Tuesday

Sachin is Indian first!

Sachin Tendulkar, the lovable cricketer said yesterday: “Mumbai belongs to India. That is how I look at it. And I am a Maharashtrian and I am extremely proud of that but I am an Indian first,” which has raised some serious comments from the Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackarey.

It is surprising that Sachin who has always been very adept in staying away from controversies has gotten himself entangled in this game of loyalty to the state or loyalty to the nation question. It does appear thougth that Sachin has been brainwashed by a deceitful media and pseudo patriots. Since when did being a truthful Maharashtrian become anti Indian? Why should a proud Maharashtrian be expected to list in order of preference his loyalty to Maharashtra and India? Isn’t this a stupid topic?

Shiv Sena Leader Bal Thackeray commented on Sachin in his magazine Samna:

“When You speak politics, You rip apart the hearts of Maharashtrians,”

Thackeray pointed out that when Mumbai was won for Maharashtra ‘with a lot of blood struggle and the supreme sacrifice of 105 Marathi people, Sachin was not even born and that he might not be aware of it.

Moreover Bal Thackeray has raised one question which Sachin might find hard to answer:

 ”Cricketers may talk big things about the country, but ultimately play only for themselves. Do cricketers ever bother about the problems confronting the country, the inflation, slums proliferation in Mumbai, the influx of people from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bangladeshi Muslims?”

The remark by Sachin and rebuttal by Bal Thackeray can invite two vital questions

First we have to wonder why this question of putting the national or regional pride in first or second place raised now? This is always a question raised by mischievous status quoists and half baked nationalists who take pride in empty rhetoric of national integration. In earlier occasions such questions were thrown against Tamils too when they expressed their natural affection to their mother tongue.

Those crying and shouting in English media this week against Thackerays are anxious about their business in Media and Politics. They are trying to retain their viewers and electorates elsewhere and have failed to feel the pulse of Marathi Youth in common man. But Thackerays know the grass root of their soil.

If speaking for Marathi pride is against the spirit of being an Indian then it holds good for those in cow belt who are convenient with Hindi pride.  Answering a truly irrelevant question does not suit the caliber of a personality such as Sachin who is loved by all. If Sachin is ever confronted with such an obviously leg pulling question, he must only be pleased to say that He is an Universal man, the whole world belongs to him and he belongs to the whole world.

The second question is about the participation of Cricketers and Entertainers in politics. In Pakistan Imran tried and failed. In India Cricketers could become MP in Rajya sabha. Politics has become a conviniet and well paid retirement plan for many popular figures from various fields.

Bal Thackeray as a politician  is only a regional player. He has to speak for the people of Maharashtra for whom he has strived and dedicated his life for so long. Despite the means he employs in his political maneuvers he represents Marathi manoos. Lalu Prasad Yadav cannot represent a Marathi although he is an

Indian. The so called national parties are weak in understanding the pulse of several regions of our country and believe that there could be integration without recognizing differentiation: Integration is not a naturally existing entity but becomes necessary since differentiation exists originally.

Unlike Bal Thackeray a politician who is a Marathi face to the Indian people, Sachin  is a cricketer and is an Indian face to the Sports World. A Marathi inside Sachin is only a hidden identity. Is it fair to doubt Sachin that he earns money from outside Maharashtra and for that matter he  has to compromise his Marathi identity ? Such compromises can be  made for the sake of retaining a national leadership by the politicians like M.K Gandhi. The pseudo nationalists are creating unnecessary clash and are trying to show as if Sachin is playing against Bal Thackeray.

Better for Sachin to keep off politics as advised by Bal Thackeray. It is unthinkable to see Sachin on the side of Hindi fanatics who try to project a conflict between the passion for mother tongue and national pride.