignore the sexual savagery endured by the Kashmiri women and children at the hands of Indian security forces makes one cringe in disgust. It is equally astounding that of all the people pointing fingers at Pakistan, no one seems to have entertained the possibility of it being nothing but a pure and autonomous act of retribution in response to a hellish reign of oppression that has devoured generations of innocent Kashmiri lives.
The point here is not the hopeless ignorance and political naivety of these otherwise innocuous creatures. It is about the moral credibility and selective humanity of modern day celebrities who readily espouse popular movements and run “awareness” campaigns on child rights and women empowerment sponsored by elite brands, but who choose to remain silent and blind to the atrocities unleashed by their own governments. Surrounded by an obsequious bunch of media managers, they only see what they are told to see and talk about certain rights-related issues only to the extent that it does not jeopardize their perceived stardom. Sensible few like Naseerduin Shah and Navjot Singh Sidhu instantly got demonized for questioning the divisive and toxic rhetoric of the ‘parivar’, prompting the BJP hardliners to openly announce bounties on their heads. Now there are cries to shun a contest featuring India and Pakistan in the upcoming cricket world cup in England. The charge was led by the mercurial Harbhajan Singh, who had done well to keep his senses intact for all these years before getting bowled over by the latest and one of the most intense spells of hyper-nationalist media frenzy.
Here’s something to ponder: the collective Twitter popularity of Virat Kohli and his men far surpasses that of the Indian PM and his cabinet. Shah Rukh Khan, the ‘King Khan’ as he likes to be called, is only second after Modi on Twitter with no less than 37 million followers. Many other Bollywood stars bask in a similar glory. One wonders what use are such towering celebrity statuses that so meekly succumb to the whims of a spiteful few who feed upon the bigotry of violent mobs and openly preach persecution of the Other? A celebrity that commands the love and adulation of millions should act as a model of virtue by stepping forward and using their influence to inspire creative and peaceful coexistence, instead of becoming an instrument of hate and intolerance in the hands of self-seeking manipulators.
Watching Modi rub shoulders and taking selfies with the gullible boys (sounds more apt than Gully Boys) and girls of the film industry, one thing is for sure: the future content of Bollywood movies will become still more meaningless, infuse greater jingoism and engender further divisions in a society that finds itself in the grip of fascism.
The Pulwama incident triggered a familiar anti-Pakistan hysteria across the border and the Bollywood roster seemed more than eager to join in the chorus orchestrated by a bunch of war mongers pulling the levers of a gigantic brain washing machine. The usual ban on Pakistani artists was reinforced, followed by Javed Akhtar and Shabana Azmi calling off their trip to Karachi so as to “stand in solidarity” with the soldiers who died in “the line of duty.”
Indeed, loss of life is irreplaceable: it is a tragedy irrespective of the identity of the casualty, be it a soldier or a citizen. If we agree on the fundamental morality of this proposition and truly value the sanctity and dignity of human life, should we not also mourn and condemn the plight of thousands of Kashmiri men, women and children who are routinely subjected to the most grotesque forms of torture, from gang rapes to amputations and cold-blooded mass murders - all at the hands of the very jawans being mourned by the Indian public?
Reactions from Bollywood and sports celebrities on their Twitter feeds ranged from absurd to provocatively unintelligent. To substantiate the claim, here’s a piece of mind-numbing paranoia bursting out from one of the B-Town’s leading ladies, “Bharat is bleeding today, killing of our sons is like a dagger in our gut, anyone who lectures about non-violence and peace at this time should be painted black, put on a donkey and slapped by everyone on the streets.” Perhaps that is enough to make any living Gandhi go red in the face. For those who would bring the roof down with their #MeToo rants in pretentious talk shows, to callously ignore the sexual savagery endured by the Kashmiri women and children at the hands of Indian security forces makes one cringe in disgust. It is equally astounding that of all the people pointing fingers at Pakistan, no one seems to have entertained the possibility of it being nothing but a pure and autonomous act of retribution in response to a hellish reign of oppression that has devoured generations of innocent Kashmiri lives.
Surrounded by an obsequious bunch of media managers, they only see what they are told to see and talk about certain rights-related issues only to the extent that it does not jeopardize their perceived stardom
The point here is not the hopeless ignorance and political naivety of these otherwise innocuous creatures. It is about the moral credibility and selective humanity of modern day celebrities who readily espouse popular movements and run “awareness” campaigns on child rights and women empowerment sponsored by elite brands, but who choose to remain silent and blind to the atrocities unleashed by their own governments. Surrounded by an obsequious bunch of media managers, they only see what they are told to see and talk about certain rights-related issues only to the extent that it does not jeopardize their perceived stardom. Sensible few like Naseerduin Shah and Navjot Singh Sidhu instantly got demonized for questioning the divisive and toxic rhetoric of the ‘parivar’, prompting the BJP hardliners to openly announce bounties on their heads. Now there are cries to shun a contest featuring India and Pakistan in the upcoming cricket world cup in England. The charge was led by the mercurial Harbhajan Singh, who had done well to keep his senses intact for all these years before getting bowled over by the latest and one of the most intense spells of hyper-nationalist media frenzy.
Here’s something to ponder: the collective Twitter popularity of Virat Kohli and his men far surpasses that of the Indian PM and his cabinet. Shah Rukh Khan, the ‘King Khan’ as he likes to be called, is only second after Modi on Twitter with no less than 37 million followers. Many other Bollywood stars bask in a similar glory. One wonders what use are such towering celebrity statuses that so meekly succumb to the whims of a spiteful few who feed upon the bigotry of violent mobs and openly preach persecution of the Other? A celebrity that commands the love and adulation of millions should act as a model of virtue by stepping forward and using their influence to inspire creative and peaceful coexistence, instead of becoming an instrument of hate and intolerance in the hands of self-seeking manipulators.
Watching Modi rub shoulders and taking selfies with the gullible boys (sounds more apt than Gully Boys) and girls of the film industry, one thing is for sure: the future content of Bollywood movies will become still more meaningless, infuse greater jingoism and engender further divisions in a society that finds itself in the grip of fascism.