Ever since the Supreme Court issued an order that National Anthem should be played in the movie halls across the country, some ‘patriots’ have taken it on their shoulders to turn moral police and reignite that lost spark of nationalism in the citizens, and they don’t even care about the extent to which they go to make their voices heard.
Just in case you are feeling good about this, let us tell you punching an elderly man in the name of nationalism is not something to be proud of and we wouldn’t refrain from saying that it’s really shameful on your part.
In Mumbai’s Goregaon area, a 59-year-old man, Amalraj Peter Dasan, was attacked by a drunk for not standing up during the national anthem tune that was being played in one of the scenes in the movie ‘Dangal’. To set things straight, Dasan dutifully stood during the national anthem that played before the beginning of the movie. Ironically, Dasan and his wife were the only ones who stood up during the national anthem as the hall was empty. So is this some sort of a new symbol of patriotism where you aren’t nationalist enough if you don’t rise each time the anthem is played, even if it’s just in a scene? Or does rising during the anthem make you more patriotic, while you can walk out and talk sh*t about the country later? Traumatized by the event, Dasan and his wife requested Mumbai Mirror to appeal to all the actors, producers and the Censor Board, on their behalf and alert the audience if there were any scenes related to the national anthem.
The accused has been identified as Shirish Madhukar, a 52-year-old man who has now been booked under the IPC sections 323 and 504. According to an officer from Goregaon Police station, the accused said that he was under the influence of alcohol and “taken over by patriotic zeal that reflected in the movie.” Wow! Recalling the traumatic incident, Dasan said “It was the scene where the protagonist’s daughter wins the gold medal and the national anthem’s tune is being played in the background. Suddenly, a man who was obviously very drunk, started screaming at everyone. He was shouting filthiest of abuses and asking people to stand up.” He further added, “I didn’t realise he was demanding that people rise to the national anthem tune. Before I could react, he landed a punch on my cheek. My wife was horrified as I took a few seconds to recover from the blow. By this time, the movie hall’s security managed to pin him down and the cops took him away.”
Agitated over this wrongful questioning of his patriotism by an “overzealous patriot”, Dasan said “I didn’t know the movie’s plot. How was I to know the national anthem would be played in the background in one of the scenes? Today it is me, tomorrow another unsuspecting movie-goer will be assaulted by an overzealous `patriot’.” “Mr Aamir Khan or the Censor Board should put an alert before the scene. We live in the times when people don’t think twice before assaulting anyone, be it women or senior citizens,” Dasan said. Although he does not want his attacker to be punished any further, he did mention that there needs to be a proper mechanism to protect the people and we do agree with him.
The Goregaon police said that the investigation would still continue, despite the family willing to forgive Madhukar. Apparently, the Ministry of Home Affairs had issued a circular last year stating that when an anthem in playing in a film, one is not expected to stand, “When in the course of a newsreel or documentary, anthem is played as a part of the film, it is not expected of the audience to stand as standing is bound to interrupt the exhibition of the film and would bring in disorder and confusion rather than add to the dignity of the anthem.” Well guys, we just have one thing to say, your hearts might be brimming with patriotism but that does not give you the power to beat anyone.
–TOI
Photo: © BCCL (Main Image)
