Attack on Loksatta Editor

Somehere in rural Maharashtra, near a tiny dark hut, a woman is sitting , using her pallu to fan her little baby to comfort her from crippling heat and darkness, occasionaly looking at the shadow of tree in courtyard, with hint of tears in her eyes. There is no power in the village and the tree in the courtyard sometime metamorphoses and looks like her husband who hanged himself on it , just a month back. Hanged himself on same tree, when he was driven to penury, when his sugarcane crop was not bought by the sugar mill owner to avenge the caste which had not voted for the mill owner's politician father. In distant corner of the village, near the small cluster of shops which are unlit and dark due to perennial power shutdown, stands a tall statue of great marathi warrior Shivaji.

In a democratic setup, everybody has right to have an opinion and say. But increasingly, in this country, fringe lunatic groups have shown that they can shout few slogans, hurl few stones and generally have thier way to stifle any voice they precieve being in disagreement . Yesterday's attack on Loksatta editor Kumar ketkar is one such example. As reported in Media, his satirical political piece on present Government where he questioned rational of building a 100 crore statue of Shivaji instead of solving real problems state is facing, was picked up by "Shivaji" brigade as insult to Marathi pride and Shivaji. Some unknown group then marched to his house and almost killed him in front of TV crew which they themsleves had brought to scene.

What a bunch of jokers, these men. They can't find any other source of their manhood than a dead hero of past. In text books , childern of this country read about Shivaji as an indian hero. But some people in Maharshtra have hijacked him and have almost turned him into a provincial God. So much so for pride!