The Anti-Nationalist: A Hasan Minhaj Story

With the general elections right around the corner, a certain someone thought it would be fun to take a dig at the current political scenario in India. Yes, it’s about the controversial comments made by Hasan Minhaj, an American comedian, on his Netflix show, The Patriot Act.

The March 17^th release of the series showed tempers flare, across people all over India. The episode started with how the difference of opinions about the Muslim community is seen in India as well as around the world. Minhaj analyses the current state of the Indian political scene, with a prime focus onto the terrorist attacks and issues regarding Jammu & Kashmir.

In the half-hour episode, he discusses how recent conflicts with Pakistan, economic issues under PM Modi and a resurgence of Hindu nationalism, play a major role in defining the political face of India. He started off by highlighting the terror attacks in JK border by Pakistan and also India retaliating. He joked about how Pakistan had gone for “Eco-terrorism” accusations against India on the basis of Indian retaliation missing its target and hence destroyed some trees.

He quickly shifted attention towards the upcoming general elections in India. His comments about the Modi led government seemingly one “oppressing the minorities, was the talking point among netizens in the past week. He did not stop at taking a dig only at Modi but also on his opponent this term or election, Rahul Gandhi. His statements have brought about widespread hate on social media. People have been pointing out that it was “outright Hinduphobia” and also has accused Netflix in promoting this “bigot.”

Many of his accusations had been baseless, spewing spineless statements about the border attacks at JK. Although some of his comments were rather genuine, it rustled some feathers, here and there. His views on India as a “Hindu Nationalist State,” for oppressing the minorities shows just how weak and broken his research on the topic was. Everything about the Ministry of Minority Affairs says otherwise about this statement. Also, his blunt accusation or rather pinning the BJP for these “cow lynching” cases was really immature and ignorant on his part. It is to be noted that BJP wasn’t one that came up with cow protection schemes exclusively, but Congress has implemented this directive over the last seven decades, across India. They had been peddling cow protection agendum since the 1900s, encouraging Hindus to protect the mute beings even if it led to violent confrontations.

The netizens had mixed reactions about this episode of “Patriot Act,” yet most opposed his actions and wordings about the BJP led government. People felt that the set was one-sided, aimed at attacking the BJP for its stance on Hindu Nationalism. Many lashed out on Netflix for supporting this act of Hinduphobia. While some had contrarian views, lauding him for taking a position on such a sensitive topic at a time like this when the country is in some political tension.

The show took real precaution to reduce the backlash it received. The way he started with the joke on him being a spy and also the NRI stereotyping kind of cut the hate comments that he would’ve gotten. However, the way he put forward his thoughts on the border issue and the terrorist attacks were not conventional and seemed petty. Him inviting controversy has caused Netflix to stress out a bit, with the #BoycottNetflix action gaining traction.

Minhaj’s attempt is to connect the dots and make sense of all the disparate events that add up to a bigger picture – a fundamental shift in what India has been so far. “Will India remain India or not? Will India define itself by inclusion or exclusion?” he asks. That disturbs him, and he wants it to disturb others who may be otherwise ‘apolitical’ or neutral towards one party or the other.

It’s a fine balancing act that may anger vast numbers of Indian Americans but also has the potential to make many of them think. He can be criticized for oversimplifying things, but that is the view from India. A popular comedian’s voice has tremendous traction and impact, especially on a global platform such as Netflix.

Minhaj has leveraged that influence for something that he must think is very important, in a very clever way.

 

Men Too

Brett Kavanaugh is a learned man.

The 53 year old Republican was until recently kept busy by a huge backlog of cases at his extremely popular law firm. However, a landmark announcement in July by President Trump shook Kavanaugh’s world. He’d been nominated for a position on the U.S Supreme Court. A day every practicing American lawyer wants to wake up to. It wasn’t a one off achievement for Kavanaugh though. He’s been adding feathers to his cap well before he started out as a brash young D.C lawyer. Graduating cum laude from Yale, a lot was expected from him.

He seemed to live up to them. Until Ms.Christine Ford decided to knock on his heavy door in September 2018. Ms. Ford alleged that she’d been sexually assaulted by Kavanaugh in the 80’s, and might have been raped, until a third person intervened. Ford was 15 at the time. She positively ‘thinks’ that it’s Kavanaugh, without having any witness to back up her stance.And yet, Ms. Ford has gathered a huge army of supporters on social media such as Quora, Instagram and Facebook.

Dr Ford

Kavanaugh’s unblemished record already seems to be compromised in the public’s critical eye, even though the judge hasn’t reached a decision. His approval ratings have fallen by a mile, and the pseudo liberal junta would not stop until he’s ousted.

Closer home, we have another such case. The Jasleen Kaur vs Saravjeet case has grabbed eyeballs since its inception. Jasleen had filed a complaint against Saravjeet in 2015 for harassment and verbal abuse. Saravjeet’s photo was uploaded on various social media, and Jasleen was hailed as a brave shark in a sea of silent fish.Saravjeet faced the consequences. He lost his job, not surprisingly. And 3 years and 13 summons later, Saravjeet still struggles.

And how’s Jasleen doing? Well, she left the country for greener pastures. And while doing that, failed to attend a single hearing.

So after all that praise that we shower on our Instagram activists, is it finally time to reflect?

• Why were the allegations against Kavanaugh made after 35 years?
• Why was a person who lost his job even before his trial made to wait 13 hearings to put his view across the media?
• Are we glorifying such armchair activists a bit too much?
• Why aren’t men put on the same pedestal as women in these cases?

Let’s look at the key aim of feminism. Its equality between men and women. It does not mean women are superior to men. By glorifying these internet starlets aren’t we killing the very definition we fought so long for?

The Jasleen case could have been handled in such a better manner. But our pseudo-feminists didn’t want to take that chance. Saravjeet didn’t get a single interview at the time of the incident. Kavanaugh is the first S.C nominee to have such a stellar track record and experience.

 I’m neither supporting Kavanaugh nor Saravjeet. I don’t really care about the final verdict. I’ve been appalled by the way our media and internet darlings have handled these cases. All I want is a fair judgement. Also, I’m not demeaning feminism in any manner. Being a proud feminist myself, I think the time’s come that we start protecting the very basis of feminism.

Else, the world can gear up for #MenToo.

-Shivaansh Mishra

Gunning Down the Self-righteous

James Gunn’s firing from Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 by Disney has shaken Hollywood.

The Gunn fiasco blew up during the San Diego Comic-Con weekend, with Disney removing him after some polemical tweets were uncovered. Since then, there has been a furore on both sides. Many celebrities have come forward in Gunn’s defence calling for his reinstatement, including the Guardians of the Galaxy cast. The most outspoken has been Dave Bautista, who has threatened to quit if Gunn’s submitted screenplay is not used. Recently, it’s been rumoured that Gunn may return to Marvel in a different capacity, although nothing has been made official.

James Gunn

His firing is about so many things beyond Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It’s about the alt-right, Me Too, the Disney monopoly, fandom, Marvel’s cosmic future, Marvel vs. DC (because of course), and the question of a person’s ability to change. Covering the ever-shifting story has been a challenge – so much is up in the air – and some of the more recent developments (Gunn may return to Marvel under a different franchise) make the whole thing seem farcical.

Plainly, I don’t find Gunn’s jokes that funny but can’t condemn him now for making them over a decade ago and certainly don’t think they’re a fireable offence. That’s the core of this. Disney should have done their due diligence and looked into the context; everything that’s followed in this PR disaster stems from that rushed decision. Had they just paused for thought, I guarantee this entire thing would have blown over. Unfortunately, the Hollywood machine never looks back and Disney and Gunn are going through this tortured situation for no real gain.

All this really shows that big companies can be influenced by political mavericks, that knee-jerk reactions can overcome reason. And in the fraught world we find ourselves in, that’s not a good policy. I have no doubt Gunn will be fine – this entire thing has probably made him a bigger name – but even if he returns back to Marvel, the lesson and legacy of this decision are worrying.

The Gunn situation is unfortunate and not nearly as simple as anyone seems to think. Those that defend him are willing to move past his inappropriate jokes because they were years ago and he seems to be a changed person since then. They think Disney can and should simply reinstate him as a director because it was an obvious smear campaign and those that don’t agree will get over it. Those that aren’t letting him off the hook think the jokes are emblematic of a larger issue with Gunn’s character, expecting another shoe to drop like so many other Hollywood figures recently. Making matters worse, the issue is also intrinsically linked to partisan politics and fanboy bias, meaning it’s nearly impossible for any meaningful or enlightening discussion to happen in the short term.

The fact that Disney was so quick to fire him is the most complicating factor, throwing an even bigger spotlight on the issue when it could have been handled in a more measured way, avoiding as much attention, and allowing Gunn to stay on after an investigation and character review. Fans and general audience members will likely eventually move on, provided nothing else comes to light, but society is slow to process this kind of situation, so it’ll be a number of years before he’s not such a polarizing figure. So, while it’s unlikely that he’ll direct Guardians of the Galaxy 3, his relationship with Marvel Studios as a director probably isn’t over, and he likely has opportunities elsewhere as other studios seem less bothered than Disney by his predicament.

Yes. The jokes about rape and paedophilia that got James Gunn fired from his position as writer and director of Marvel’s hugely successful Guardians of the Galaxy franchise are largely un-funny, tasteless, and in most cases disgusting. We should probably get that out of the way right up front because to defend Gunn in the wake of Disney’s decision, is to also defend the content of the tweets.

But a surprisingly often overlooked part of the conversation is the fact that the ringleader of Gunn’s downfall, Mike Cernovich, had to scroll back to 2011 to find the tweets at all. Seven years, conveniently bypassing apologies and mea culpa, overlooking attempts at change, ignoring statements like the one Gunn posted just days before he was fired:

To deny someone the capacity to change is a dangerous precedent to set, not just in Hollywood where a person’s public life is on display 24/7 but to anyone engaging in the social media age. It sets the bar at, “What’s the point?” It gives the message that concepts like betterment and learning are futile because the sins of your past are an immovable weight that only gets heavier the harder you climb. Strange, from a monolith like Disney, which has worked tirelessly to paint over a past filled with scars like Song of the South and Dumbo‘s horribly stereotypical black crows, to name just an instance. But through a sheer effort of PR and Marvel-aided goodwill, that Disney feels like a ghost of the studio now. Which is exactly what makes Gunn’s firing so frustrating; Disney didn’t fire a director, they fired his ghost. The meme below explains the hypocrisy on the side of Disney.

Before Friday, we were watching Gunn find himself on-screen among the stars. The Guardians of the Galaxy movies are, boiled down, stories about shoddy people—rascals, thieves, assassins, criminals—learning through intense trial and error to be less shoddy. Not just that, but the literal magic that comes with the realization that your past does not define you. One of the most genuinely insane opinions I’ve seen come out of this situation is, “I still love the Guardians movies, but I can’t support Gunn.” You learned nothing. Behind the space fights and the laser beams, there’s a story about overcoming the person you were. The filmmaker’s brother, Sean Gunn—who also played Kraglin in the Guardians films—said as much on Twitter this past Saturday:

The term many people like to lob at the pro-Gunn side of the argument is ‘hypocrite’. It’s hypocritical to not understand Gunn’s firing when, say, you support ABC removing Roseanne Barr from her sitcom for describing former Obama aide Valerie Jarett as, “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby.” I don’t personally find it hypocritical to say that a racist thing said by a racist is different from a stupid thing said by an unfunny idiot. Both are “bad”, but one carries a lifetime’s worth of dangerous weight than the other. It’s also worth noting that whereas Gunn’s offensive tweets were made seven years ago, Barr never stopped making offensive comments and just expected all of us to roll with it.

But again, this is about a human’s capacity to change; it’s the difference between someone regretfully being a bad person in the past and someone unrepentantly being a bad person right now. This isn’t a this-side-versus-that thing. Mark Hammill is one of my favourite people on the planet, but if he took to Twitter to scream that he “thought the bitch was white” I’d say he probably doesn’t belong in the Star Wars franchise anymore. If Henry Cavill continues to confuse casual flirting with rape, we need a new Superman.

 

Of Football and Women

Sports has played a major role in defining people and cultures since time immemorial. Sporting events have not just been watched, but, celebrated by people all around the world.

For instance, in light of recent events, take the FIFA World Cup, where France left with the trophy and their head held high. It hit an attendance of 3 million plus spectators in the 12 Russian stadiums and a global viewership of about 4-4.2 billion. The world cup also showed a great deal of equality amongst men of all colours and races who teamed up as a unified front for their respective countries in this modern-day battle arena.

The Calm Before The Storm

But, as we turn the pages of history, there has been no such event that hasn’t had a flip side. That flip side in FIFA 18 were the multiple campaigns with sexist undertones. Burger King ran a campaign offering $47,000 to any women who got impregnated by a world cup player. Even the Argentina Football Association included a ‘how to pick up Russian women’ in their pre-tournament guide.

Female reporters were also kissed while they were covering live at Russia. Even though some of them took it as a little prank, everyone didn’t. What’s worse? Many fans took to ludicrous excuses; with some implicitly citing the preconceived notion of Russian women as sex symbols as a point of motive.

Women’s March (2018)

Enough has been said about feminism and women empowerment- but is it ever enough? Tabloids online hint at the emergence of a new era – one where humans regardless of what lies between their legs, walk together, hand in hand, into a brand, new future.

Educations and awareness are great, but at times, they simply aren’t enough. Empathy is what the world’s in dire need of right now. There is a thin line between a practical joke and harassment that people must look out for, and once they do, who knows there might be fewer controversies to talk about.

A Tale of Two Tales

Sanju​: the biopic of the very flamboyant and volatile Sanjay Dutt released last week. Rajkumar Hirani’s storytelling prowess coupled with Ranbir Kapoor’s seamless transition into the character has made it the best-received flick of the year, by critics and audiences alike.

It has also, in a way, cleared the lifelong burden of a sunken image off Dutt’s shoulders.

The burden of being a talentless son of a superstar.

The burden of being addicted to several kinds of drugs and intoxicants.

And most importantly, the burden of being tagged as a terrorist​.

However, was Dutt as innocent as portrayed by the film? Let’s explore the heart of the conundrum: The 1993 Bombay blasts.

March 12, 1993- it was just another surly afternoon in India’s financial capital. What had proceeded twisted it into the darkest. A corrupt bureaucracy, few corrupt police officers, a good partnership of criminals and a fool-proof curtain of the few big names of the B-town and yes, that’s all you need to turn B-Town to Terror-Town. The Bombay blasts witnessed many deaths and crores in material damage. But why did it even happen? Terror usually has a motive, right?

The preceding year had been another volatile one. The Babri Masjid demolition in Ayodhya sent the entire country’s hard-line Muslims into a furore. Hindu homes were raided, children burned, and women raped. After a prolonged resistance, the saturation point had been reached. Hindu extremists retaliated. The riots reached Bombay, the financial capital. In the midst of the riots, the shop of Tiger Memon, the main perpetrator of the blasts, was burned. Memon had contacts within the D-Company, a multibillion-dollar underworld organisation headed by Dawood Ibrahim and his henchmen.

This sequence of events coupled with the above fact was a perfect recipe​ for disaster.

A recipe that led to 12 bombings.

A recipe that killed 257 innocent people.

A recipe that changed the face of India forever.

But where​ does Sanjay Dutt fit in?

Dawood’s younger brother Anees Ibrahim was a good friend of Dutt. The movie conveniently skips over this part. Furthermore, according to the book “Dial D for Don”, written by acclaimed IPS officer Neeraj Kumar, it was Anees who had supplied Dutt with the weapons.

A few questions still remain:

Did Dutt really need Assault rifles​ if he indeed wanted to protect his father? Weren’t pistols enough? After publicly admitting his fondness towards hunting​, why does the movie fail to mention this part?

The real story surely seems very grey as opposed to its black or white​ model as seen in the film. After the arrest of Sanjay Dutt, subsequently, many were arrested under charges of illegal arms’ possession. Their fates, unlike Mr Dutt’s remain unknown to this day. Sanjay was released many times and then again thrown back in jail. Finally, in 2016, he completed his term in jail as per the decision lent out in 2014; following which he began to live a normal life of a Bollywood star. His exit from jail created a lot of emotional stir all around the country.

Coming back to the actual terrorists-

• Tiger Memon​ lives a normal life in Pakistan, under the protection of the ISI.
• Dawood Ibrahim​ controls his empire remotely from Dubai and Karachi.
• Yakub Memon, ​Tiger’s brother returned back to his country and was hanged after being convicted under the Terrorism act for sponsoring Tiger’s malicious activities.

This attack will remain embedded in the minds of many Indians. It also marked Dawood Ibrahim as the connoisseur of terrorism.

With all that said, what does ‘Sanju’ really stand for?

Yet another script of deception with dim shades of truth enshrined in the heart of Bollywood.