Why Indian celebrities bend to State power
The fear of retribution by State and non-State actors, even as commercial stakes are high, tilts the balance
Long before Akshay Kumar, there was Kishore Kumar. In 1975, soon after the Emergency was declared, Indira Gandhi’s government was keen to get Bollywood to push her 20-point programme and asked the singer-actor to perform at a Youth Congress rally. Kumar refused. In a patently vindictive action, the then information and broadcasting minister, VC Shukla “ordered” a ban on the singer across All India Radio and Doordarshan. Kumar was not alone in the film industry in standing up to the Emergency. Others such as Dev Anand, Manoj Kumar and Shatrughan Sinha also refused to toe the line.
Long before the present stars of Indian cricket, there was Bishan Singh Bedi. The legendary left arm spinner tangled with the cricket board authorities on several occasions, once even being banned for a test in 1974 for protesting against the meagre allowances given to the players on tour. Now in his 70s, Bedi has been a rebel without a pause — a perennial anti-establishment figure.
So where are the Kumar and Bedi equivalents in today’s world? Why are today’s film and cricketing superstars so unwilling to stand up to any form of executive power and instead resort to obsequious sycophancy, the latest example being the flood of near-identical tweets on farm laws? Those who have never said a word on hundreds of farmer suicides are suddenly expressing their concern over the kisan protests. But by being so obviously part of a central government-organised social media counterblast, in response to a single tweet on farm protests by artiste Rihanna, our iconic stars have reduced themselves to copy-paste cheerleaders, seemingly lacking a mind of their own. In a regime paranoid about image management, the hugely popular stars are pawns in a perception war, remotecontrolled by an all-powerful Big State, any defiance of which could lead to unforeseen consequences.
It isn’t as if this is entirely a post2014 phenomenon. Controlling or at least co-opting popular culture icons has been a favourite pastime of every political party in power. Only now, it is much more brazen in intent and execution.
When the State bestows patronage on its ideological fellow-travellers and ruthlessly targets its critics, the temptation to follow the leader is that much greater.
Fear of retribution is a key factor in pushing our celebrities to toe the official line. From opening up income tax files to lodging enforcement directorate inquiries, State agencies are routinely used to expose the soft underbelly of the rich and famous. The Rhea Chakraborty case last year is a classic example of how untrammelled State power can terrorise the film industry — the danger of a knock on the door from the Narcotics Control Bureau is omnipresent.
Moreover, it isn’t just the ruling political elites which are guilty of threat and intimidation. We now have self-styled vigilante groups, Statesponsored social media armies and even some citizens who act as big bullies, unleashing a deadly campaign of cyber abuse and violence.
The common strand that unites these forces is their strident espousal of a majoritarian nationalism that effectively criminalises even the slightest expression of dissent as antinational. In Hollywood, stars such as a Meryl Streep who speak truth to power are celebrated; in India, they are censured.
Recall when, a few years ago, actors Shahrukh Khan and Aamir Khan were accused of speaking out on the rising culture of intolerance in society. The street protests against the
stars were engineered by an array of groups aligned to the Hindutva ideology, all aiming to question the “patriotism” of the Khans, their surname making them particularly vulnerable in a climate of rising religious bigotry. By threatening to boycott their films and coercing sponsors to withdraw their ads, the protesters were also consciously targeting the financial viability of these high-value brands. The stakes involved in commercial cinema are just too astronomical for most people to take a risk. This might at least partly explain why a top producer-director like Karan Johar had to personally apologise to a political figure like Raj Thackeray for the “hurt sentiments” of the Marathi manoos ahead of the release of one of his films.
Ironically, while most of our A-list celebrities have chosen the path of least resistance, it is those on the fringes of the fame industry who are braver and bolder. Perhaps because they feel they have less to lose, they tend to be more courageous. Take, for
example, the growing tribe of popular stand-up comedians. A Kunal Kamra has refused to bend before a Supreme Court contempt notice while many others carry on regardless with their plucky entertainment acts. But when a stand-up comedian like a Munawar Faruqui is arrested and kept in jail for a month for an act he didn’t even perform, you ask yourself — how long before they too are reined in? As Kumar might well have sung: Yeh kahan aa gaye hum? (Where have we come?)
Post-script: While our film stars bend, what of our champion cricketers who are surely less dependent on government support? Well, when the key official in the cricket board is the son of the second-most powerful person in the country, do we really expect our cricketers to do anything else but discuss farm laws at pre-match team meetings!
KOLKATA: The Centre will enforce the Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, after the drive for vaccination against the coronavirus disease gets over in the country, Union home minister Amit Shah said in West Bengal on Thursday, reaching out to an influential refugee community that is credited with helping his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put up an impressive show in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
On a day-long visit to the state, which is headed for assembly elections this summer, Shah sharpened his attack on chief minister Mamata Banerjee, said she would start chanting the “Jai Shri Ram” slogan by the time polls were over, accused her of misleading people on CAA, dismissed criticism that the legislation was meant to target Muslims, and assured the Dalit Matua community of his government’s commitment to implementing the law that fast-tracks citizenship of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Christians and Parsis who have arrived in India from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh before 2015.
“We promised in 2019 that we will amend the citizenship law and asked the Matua community to support us in the Lok Sabha polls. They did not fail us. We kept our word and passed the law (in December 2019), but the country was hit by the pandemic. Mamata Banerjee campaigned that we were making false promises. She said she will stop the law from being enforced in Bengal. Today, I promise that the law will be enforced once vaccination is done and corona is gone,” he said at a rally at Thakurnagar in North 24-Parganas.
Thakurnagar is part of the
Bongaon Lok Sabha seat that the BJP won in 2019 by fielding Matua leader Shantanu Thakur against his aunt and then incumbent Mamata Bala Thakur, who was a candidate of the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC). In all, the BJP won 18 of the state’s 42 seats. Now, it aims to overthrow the TMC government by winning over 200 of the state’s 294 assembly seats in the elections due in April-May.
Originally from East Pakistan, Matuas, who are Hindus, came to India during the Partition and after the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. Analysts say the Dalit Namasudra community, with an estimated population of three million, can influence poll results in around 80 assembly seats. The Matuas are a part of this community. Shah’s message on CAA is seen an attempt to address an unease that has set in among a section of Matuas due to the delay in the implementation of the legislation.
Shah said CM Banerjee will not be in a position to oppose CAA in future as she will lose her post after the polls. Critics of the law, including Banerjee, argue
that CAA is discriminatory against Muslims and links citizenship to religion in a secular country. “I want to assure our Muslim brothers that they will not lose citizenship because of this law. The law does not take away citizenship rights. Not a single Muslim will be affected. The law has no such provision,” Shah said.
“Once in power, we will free Bengal of all infiltrators in five years,” he added.
Banerjee hit back. Addressing a large number of NGOs and social welfare organisations in Kolkata, she said she will not allow CAA and the National Register of Citizens, an exercise against illegal citizens. “My backward class friends include not just the Matuas but people from all groups and sub-castes. I seek your support in this election. Please save Bengal. I do not make promises like the Centre. I deliver. Commitments are my credential...,” she said.
Referring to Shah’s visit, she said: “All are welcome in Bengal. But things he said, the vulgar words he used… do not suit the home minister. You can insult
me but you can’t ignore me.”
Earlier in the day, Shah branded Banerjee a “failed administrator”, stressing that the upcoming polls will be a contest between PM Modi’s “development model” and Banerjee’s “destruction model”.
In Cooch Behar, Shah targeted the CM for objecting to the chanting of the “Jai Sri Ram” slogan at a January 23 government programme on freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose’s birth anniversary. PM Modi was present at the event. “Where else can you raise the Jai Sri Ram slogan? Will you do it in Pakistan? Mamata didi has problems with the slogan because she has to appease a particular community. I can assure you that by the time the polls are over, she will start chanting Jai Shri Ram,” said Shah, referring to Banerjee as didi, or elder sister.
Confrontation between China and the US will be disastrous for both countries and the world, Chinese President Xi Jinping cautioned Joe Biden in their first phone call since the latter took charge as the American president.
Biden raised with Xi the issue of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, crackdown in Hong Kong, and Beijing’s increasing assertiveness on Taiwan.
The phone call came on the eve of the Lunar New Year, the biggest festival in China. Biden tweeted after the phone call, “I told him I will work with China when it benefits the American people.”
In a statement, the White House said Biden “underscored his fundamental concerns about Beijing’s coercive and unfair economic practices, crackdown in Hong Kong, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and increasingly assertive actions in the region, including towards Taiwan”.
Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as telling Biden that those issues were China’s internal affairs. “The Taiwan question and issues relating to Hong Kong, Xinjiang, etc are China’s internal affairs and concern China’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity, and the US side should respect China’s core interests and act prudently.”
Xi said while the two sides may differ on some issues, it is crucial to show mutual respect, treat each other as equals, and properly handle differences in a constructive fashion.
“When China and the US work together, they can accomplish a great deal for the good of both countries and the world at large. Confrontation between the two countries, however, will definitely be disastrous for both countries and the world,” Xi said.
Thursday’s interaction came after Biden announced the formation of a China Task Force at the defence department to “chart a strong path forward on Chinarelated matters”. Biden made the announcement during his first visit to the Pentagon, saying the task force will “look at our strategy and operational concepts, technology, and force posture”.