Anurag Kashyap labelling Bhansali's attacker as 'Hindu terrorists' is an insult to victims of terror

Anurag Kashyap the Bollywood film director is a genius, one of the most talented auteurs of his generation who captures grief, psychosis, human trappings, greed and cultural milieus better than any of his peers. His Gangs of Wasseypur remains, in my humble opinion, the best gangster thriller made in India and perhaps the only time Bihari people looked cool. On the other hand, Anurag Kashyap, the ranter, troll and social media justice warrior is one of the most illogical individuals on Twitter.

His rants on Twitter are often far-fetched, devoid of reason or logic, and he seems to be following in the footsteps of his mentor Ram Gopal Verma. From blaming Modi for everything to considering trolls the source all evil, this is the third-time Anurag Kashyap’s tweets have evoked a reaction from the author. The first time was when he blamed PM Modi for ‘banning ADHM’, the second time when he compared online 'right-wing trolls' to the bigots giving death threats to Zaira Wasim.

And after the attack on Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Kashyap was at it again when he compared a group of idiots called the Rajasthan Karni Sena to Hindu terrorists. He wrote on Twitter: "Hindu extremists have stepped out of Twitter into the real world now.. and Hindu terrorism is not a myth anymore."

 Let’s be clear violence in no form is right, it’s the default behaviour of savages, not civilised humans, and there are scores of ways to disagree with Mr Bhansali’s portrayal, they can choose from the myriad democratic forms of protests that exist.

They can trend hash tags branding him anti-national, they can boycott products endorsed by the actors in the movie, they are free to go protest in front of the hall or during the shooting, downgrade apps and any other non-violent means of protest they can come up with. What they don’t have the right to do is go and physically attack someone. 

It’s the Rajasthan government which ends up with egg on the face, particularly since they had given permission for the shoot and Bollywood is quite right in coming together to protest the fringe group.

However, comparing them to a terrorist organisation is the same as comparing a Sajid Khan flick to a Martin Scorsese classic. Kashyap’s comparing two-bit thugs to a terrorist is insulting to real victims of terror. Terrorism is not a joke, and the world has borne the brunt of this radicalised individuals, who are hell-bent on destroying the civilised way of life, who want a war along the lines of religion and race to end civilisation as we know it.

Are we really comparing SLB’s plight to victims of 26/11 in Mumbai or the Dhaka bakery attack or 9/11 or victims of the shooting at the Orlando night club?  While there’s no problem in using the term Hindu terror, we really ought to wait before heavily armed groups or lone wolves start executing innocent people in the name of Hindu gods before throwing the T-word around. It's a gross insult particularly since Hindus, despite the rise in in alarmist headlines on ‘intolerance’ remain a largely peaceful group. 

An amateurish and anti-Islamic movie called Innocence of Muslims, led to protests across the world resulting in over 50 deaths including fatwas against the producers. On the other hand, a movie criticising Hindu religious practises starring Aamir Khan was one of the highest grossing films ever made and that was because we as a nation are not intolerant and the mainstream certainly does not support the fringe. 

It is completely acceptable to look inwards and be critical of various issues plaguing Hinduism, like caste system, low literacy among others. But trying to press a button where none exists, merely for some retweets is childish at best and harmful at worst. The world needs saner voices, objective discussions and not empty rabble rousing by privileged elites. It's time Anurag Kashyap grows up.