Go back, Fawad! Politics of boycott once more

"I look upon myself as a man. Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind," physicist Albert Einstein had told The Saturday Evening Post when asked whether he thought of himself as German or a Jew.

Einstein's words, spoken more than eight decades ago in October 1929, came back to haunt last week when an attack on the Uri army base killed 18 soldiers in a near repeat of the terror siege of the Pathankot air force base in January, embarrassing BJP's campaign on nationalism, further deepening India-Pakistan divides and giving fresh fillip to demands that Pakistani artistes from India's music and film industry be ejected. Just one example of this is an open letter by former dna journalist and blogger Soumyadipta Banerjee to actor Fawad Khan, asking him to go back, which has gone viral.

"Fawad, I don't think you can deny how much love we have showered on you over the past few years. We have given you more money in two years than what you could have possibly earned in Pakistan in 10 years," Banerjee says in his letter to the Kapoor and Sons star published in Bollywood Journalist. "We've given you recognition that you would have never been able to earn sitting in Karachi. We made you act in great movies, we helped you endorse brands. And hey, we also made you a bigger star in Pakistan," he goes on. Suggesting that the Pakistani actor has chosen to look away when his country is inflicting pain on India, the letter says: "Fawad, you lack courage. You lack conviction. You lack the guts to stand up against jihadists of your country."

Soft targets

Cultural historian Mukul Joshi acknowledges the collective mounting anger and says patience is wearing thin given the repeated terror attacks. But the anger is misdirected, he stresses. "Instead of looking at our own lapses, which led to incursions from across the border, we are looking for soft targets such as actors and musicians, knowing they will not be able to retaliate. We have seen the Shiv Sena and MNS competitively use such virulent xenophobic hate for migrants from the north who come here to make a living, targeting small chaat vendors and cabbies. The attack on Fawad Khan now or Ghulam Ali Khan saab earlier is a near equivalent."

He likens such behaviour to a separated couple that has each taken custody of one of their two children. "Expecting children to not interact and play together is insane. That's exactly what the average Indian and Pakistani citizens are, legatees of a common civilisation. For political outfits to try and transfer project their agenda of hatred and division on to the people is a travesty."

Joshi also reminds Indians of their love for Pakistani content on TV and their music. "At a time when we were drowning in the loud and crass saas-bahu dramas, serials like Zindagi Gulzar Hai, Kitni Girhain Baki Hain and Kaash Main Teri Beti Na Hoti offered us some desperately needed relief. And anyone with an ear for music will admit that Coke Studio India is not a patch on the Pakistani version."

No red carpet please

Not everyone agrees. Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Jay Shah, who led a protest against Pakistani singer Atif Aslam's concert in Ahmedabad two years ago and courted arrest, feels the government should make it illegal for Pakistanis to come here. "If they are so keen to make money here, let them come and condemn their country's support for terror," he lashes out, attacking those supporting such artistes. "Pakistan does not allow release of Indian films. None of our performers get to go there for concerts. Why should we generously welcome them with red carpets."

Singer Abhijeet Bhattacharya, who attacked those defending exchange of art, echoes him. "An exchange involves give and take. Where is the exchange here? These people are here to take away opportunities from Indian artistes, and look at what we are getting in return." Calling artistes in Pakistan jobless, he mocks India's neighbour. "The only industry that thrives there is terrorism."

Bhattacharya, however, reserves his most severe criticism for members of the film industry he labels as traitors. "Why do people like Mahesh Bhatt and Karan Johar keep finding only these people to sign for their projects? Are they saying India does not have a tradition of art, music, acting or filmmaking?" When reminded of their freedom of choice, he gets more livid. "Have you noticed them tweet or make a public statement condoling families of any army jawan who has lost his life? But the moment anyone says anything about Pakistanis, they will leap to protest."

Constitutional values

While attempts to reach Karan Johar for comment drew a blank, filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt states that the growing polarisation and intolerance pains him. "Such hatred and venom ridicules our Constitution. Every time someone says something hateful of others, they put down the very values of democracy that the freedom struggle enshrined," says Bhatt.

"Though the hate brigade does its best to amplify their ideas and thoughts by blackening faces and threatening artistes like Ghulam Ali, Fawad Khan or Mahira Khan, I refuse to believe that the larger majority wants that," he says.

He, however, feels it is futile to mirror the hatred of the attackers. "Instead of offering hate in return, lets go back to what our founding fathers of this country fought for, and fight for the right of every individual's right to not conform. To be different. I don't think we do that enough."

Civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad, who edits the monthly magazine Communalism Combat, laments how some sections of the media fan such hatred and bigotry. "Though s/he votes, an average citizen in India cannot be held responsible for policies that the government frames. Across the border, it is not the elected government, but rogue sections of the army calling the shots. How can we target an average Pakistani citizen for that?" she asks.

"Such hypernational hate and targeting of actors and artistes is a facet of the same intolerance that attacks those who raise their voice on Dalit rights, minorities or against nepotism."

Theatre personality Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal wonders where this "epidemic of hate" will lead. "From asking truly committed and loyal citizens to leave the country and go to Pakistan just because they disagree with the conformity does not augur well for our country and reeks of a communal and racist mindset that will ultimately destroy all the good in India. It has come to a point where just because you like the music of another country, your loyalty is questioned. If someone likes Susan Boyle, does that make that person an Anglophile or an anti-national?"

Battles of convenience

Joshi laughs over the MNS' threat asking all Pakistanis in Bollywood to leave in 48 hours. He calls this yet another of "the hate brigade's battles of convenience".

"Can we really boycott everything from nations which are in the bad books of the world for one reason or the other?" So much of India's arms imports, he says, come from Israel, which has one of the worst records for human rights abuses (against Palestinians). So much of our technology comes from the US, which has used the war against terror to further its own geostrategic agenda and corner the oil in the Middle East. "And the worst case is that of China, from where there is little we do not import. This despite China's incestuous closeness to Pakistan and its attempts to encircle India by enticing Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka too. I haven't seen any of the hatemongers demonstrating against this, not to mention its army's increasingly frequent incursions into Indian territory." He summed it best with, "For these hypernationals, a I-hate-Pakistan brand of patriotism counts more than the I-love-India kind."

Something to keep busy arguing over. Till the next attack?