What's with the indecorum, Mr Politician?

I got a text message last night, which was the funniest amongst all the messages that are doing the rounds since the 26/11 attacks. It read "Ram Gopal Verma ki bas yahi kamaai; do sarkar banaayi aur ek giraayi". This might very well be the case, given that the CM has refused to see light even after repeated arguments by the common populace and the media that what he has done was improper. Mr Deshmukh justified his action by saying "Mr Verma is not a terrorist".

RGV (though he is not a minister) was equally blunt when he continuously went on justifying himself and the CM in an interview with Sreenivasan Jain from NDTV. Finally Vasu gave him one last chance to redeem himself, and asked him given the public reaction to the "terror tourism" that he indulged in, if such an opportunity arose again in the future, would he do it? RGV answered very much assertively that he would. There is a thin line between being candid and going overboard, that was when RGV crossed the line.

The ex-Deputy CM, RR Patil went one step ahead and said "Bade bade shahron mein aise ekaadh haadse hote rahte hai". With that comment he made the 26/11 attacks as another common place accident, nothing that the media and common man should get hyper about. The insensitivity was one of the many reasons, he lost his position, that's why the ex besides his designation. His followers tried to make light of it by saying Mr Patil was not well versed in Hindi, and hence he might have misworded what he actually meant. The explanation was too little, too late.

The crudest and the most unexplicable gaffe, now being called 'the lipstick gaffe' came from BJP member, Mr Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. If I remember well his version when translated in English read as "Ladies wearing lipstick, applying talcum powder and following western culture, light a candle and protest against the politicians. They are similar to the terrorists in Kashmir, demonising politicians, and bad mouthing democracy". Obviously women's groups are in a furore all over the country. So apparently ladies wearing lipstick and applying talcum powder have no right to protest or voice their opinion, they can be equated with terrorists. What a liberating thought!

The biggest and unforgivable statement is the one coming from Kerala's CM, Mr Achutanandan. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan who is a Malayalee was killed in the 26/11 attacks, when he was rescuing the people trapped in the Taj. After his body made it to Bengaluru, and after even the Karnataka CM made it to his house to offer condolences, there was a media frenzy in Kerala, prompting Mr Achutanandan to express his desire to pay his last respects to the Major's family. Apparently saddened by his son's loss, the Major's father made it clear to the CM that he did not wish to meet anyone. Even then the next day, the CM with his entourage reached the Major's house to pay his respects. Shaken because of his son's death and angered by the politics around something as trivial as paying respects to him, the Major's father drove out the entire group from out of his house and shouted out aloud "Get out of my house, you dogs!" After going back to Kerala, the Kerala CM tells in an interview "A soldier's father should be more sensible. If it was not the house of Major Sandeep (a martyr), not even a dog would have turned up there". It is ridiculous that a person at such a responsible position can utter such insensitive statements and even refuse to apologize.

The politicians and ministers have to understand that they are public servants and not drown in the highrises of their chairs. Emotions are running high all over the country nowadays, and the dirty politics which seem to follow every such event just seem to be beginning. The boiling point of people's emotions seems not too far off now, if the heat does not die soon, and the first ones to get scalded might be the politicians.