The Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan, says that had he known that Amitabh Bachchan was going to be present at the innauguration of a grossly mismanaged Bandra-Worli Sea Link Project, he would not have gone there himself!

Why? Because Amitabh Bachchan is now the Brand Ambassador of tourism in Gujarat.

It is not Chavan’s fault thoughEvery Congress worker thinks that the whole nation – or at least the states ruled by Congress (I) – is the private property of their party. And by extension, they can be excused to believe that Gujarat is now a private company run by  Narendra Modi.

And we all know how “Narendra Modi is a blot on India”; and that no living Congressman would ever be associated with the likes of him – right?

Maybe that’s the reason why,

  • Congress (I) required the services of and projected Shankarsinh Vaghela, once an active and a staunch RSS man, as its candidate for the position of Chief Minister of Gujarat –  twice?
  • Congress (I) now has Shiv Sena politicians like Narayan Rane and Sanjay Nirupam in Maharashtra – with Smita Thackeray, daughter-in-law of Balasaheb Thackeray – no less, waiting in the wings?
  • Shibu Soren, who (leaving aside his ‘minor instinct to be corrupt’) is facing charges of massacre of Muslims in Bihar, was a Union Minister in the UPA government?
  • People like Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar, H K L Bhagat – all accused in the 1984 Delhi riots – ran the roost in Delhi unit of Congress (I) for decades?

The entire list would require the archives size of New York Times; and hence, we would stop there itself. But sample this:

Maharashtra has witnessed, on an average, ONE COMMUNAL RIOT EVERY 20 DAYS during the last five years (2004-09)

– as per statistics provided by Maharashtra police in reply to an RTI application on the subject

and this:

254 Hindus and 790 Muslims were killed in Gujarat in the post Godhra riots of 2002

– as per a written reply by Minister of State for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal (of Congress (I), mind you)

Just in case you are bewildered, yes, this is the same riots in which, according to an entire machinery of media-savvy NGOs, “thousands and thousands of Muslims” were massacred.

Further, sample this:

“The riots in 1969 have become a history by themselves. There was never any riot in the state of gujarat of magnitude as was witnessed in September 1969.”

– ‘history of riots and agitations in Gujarat’

560 people died and 561 were injured in the riots of 1969

– Justice P J Reddy Commission which inquired into this riots found that at least

Mind you, in 1969, forget Modi, even BJP was not there in the political arena. It was a Congress Chief Minister, Hitendra Desai at the helm in Gujarat then.

Were the Congress people of the time ashamed of being seen with the Gujarat CM then?

and finally, this:

Official figures state that during the post Indira Gandhi assassination riots, 2,733 Sikhs were murdered in November 1984 in Delhi alone

“Jab ek bada ped girta hai toh zameen toh thodi hilti hai”, Rajiv Gandhi had remarked at the time

It is the same ‘secular’ Rajiv Gandhi who had then gone to ‘his friend’ Amitabh Bachchan to fight Lok Sabha election on Congress (I) ticket from Allahabad – for he knew well that no other man would have managed to defeat H L Bahuguna there.

Amitabh did.

But resigned later because his name too got muddied along with his ‘Bofors accused’ friend Rajiv Gandhi. It is worth noting here that Amitabh Bachchan provides (probably) the only example of recent times, wherein a sitting MP had resigned on moral grounds and had gone ahead to fight a long legal battle to clear his name in a controversy.

Today, the name ‘Bofors’ neither visits nor concern Amitabh Bachchan, but the Gandhi family is still having to talk at length to expaclain the many behind-the-scenes  happenings surrounding its family friend Quattarochi.

Taking into account the 1984 riots and the Bofors Scandal (leaving aside even major incidents like the truth that it was actually Rajiv Gandhi who had directed the opening up of temple in the Ram Mandir – Babri Masjid compound), maybe it is Amitabh Bachchan, who should be embarrassed to be seen with Congress (I) – and not the farce of the other way round !

If Mumbai Congress (I) ‘stalwarts’ like Kripashankar Singh – who was once the Home Minister of the state and is presently ‘anguished and angry’ at Bachchan being invited for the inauguration – has conviction about his real credentials, let him fight an election against Amitabh Bachchan in any part of the country.

In fact, since ‘secularism’ for him is merely making hollow noises about Muslims, let him fight against Bachchan in ANY Islamic country of the world, including Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, Oman or Indonesia.

He won’t. He can’t. He knows that people like him are mere sycophants of their political masters and hollow facades of humanity for their political constituencies.

LEFT’S OWN COUNTRY:

Moving on from the messy-polis, the Left front government of Kerala, recently, first invited Amitabh Bachchan to become the brand Ambassador of the state and then when Amitabh readily agreed, backed out after giving public statements about the move being inappropriate, owing to the actor’s association with Gujarat tourism department. Polit bureau member Sitaram Yechury had said that his party did not approve the move.

Instead of giving too much space to the fringe actors of fast fading political turf, let’s ponder over these two truths:

First

“If it had not been (Major) Sandeep’s house, NOT EVEN A DOG WOULD HAVE GLANCED THAT WAY”

– Chief Minister of Kerala, V S Achuthanandan, had remarked when Martyr (Major) Sandeep Unnikrishnan’s distraught father had turned away the CM from his house – because he felt that the state government had ignored his brave-heart son’s supreme sacrifice.

We wish to add nothing more to that except that, maybe it is Amitabh Bachchan, who should be embarrassed to be associated with a government whose CM publicly insults the sacrifice of a 23-year-old NSG commando for the sake of his country. Bachchan should also be scared that if, God forbid, his city Mumbai is attacked again in future, no 23-year-old might want to give his life for the cause.

Second –

There is video evidence of a CPM members shooting down villagers in Nandigram in West Bengal, during the entire TATA – Nano Vs villagers conflict. It has been shown many times over by most TV channels. In any case, the ‘official violence’ perpetrated by the CPM cadre in West Bengal is well known.

So then, is Sitaram Yechury “approving” of such moves of his cadre?

Clearly, this is neither about any self-serving definition of secularism by Congress (I) nor about moral or social “appropriate-ness” of the Left parties. It is about flogging the guts out of an easy meat for the sake of personal vendetta (by Congress (I)) and personal relevance (Left parties).

Just as the fastest and surest way of increasing the readership or viewership of any media vehicle in India would be to put Amitabh Bachchan’s name against an unsavoury, unbelievable and unethical story of sensational proportions (How about this: Big B asks for Bal Thackeray’s help in making ‘My Name is Khan’ a box office flop. Sounds yummy, right?), post Raj Thackeray poison, it has been discovered that an entire political party can be created by simply bad-mouthing the actor. After all, when did you last hear Kripashankar Singh’s name? Now, not only has he got footage in TV but also earned brownie points from the ‘high command’ about the much appreciated skill of sycophancy.

The man has recently been decorated for his services to the world of cinema at Oman and Hong Kong; plays big taxes; helps scores of people through charity; inspired millions to strive for success; has given millions the reason to smile and – bringing our Indian cultural values into the discussion – is almost 68 years old. Why can’t the politicians leave him alone?

Indeed, Congress (I) does not need Amitabh Bachchan for survival – just as Kerala doesn’t need him to bring more tourists. Similarly, Amitabh too doesn’t need the politicians. But while Amitabh is going about his job, the politicians are using him as a tool. It is time the media and people realise this, and ask the politicians to get busy with their real DUTY of working for the welfare of people.

Till then, let’s just reiterate the obvious:

Amitabh Bachchan is a national icon, pride of a billion people and infinitely more valuable for this entire world than what political sycophants can ever be.

Coming, finally to the question of the debate, viz. “Is Amitabh Bachchan a terrorist?” Inspite of the manner in and intensity with which he is being castigated by the Maharashtra and Kerala governments these days, we can safely say that he is not. Because if Amitabh Bachchan were indeed a terrorist, Congress (I) and the Left Front would never have attacked him – for the sake of peace and harmony in the country. Or for some reason similar.

Are we not right, Honourable Guest of the Indian State, Shri Afzhal Guru?

Period.

PS: Amitabh Bachchan was personally invited to the public event by the PWD minister Jaidutt Kshirsagar of the NCP – and had not gatecrashed a private party. Just in case …

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