Neither God Nor Prophet

“With all respect, every day, thousands of people die, but still the world moves on. Just due to one politician dying a natural death, everyone just goes bonkers. They should know, we are resilient by force, not by choice. When was the last time anyone showed some respect or even a two-minute silence for Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Azad, Sukhdev or any of the people because of whom we are free-living Indians? Respect is earned, given, and definitely, not forced. Today, Mumbai shuts down due to fear, not due to respect.”

— Shaheen Dhada on Facebook

 

Now that Kasab has been hanged, who will eat all the biryani?

The biryani metaphor was a typical Thackerayism that the Rightwing Hindutva fascists churned out in its eternal longing for bloodlust. If they hate Muslims with xenophobic passion, they share similar fundamentalist passions with, for instance, the Taliban. This is exactly what the Taliban did to Najibullah in Kabul; they hanged him on the lamp post after perhaps, gouging out his eyes, castrating him, and dragging him on the streets. He was dragged out of a United Nations office, in violation of all international laws and protocol, and the entire ‘civilised’ world watched, in apparent glee, especially America, Barack Obama’s “greatest nation” in the world. This is exactly what the Taliban did to a school teacher who did not follow the dress code in the Swat Valley. He too was hanged in a public square, for all to see.

Dictator and sex  maniac, Gaddaffi of Libya, once a western ally who reportedly funded Nicholas Sarkozy, was similarly dragged on the streets like a street dog, beaten and brutalized, and then murdered in full public view – with not even a pseudo judicial trial like in case of Saddam Hussain. The Iranians still do it, like the guillotines of the past; they murder in a public spectacle, that is, when they are not torturing or raping pro-democracy protestors inside their notorious torture chambers. (Let us not forget, great filmmaker Jafar Panahi is still imprisoned in an Iranian jail – the world, obsessed with the ritualistic catharsis of barbarism, seems to have forgotten him too.)

“Apart from warm beer, and drawing utterly third-rate cartoons full of low level rant, patriarch Bal Thackeray spent most of his public and political life abusing the minorities, digging pitches, forcibly changing film scripts, instigating and brutally attacking arts and ideas, writers, filmmakers, actors, historians, migrants, Gujaratis, Tamils, Biharis, Muslims, Dalits”

The Chinese execute in style, with a certain economy: Fire! One bullet is enough. This is when they don’t make dissidents disappear, or roll in tanks to eliminate peaceful fasting students at Tiananmen Square, as they did so infamously and with not an iota of regret in June, 1989. And the Israelis? They just pound you to abject degradation and all that you can find from the rubble of this occupation of Palestine, are dead bodies of children who can’t run for their lives. It’s all legit. Kill them young, as they say.

Even pseudo Gandhian, Anna Hazare has joined this cannibalistic feast, demanding, once again, that Kasab should have been hanged in a public square. Wonder what are his tactically unstated views on Narendra Modi or Babu Bajrangi; or even, Ek tha Tiger: Bal Thackeray?

So what about Afzal Guru? This is the biggest question haunting the nation! Especially our TV tycoon-editors. When will he be hanged? When, when? They are all losing patience, like Modi and the BJP. When, when? If only they could hang him inside TV studios! Live! Ah, what a picturesque spectacle of relief!

So the question comes back. Now that Kasab has been hanged, who will eat all the biryani? Gandhi did not touch biryani, I am sure, but what would Gandhi say to that?

Like bloodthirsty mobs watching gladiators in an open stadium, the country is in a celebratory, predatory, barbarian, biryani mood. For instance, even in mourning, television anchors have blown the hyperbole with such hysteric magnanimity, that Thackeray already seems like a great messiah, a sacred saint, a profound prophet and a democratic visionary, whose greatness cannot be measured in words, not even when the anchors and reporters on TV blabber endlessly 24/7. The ‘secular’ Congress-NCP led Indian State too joined in this manufactured collective catharsis. Thackeray was draped in the Indian flag and given a 21 gun salute.

In death you can only acquire the heights of greatness. He was, suddenly, in death, elevated to the level of an immaculate, saintly saffron god in flesh and blood, the man who drank warm beer and changed the political landscape of Maharashtra, perhaps that of India too with his brand of identity politics. So what will the ‘secular’ Indian State do, for instance, if yet another fascist dies in yet another state? Will it yet again go for the hyperbole, and a 21 gun salute?

Apart from warm beer, and drawing utterly third-rate cartoons full of low level rant, patriarch Bal Thackeray spent most of his public and political life abusing the minorities, digging pitches, forcibly changing film scripts, instigating and brutally attacking arts and ideas, writers, filmmakers, actors, historians, migrants, Gujaratis, Tamils, Biharis, Muslims, Dalits; threatening, patronizing and executing violence, elevating vicious, divisive and polarizing hate politics into a superlatively kitschy art form, pumping up the war adrenaline and Paki-bashing; and legitimising communal violence and mass murders, as during the dark winter of 1992-93, when the state sponsored pogrom against Muslims was executed as a public spectacle in Bombay by the Shiv Sena.

Check out the Srikrishna Commission report. Check out the history of his speeches, his reactions to events, his interviews, his editorials in Samna, his theatrical call to arms and action. Check out his vitriolic and diabolical diatribes against the Pakistani cricket team. How many of us know that Bal Thackeray fully backed Indira Gandhi’s emergency and Sanjay Gandhi’s terror machine? For him Adolf Hitler was a hero. So what did he think of concentration and death camps? Rediscover his beginnings, when the Shiv Sena and Congress got together to eliminate the organized Left trade union movement in Bombay, which played a catalytic role during the freedom struggle. So who killed great CPI trade union leader Krishna Desai in Bombay? How many gun salutes did Krishna Desai get, after lakhs of shocked and angry workers and ordinary people poured in at his funeral?

Did Thackeray’s Rightwing Shiv Sena ever fight for a single cause of the workers, the poor, the peasants, the Dalits, or the thousands of farmers committing suicide in Bt cotton ravaged Vidarbha in Maharashtra’s deathly twilight zone?

The truth is that this man was neither demigod nor prophet. He was basically a crude fascist who survived on organized fear and violence and the threat of mob violence, aligned with miscellaneous industrialists, fat cats, and multi-millionaire film stars etc, who all are now glorifying him in a public show of great love and respect. In their deepest hearts, they know they are all caricatures, liars before their own cracked mirrors. In life, they lied. Even in death, they celebrate the politics of barbarism and the dirty deceptions of untruth.

Unlike young Shaheen Dhada. The girl who told the truth. And paid a heavy price for it!

Amit Sengupta started journalism when he was 19, even while he was working in the relief camps as a student of JNU after the State sponsored genocide of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984. Since then, he has been an independent president of the JNU Students' Union, writer, activist and editor, closely involved with multiple people's movements and conflict zones in contemporary India. He was Executive Editor, Hardnews magazine, South Asian partner of Le Monde Diplomatique, Paris. He has earlier worked as a senior editor and journalist with Tehelka, Outlook, The Hindustan Times, Asian Age, The Pioneer, The Economic Times and Financial Chronicle. Till recently he has been a professor at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.

34 Comments

  • Reply February 10, 2026

    fdertolmrtokev

    Hi there! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any tips?

  • Reply February 15, 2026

    cat browser apk

    Simply wanna remark on few general things, The website layout is perfect, the content is really great : D.

  • Reply February 19, 2026

    advogado tributarista

    I like what you guys are up too. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the excellent works guys I’ve incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it will improve the value of my website :)

  • Reply February 19, 2026

    bariatric gelatin recipe

    This is a topic close to my heart cheers, where are your contact details though?

  • Reply February 20, 2026

    harga toto

    Hi would you mind letting me know which hosting company you’re utilizing? I’ve loaded your blog in 3 completely different browsers and I must say this blog loads a lot quicker then most. Can you suggest a good web hosting provider at a reasonable price? Thanks, I appreciate it!

  • Reply February 20, 2026

    dom toto

    Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a little bit, but other than that, this is excellent blog. A great read. I will definitely be back.

  • Reply February 20, 2026

    top up royal dream

    You could definitely see your expertise in the paintings you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to mention how they believe. All the time follow your heart.

  • Reply February 20, 2026

    pink gelatin trick

    Woh I love your content, saved to my bookmarks! .

  • Reply February 20, 2026

    gelatin trick

    I like this web site very much, Its a very nice post to read and obtain information.

  • Reply February 21, 2026

    gelatin trick

    Utterly indited subject material, appreciate it for entropy.

  • Reply February 21, 2026

    gelatin trick

    I don’t usually comment but I gotta admit appreciate it for the post on this one :D.

  • Reply February 22, 2026

    iblbet

    Right now it looks like Movable Type is the top blogging platform out there right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that what you are using on your blog?

  • Reply February 23, 2026

    pink gelatin trick

    Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out much. I hope to give something back and help others like you aided me.

  • Reply February 24, 2026

    gelatin trick

    Thank you for any other informative blog. The place else may I get that type of info written in such an ideal way? I’ve a venture that I am just now running on, and I’ve been on the glance out for such information.

  • Reply February 24, 2026

    seltoto login

    Merely wanna admit that this is very useful, Thanks for taking your time to write this.

  • Reply February 24, 2026

    gelatin trick

    Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a 30 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know this is entirely off topic but I had to share it with someone!

  • Reply February 25, 2026

    aufstellbecken bestellen

    I have been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this web site. Thanks , I will try and check back more frequently. How frequently you update your web site?

  • Reply February 26, 2026

    togel online

    Hi, just required you to know I he added your site to my Google bookmarks due to your layout. But seriously, I believe your internet site has 1 in the freshest theme I??ve came across. It extremely helps make reading your blog significantly easier.

  • Reply February 27, 2026

    gartenpool sets

    magnificent put up, very informative. I’m wondering why the other specialists of this sector don’t realize this. You should continue your writing. I’m confident, you’ve a huge readers’ base already!

  • Reply February 27, 2026

    ayuda TFM arquitectura

    I’ll immediately seize your rss feed as I can not to find your e-mail subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly let me know so that I may just subscribe. Thanks.

  • Reply February 27, 2026

    poolleiter set

    Real wonderful visual appeal on this web site, I’d value it 10 10.

  • Reply February 27, 2026

    mancuernas de caucho

    Thanks for this grand post, I am glad I noticed this site on yahoo.

  • Reply February 27, 2026

    bandar slot

    I just couldn’t go away your site before suggesting that I actually enjoyed the usual information a person provide to your visitors? Is gonna be back ceaselessly in order to investigate cross-check new posts.

  • Reply February 27, 2026

    lighting austin tx

    I’m really inspired with your writing talents as neatly as with the structure in your blog. Is that this a paid theme or did you modify it your self? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it is uncommon to peer a nice weblog like this one nowadays..

  • Reply February 27, 2026

    oma slot

    What i don’t realize is if truth be told how you are not really much more neatly-appreciated than you may be right now. You are so intelligent. You realize therefore considerably in relation to this subject, produced me individually believe it from so many various angles. Its like men and women aren’t involved unless it’s one thing to do with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs excellent. Always take care of it up!

  • Reply February 27, 2026

    gelatin trick recipe

    I’d incessantly want to be update on new articles on this website , saved to bookmarks! .

  • Reply February 28, 2026

    soulmate sketch review

    I don’t even understand how I finished up right here, but I assumed this put up was once great. I don’t recognize who you are but certainly you are going to a famous blogger in case you aren’t already ;) Cheers!

  • Reply February 28, 2026

    diamond painting bär

    Very interesting details you have mentioned, appreciate it for putting up.

  • Reply February 28, 2026

    game topup terpercaya

    Woah! I’m really loving the template/theme of this site. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s hard to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appearance. I must say that you’ve done a fantastic job with this. Also, the blog loads extremely quick for me on Internet explorer. Outstanding Blog!

  • Reply February 28, 2026

    anti rayap bandung

    Hey there this is kinda of off topic but I was wondering if blogs use WYSIWYG editors or if you have to manually code with HTML. I’m starting a blog soon but have no coding expertise so I wanted to get guidance from someone with experience. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

  • Reply March 1, 2026

    situs quiz4d

    Perfectly indited content material, Really enjoyed reading through.

  • Spot on with this write-up, I truly suppose this website needs much more consideration. I’ll most likely be once more to learn rather more, thanks for that info.

  • Way cool, some valid points! I appreciate you making this article available, the rest of the site is also high quality. Have a fun.

  • Some genuinely prize articles on this website , saved to fav.

Leave a Reply