Tyranny of demonocracy - Foul mouths have a field day

Original Report

New Delhi, April 10: Kutri, vandri, Pootna, hijra, chor….

This is not the lexicon of a Mumbai tapori who relishes a shower of abuse on his target before pulling the trigger on him. These are your would-be representatives, people who will become tomorrow’s lawmakers.

The campaign has not even warmed up yet, and already the air is thick with foul, nay filthy, language spewing from high podiums across the country. The hooligan tongue is fast becoming the chief law and order problem of these polls, keeping the Election Commission engaged beyond hours.

What’s worrying is this oral offensive is neither the outcome of momentary lapses into indiscretion, nor limited to exceptions; more and more, they are becoming an indispensable, and accepted, part of political discourse. There is nothing new about personal slight and public slanging in politics.

An angry Morarji Desai called Indira Gandhi “chhokri” (chit of a girl) and a blunt Ram Manohar Lohia labelled her “gungi guria” (dumb doll) but the level of political debate seldom stooped below socially acceptable limits, much less abuse.

The standards have been steadily falling over the past decade; and this campaign has decidedly taken off on a scary note, promising to drive political atmospherics to new, and dirty, depths.

With 24x7 media straining to feed its unquenchable “breaking-news” hunger, the stinkspeak has had unparalleled attention and amplification. Pre-television, the temptation to transmit foul language was far less because it never had the same impact in print (and, in any case, it never got the kind of instant national audience television can fetch). Today, the media may well be a feeding resort to soundbite pollution — it brings you much greater play.

Varun Gandhi’s communal hate-mongering happened in the far corners of Pilibhit, but it rode far and wide on television networks, securing saturation coverage. Within no time, there was nobody left who did not know what the young Gandhi had been saying.

But there were others who escaped similar scrutiny. Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena called Prime Minister Manmohan Singh a hijra (eunuch) while the BJP’s Gujarat (Panchmahal) MLA Fatehsinh Chauhan called Sonia Gandhi kutri (bitch) and vandri (monkey). Cases were registered against both.

Uddhav has inherited his abusive instincts from father Bal Thackeray. The elder Thackeray used expressions like “naamard” (impotent) for Congress leaders as habit, always without any provocation. The Gujarat MLA picked up the thread from his chief minister Narendra Modi, who mocks Sonia and Rahul Gandhi at every opportunity.

Even seasoned campaigners have faltered this time. The veteran Lalu Prasad called Sushma Swaraj Pootna (the mythical demoness who was sent to kill Lord Krishna) a few days after threatening to run a roller over Varun’s chest. Sushma had provoked him by calling him a “jallad” (hangman).

Andhra Pradesh Congress chief D. Srinivas is also in trouble for threatening to sever the finger that is raised against Muslims. In Andhra Pradesh, chief minister Y. Rajasekhar Reddy and TDP leader Chandrababu Naidu are locked in a slanging match. While Reddy is calling Naidu “cheater and liar,” the TDP leader is returning the compliment by describing him as a “looter and robber”.

Top leaders of the mainstream parties usually avoid making offensive remarks. When the late Pramod Mahajan called Sonia Gandhi a Monica Lewinsky, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee expressed concern at the falling standards of public discourse.

Sonia herself is extremely cautious and personally analyses the pros and cons of every word she speaks. Though her “maut ke saudagar” remark evoked strong reactions, many in the Congress felt she would not have used the expression had she not believed in the political content of the message she was sending out.

Congress sources reveal that Sonia was reluctant to allow an acceptable adage —andher nagri chaupat raja — in her speech during the last Uttar Pradesh Assembly election. She had to be convinced that the saying only pointed to a miserable situation headed by a bad king and was not a personal insinuation.

The BJP had fought an entire election shouting “Gali gali mein shor hai/Rajiv Gandhi chor hai.” After Rajiv’s name was cleared in the Bofors case by the courts, Sonia appeared before the media along with her two children and recalled how anguished they felt by the vilification campaign.

L.K. Advani, who did torment Manmohan Singh by calling him the weakest Prime Minister, also maintains dignity in public speech. But he and his like may increasingly be exceptions.

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