Shiv Sena’s ink on Sudheendra Kulkarni leaves a blot on the face of every Indian

On Saturday morning, Shiv Sena ideologue Sanjay Raut was sitting in the lobby of a hotel in Patna with a sidekick. His arrival in the lobby did not create a frenzy, nor was he swarmed by fawning supporters or slogan-shouting. The only sign of Raut’s importance was the presence of a TV channel’s crew, which was interviewing him on his party’s poll prospects in Bihar. [caption id=“attachment_2465862” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sudheendra Kulkarni was attacked by the Shiv Sena on Monday. PTI[/caption] While the interview was on, a worker walked up to Raut and touched his feet. Wary of the impact of such show of obsequiousness on camera, Raut promptly shooed the lackey away and began holding forth on how his party’s message was resonating in Bihar. Then he departed the way he had arrived: unannounced, unheralded and alone. In Bihar, the Shiv Sena is unlikely to open its account. Its candidates would be lucky if they save their deposits and honour. But Raut showed no sign of an impending joke when he claimed the Sena is on the cusp of making a huge impact in Bihar. This small incident shows the kind of la la land the Sena inhibits and underscores its own misplaced sense of importance in India. The Shiv Sena is a small, insignificant fringe element in the larger scheme of things, but it seems to have accorded to itself the role of the voice of India’s patriots and nationalists, the guardian of our culture, honour and dignity of our brave soldiers. “This isn’t ink, it is the blood of Indian soldiers,” Raut announced grandiloquently while ascribing a higher motive to the ruffians who attacked Sudheendra Kulkarni in Mumbai on Monday. Yes, Mr Raut, you are also winning Bihar. No, the Shiv Sena doesn’t represent anything Indian; not its culture, not its social and human values; not even a drop of the blood that sings in the vein of our soldiers. India and its soldiers are brave, they do not believe in dastardly attacks and know their real enemies. Unlike the ideologically opportunistic Shiv Sena, which embraces Javed Miandad one day and opposes Khurshid Ahmed Kasuri the next; dances to Michael Jackson’s tunes one evening and objects to Ghulam Ali’s ghazals the next, majority of Indians are unwavering in their commitment to the defining traits of Bharatiyata: tolerance and kindness; they firmly believe in liberal values and the Voltairian principle of upholding everybody’s right to freedom of expression. It isn’t difficult to understand the Sena’s psyche; the rationale behind its irrational acts of intolerance and jingoism. The Sena can feel its ground shrinking with the BJP gradually replacing it in Maharashtra, both politically and ideologically. The BJP has now mainstreamed the fringe and given it greater legitimacy, pushing the Sena further away from the frenzied right. The Sena has no option but to become more rabid than thou to carve out its separate share of the lunatic fringe. The alarming part of the Shiv Sena’s attack on Kulkarni is that it creates the impression of India being in the asphyxiating grip of intolerant hooligans. It adds to the fears of finance minister Arun Jaitley and defence minister Manohar Parrikar who, albeit in the context of the Dadri lynching, said: Such incidents give Indians a bad name and make us resemble ideological siblings of the Taliban. The Sena may be throwing ink at its liberal rivals. But it is leaving behind a blot on the face of every Indian.