05-29-2006, 09:55 AM
This should have been in the opinion column, but is actually in the top stories section <!--emo&:angry:--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/mad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='mad.gif' /><!--endemo-->
The author's opinion and assumptions are now part of news.
http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?I...odi's~hands
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->TOP STORIESÂ
May 29, 2006
Fanaa, a ready ammunition in Modi�s hands
Monday May 29 2006 00:35 IST
The controversy over the just-released film �Fanaa� has less to do with Aamir Khan and more to do with Narendra Modi and his brand of politics.
�Fanaa� is a film on nationalism which the BJP in normal should have encouraged. Its story revolves around a blind Kashmiri girl whose loyalty to India leads her to kill the man she loves because she discovers him to be a terrorist working against Indian interest. It is a plot just up the BJP�s alley.
But Narendra Modi�s government in Gujarat has made sure that the distributors do not touch the film with a barge pole. The central BJP is divided over �Fanaa� but Sushma Swaraj and V.K.Malhotra have chosen to standby Modi and this shows the lineup taking place inside the party.
The truth is that �Fanaa� has come as a ready ammunition in the hands of Narendra Modi getting ready to mount an electoral battle in 2007.
He is not letting any opportunity go by to prepare the ground forthe final assault. He lost no time in converting the fast of Narmada Bachao leader Medha Patkar into an opportunity to launch a counter-offensive and consolidate the Gujarati opinion behind him.
He sat on a dharna at the Sabarmati Ashram. He put the Congress on the defensive and forced Congress MPs and MLAs to fall in line with the Gujarat position set by him. Then came the Vadodara violence, another chance to firm up the Hindu opinion in his favour. And now, �Fanaa� offers him yet another opportunity.
Aamir Khan spoke on a subject that agitates Gujaratis. So polarised is the situation today, that any expression in favour of Medha Patkar is seen to be anti-Dam and anti-Gujarat. Besides, Aamir is a Muslim and the message is implicit.
There are also signs that he does not intend to confine himself to Gujarat alone but is trying to spread his wings. Last Saturday he was due to be in Mumbai to unveil the statue of Veer Savarkar in the city.
There is a section inside the BJP in Maharashtra � led by BJP chief Nitin Gadkari � which would like Modi to take the place that Pramod Mahajan used to occupy. The Mahajan group�s influence is already on the wane.
Modi would like to position himself for the post-Vajpayee-Advani scenario He has emerged as a mass leader in Gujarat, in some ways emerging larger than the party and even the Sangh there. It is difficult enough to remove him, and will be even more difficult if he wins the Assembly elections in 2007.
However, there is a growing disconnect between the consciousness of Gujarat and of the rest of India. It is this disconnect which, while helping to catapult Modi as the leader of the state, may prevent him from becoming an acceptable national leader.
He has tried to get onto the development bandwagon in the last couple of years, winning even those Gujaratis who held him responsible for the communal violence in 2002. He is a workaholic, has no corruption charges nor a family who use his name to make money. But his intolerance on issues like �Fanaa� and instances like Vadodara will keep him as a sectional leader.
While Modi is quick to seize an opportunity to make political capital, the Congress has shown responses that are sluggish. It has not even attacked the BJP � and Modi � for disallowing a film which speaks volumes about Kashmir�s integration with India, about nationalism, about a fight against terrorism.
The Prime Minister defended Aamir Khan�s right to air his views in a democracy, but party leaders have been silent. They could have gone to town against the BJP for its hypocrisy.
What also weakens the Congress is the position taken by the government in Punjab against another film, �The Da Vinci Code�, which has been mired in a controversy. After the film was cleared by the Censor Board with the disclaimer that it was a work of fiction and not of fact, the state�s home department went on to advocate a ban.
It is not as if Punjab has a large number of Catholics and Amarinder Singh is worried about their reaction with the state going to the polls next year. One can only guess his reason but it only reinforces public skepticism about political parties� ��commitment�� to freedom of expression.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The author's opinion and assumptions are now part of news.
http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?I...odi's~hands
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->TOP STORIESÂ
May 29, 2006
Fanaa, a ready ammunition in Modi�s hands
Monday May 29 2006 00:35 IST
The controversy over the just-released film �Fanaa� has less to do with Aamir Khan and more to do with Narendra Modi and his brand of politics.
�Fanaa� is a film on nationalism which the BJP in normal should have encouraged. Its story revolves around a blind Kashmiri girl whose loyalty to India leads her to kill the man she loves because she discovers him to be a terrorist working against Indian interest. It is a plot just up the BJP�s alley.
But Narendra Modi�s government in Gujarat has made sure that the distributors do not touch the film with a barge pole. The central BJP is divided over �Fanaa� but Sushma Swaraj and V.K.Malhotra have chosen to standby Modi and this shows the lineup taking place inside the party.
The truth is that �Fanaa� has come as a ready ammunition in the hands of Narendra Modi getting ready to mount an electoral battle in 2007.
He is not letting any opportunity go by to prepare the ground forthe final assault. He lost no time in converting the fast of Narmada Bachao leader Medha Patkar into an opportunity to launch a counter-offensive and consolidate the Gujarati opinion behind him.
He sat on a dharna at the Sabarmati Ashram. He put the Congress on the defensive and forced Congress MPs and MLAs to fall in line with the Gujarat position set by him. Then came the Vadodara violence, another chance to firm up the Hindu opinion in his favour. And now, �Fanaa� offers him yet another opportunity.
Aamir Khan spoke on a subject that agitates Gujaratis. So polarised is the situation today, that any expression in favour of Medha Patkar is seen to be anti-Dam and anti-Gujarat. Besides, Aamir is a Muslim and the message is implicit.
There are also signs that he does not intend to confine himself to Gujarat alone but is trying to spread his wings. Last Saturday he was due to be in Mumbai to unveil the statue of Veer Savarkar in the city.
There is a section inside the BJP in Maharashtra � led by BJP chief Nitin Gadkari � which would like Modi to take the place that Pramod Mahajan used to occupy. The Mahajan group�s influence is already on the wane.
Modi would like to position himself for the post-Vajpayee-Advani scenario He has emerged as a mass leader in Gujarat, in some ways emerging larger than the party and even the Sangh there. It is difficult enough to remove him, and will be even more difficult if he wins the Assembly elections in 2007.
However, there is a growing disconnect between the consciousness of Gujarat and of the rest of India. It is this disconnect which, while helping to catapult Modi as the leader of the state, may prevent him from becoming an acceptable national leader.
He has tried to get onto the development bandwagon in the last couple of years, winning even those Gujaratis who held him responsible for the communal violence in 2002. He is a workaholic, has no corruption charges nor a family who use his name to make money. But his intolerance on issues like �Fanaa� and instances like Vadodara will keep him as a sectional leader.
While Modi is quick to seize an opportunity to make political capital, the Congress has shown responses that are sluggish. It has not even attacked the BJP � and Modi � for disallowing a film which speaks volumes about Kashmir�s integration with India, about nationalism, about a fight against terrorism.
The Prime Minister defended Aamir Khan�s right to air his views in a democracy, but party leaders have been silent. They could have gone to town against the BJP for its hypocrisy.
What also weakens the Congress is the position taken by the government in Punjab against another film, �The Da Vinci Code�, which has been mired in a controversy. After the film was cleared by the Censor Board with the disclaimer that it was a work of fiction and not of fact, the state�s home department went on to advocate a ban.
It is not as if Punjab has a large number of Catholics and Amarinder Singh is worried about their reaction with the state going to the polls next year. One can only guess his reason but it only reinforces public skepticism about political parties� ��commitment�� to freedom of expression.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->