Author: Suhel Seth
Publication: The Hindustan Times
Date: October 15, 2004
URL: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1059650,00120003.htm
I am now mortally terrified at the
sight of Harkishen Singh Surjeet. The man is sharper than we all thought.
Wicked like any ageing communist should be, he even has the right global
connections: a son in Vancouver whom he visits. Except that Surjeet has
now become a comprehensive pain. I am worried that he will now exert influence
and not let me stand for the Friends Colony association elections.
This government is behaving in a
silly manner. There is a better and more subtle way of planting your own
people than by removing people from posts which are merely honorary. I
can never understand the petty behaviour of the people running this government.
Suddenly, the talented Rajeev Sethi has become critical in every thing
to do with design. Suddenly, Navin Chawla uses the Mahadev auditorium to
show trash like Bride and Prejudice. And then, these are the same people
who used to berate the BJP for having private viewings with family and
friends. But how differently are they behaving?
It is insulting that this government,
which went on the offensive against the BJP on tampering with history books,
is now stopping Prakash Jha's film on JP only because it has references
to the Emergency! Will someone in the I&B ministry please wake up and
see how hypocritical they are? You curse Murli Manohar Joshi three months
ago for tampering with India's history. And then exactly three months later,
you do an about-turn and that too with an independent honest filmmaker
like Prakash Jha! How ridiculous is that?
My sincerest advice to Sonia Gandhi
will be to take a closer look at all that her government is doing. I see
the media honeymoon coming to an end and post that, it is going to be open
season. If loyalists are to be rewarded, then create positions for them
without sacrificing good people like Anupam Kher and Prakash Jha. Sonia
Gandhi should realise that loyalists can be a bigger danger than even people
like Surjeet, for they corrupt the system from within. The media too have
suddenly changed sides - which is only expected. It is fashionable, and
at times suitable, to be on the right side since you wouldn't want to miss
a junket or two - or, for that matter, the frequent invitation to Race
Course Road.
Why don't all these people realise
that all of this power is transitional? Why don't they try and fix the
bigger things like education and unemployment? Why don't they put Surjeet
on the first flight to China and never ever give him a return ticket?
The Left is running amuck. It is
typical of those who've tasted influence without having the control and
this is where Manmohan Singh's tragedy rests. He will never be able to
do anything with these communists lurking around if he doesn't send out
a strong signal.
Surjeet can barely see properly
and yet he wants to decide who the Censor Board chief should be. He can
hardly walk and yet he wants to choose which dancer in India will head
the Sangeet Natak Akademi and people like Navin and Jaipal Reddy are falling
prey to his machinations. This needs to stop. This country needs a Congress
government. We don't need a Congress Censor Board chief, a Congress dancer,
a Congress caterer and a Congress theatre actor. This polarisation is disastrous,
to say the least, and the pace at which these people are pursuing it will
have ramifications as the years go by.
Let me share with you something
about the communists. They are basically an unhappy lot pretending to be
satisfied with being poor and impoverished. They are so ideologically driven
that they would much rather have Marx than Soros. And this is their real
problem. They want to be bare-feet all their lives so they will ensure
we never wear shoes: this is their sociological DNA. They ruined Bengal,
and are now ready to ruin India.
