Shiv Sena in Kerala

Moral Police struck again in Kochi, Kerala.  This time it is men belonging to Shiv Sena who went on a rampage.  They used canes to drive away the youngsters who were allegedly indulging in “immoral activities.”  Marine Drive in Kochi is too public a place for any couple to indulge in any conspicuously immoral activity.  It is possible that some youngsters crossed certain lines drawn by the (hypocritical) conservatism that marks the social life of Kerala.  But who are the Shivsainiks to wield canes when not even parents are allowed to use physical punishment on children?  Kerala is a state that sends teachers to jails for punishing students.  How come some politicians beat young students with canes in front of the police?

Source: Deccan Chronicle

The first question that comes to mind is what Shiv Sena is doing in Kerala.  Bal Thackeray founded that organisation for defending the Marathi pride?  Eventually it became an organisation of thugs and goons who perpetrated many atrocities against people from other states who had chosen to earn their living in Mumbai.  Bal Thackeray became a prominent political figure with the help of the thuggery and hooliganism of his Sainiks. 

Bal Thackeray’s trophies owed themselves to his skill in keeping his thugs and goons away from Mumbai’s lucrative underworld by inventing new enemies.  Without enemies Thackeray would have been a nobody.  Marathi pride and Hindu culture were all just political tools which he wielded dexterously on his way to becoming the Supremo in Mumbai by inventing new and newer enemies.  However, he had no qualms about letting Michael Jackson perform in Mumbai because Jackson promised to donate to Shiv Sena the profits from his concert.  A million dollars is too big an amount to let go even for a fervent custodian of the Indian currencies.  [Thackeray was proud of the toilet used by Jackson in his mansion and he kept that toilet as a special place until he died.]

Some politically ambitious people in Kerala chose to follow the path of Thackeray and established the party in the state.  The easiest enemies they could invent were the young people on Marine Drive.  They had informed the media beforehand so that their defence of Malayali pride could get the required coverage.  We can be sure that the Sainiks will contest the next elections.  In the meanwhile, they will have to invent some more enemies in the state. 

Kerala is a state where religious leaders of all hues and habits (habit: a long, loose garment worn by a member of a religious order) are facing rape charges one after another.  Not a day passes now without some religious leader entering the limelight emanating from the galaxy of rapists and molesters.  The social media are replete with jokes on these leaders.  The latest I read (a few minutes before I started writing this post) is inspired by Reverend Father Robin who was arrested a few days back for “impregnating” (I wonder why the media use that particular word in this particular case) a 16-year old girl and goes thus:

Two devout women meet outside the church after the Holy Mass.

Mary: Anna, did you hear?

Anna: What?  What?

Mary: A 16-year old girl molested an aged priest and got impregnated by him.

Anna: Oh, how terrible!  What’s happening to our youngsters!

Shiv Sena in Kerala is also a hilarious joke.  A cruel joke, at least for some.