The claptrap of ‘intolerance’ has been going on for a while now. When the media and entertainment industry is down and a few select group of ‘intellectuals’ from this industry are struggling to sustain whatever little career they have, occasionally, letters are seen doing the rounds.
These politically motivated stunts are usually used to somehow successfully influence any upcoming election (though the lobby has been receiving back-to-back stunning defeats). The act of a few people coming together to sign a letter for a social or political cause is usually respected, but not when the signatories are a bunch of hypocrites who rather shamelessly berate and publicly humiliate people for simply having a contradictory opinion on a given matter to theirs.
Given the recent signing of a letter addressed to PM Modi against ‘Intolerance and Jai Shree Ram’ by some ‘intellectuals’, it becomes imperative upon people like us to expose these individuals and their shallow motives. Anurag Kashyap in the context of the intolerance narrative being spun again had this to say:
If one letter can impact them so much that they need an entire troll army to keep digging out false narratives & throw various accusations continuously at signatories to counter the truth, imagine what would happen if we start questioning every self serving action of the regime
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) July 28, 2019
Here, Anurag Kashyap does not provide any explanation on the charges which various signatories of the letter are facing. He also doesn’t comment on how he can dismiss all the allegations as being ‘false’. And of course, the same old generic tag of ‘troll’ is cast upon anyone who contradicts the popular belief among this miniscule coterie. Any substantial contradictions are simply dismissed off by this coterie as being those from ‘trolls’.
By labelling everyone with an opposite political ideology as a ‘troll’, Anurag Kashyap and the left-liberal cabal have been for quite some time trying to paint all right-wingers as fools who are unworthy of having a debate with. Therefore, isn’t it these people with a sense of false self-worth who are the real culprits in curbing discussions? A discussion cannot take place when either of the two communicators assumes a superior position for himself and looks down upon the other as some lesser mortal.
Shefali Vaidya had a very clever response to Kashyap’s rant:
In my village in GOA, there used be an alcoholic, who would stand swaying in the market, daring every passerby to have a fight with him. Obviously, no one did. Everyone laughed at him n moved on. He would then say, ‘look, everyone is scared of me’ @anuragkashyap72 is that man. https://t.co/bqS0eCEycR
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) July 28, 2019
The analogy she used was of a drunk man wanting to pick up fights with every passerby. When no one would pay heed to the drunkard’s theatrics, he would think that all the passersby are scared of him, while in reality, nobody really cared about the seemingly mad man. Fits the frame, doesn’t it?
Madhur Bhandarkar too exposed the hypocrisy of this group on a News 18 debate anchored by Bhupendra Chaubey. Bhandarkar raised the point that these same people who are trying to propagate the balderdash of ‘intolerance’ are the ones
Shekhawho go to Uttar Pradesh to avail subsidies while shooting for films. This took Anurag Kashyap to the defensive who then raised points like “I’m also Indian…”.
What a joke!! It’s my state . I was born in UP , I grew up in UP. Film subsidies were not started by Yogi ji. He is not the owner of the state , he is the Chief Minister. I might disagree with Modiji but I still am 100 % indian and I make films in India & will continue to do so. https://t.co/Yi6b0tjFs5
— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) July 26, 2019
Veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur also expressed his feelings about the so-called intellectuals to which Javed Akhtar attacked him. Not one, Javed Akhtar posted three tweets against one tweet of Shekhar Kapur.
.who are these intellectuals who embraced you and you found that embrace like a snake’s bite ? Shyam Benegal , Adoor Gopal Krishna , Ram chandra Guha ? Really ? . Shekhar saheb you are not well . You need help . Come on , there is no shame in meeting a good psychiatrist .
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) July 28, 2019
What do you mean by still a refugee Does it mean that you feel like an outsider n not an Indian n you don’t feel that this is your motherland .If in India you are still a refugee where will you not feel like a refugee ,In Pakistan? Cut this melodrama you poor rich but lonely guy
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) July 28, 2019
You introduce yourself as neither prejudiced by the past nor afraid of the future living in this moment and in the same breath you say you are a refugee of partition and still a refugee . One doesn’t need a magnifying glass to see the contradiction .
— Javed Akhtar (@Javedakhtarjadu) July 28, 2019
Javed Akhtar told Shekhar Kapur that he should get psychiatric help. Why? Because Shekhar simply said that the industry made him feel ‘insignificant’ and small. He further said that the same industry embraced him after the success of his films, which further exposed the small mind of the industry and a section of people in it. It is abominable to say the least that Javed Akhtar would suggest psychiatric help to someone for merely expressing his opinion. If this is not intolerance, what is?
I have a personal opinion on why this cabal is harping to the ‘intolerance’ bogey. Prior to 2014, there was really no footprint of the Right in public and intellectual discourse. The Left ruled over the ‘intellectual’ space like a mafia, creating it’s own ecosystems, thereby alienating those who did not subscribe to their bogus ideologies. It is this alienated lot which is now speaking up. Their opinions, set of ideas, ideals, principles are completely opposite to those of the ‘intolerance’ coterie, or how I would rather call them, the ‘crybaby’ coterie. The people who call us trolls and ‘Sanghis’ have the audacity to turn around and play victim when they get hammered in an argument. It is ironic to see the intolerant people of the country gather and then call for tolerance. Funny.
