Bal Thackeray – When You’re a Thug, Who Cares about Right and Wrong?

It seems as if people are not exactly sure about Bal Thackeray’s legacy. The press went overboard praising him after his death because hey! – that’s what we Indians do. Regardless of how corrupt and unethical a politician was, we simply must eulogize them after death. And bring parliament to a halt while you’re at it too. Many others have viewed Thackeray’s influence dispassionately and have reached the conclusion that he was a vitriol spewing goonda.

What's the Legacy of this Man?
What’s the Legacy of this Man?

I have a simple test we can use to determine whether or not a person was worthy of praise. Ask one simple question: Would they approve of a violence free world? I know it’s hard to imagine people who would not praise the idea of a world where people would never be hurt, but there are plenty of them. People who rely on violence and therefore fear to ply their trade. Many governments, crooks, politicians, thugs, and bullies would be appalled at the specter of never being able to scare people by threatening them with physical violence.

So let’s apply this question to the Shiv Sena and Bal Thackeray – would he wholeheartedly support a violence free world?

The answer of course, is “No!”. If we asked Thackeray to give up his goons, disband his army of thugs and limit his activities only to speaking, painting, writing, or other forms of peaceful expression, he would have burst a blood vessel. What would happen to his importance after all? His gang of thugs lent some force to his idiotic pronouncements – without them, people would simply be free to make up their own minds about what they wanted to do!

Good and bad, right and wrong etc only matter when violence doesn’t enter the equation. As soon as you inject force into a situation, ethics vanish. The only thing that matters after that is strength. The strongest person is always right, and the weaker person is wrong. If people like Bal Thackeray truly wanted to have the high ground, they should have immediately fired every thug and goon in their pocket. He should have hired intellectuals, artists, and writers to spread his message.

Good ideas don’t need force to spread. They take root and are sustained by their own strength. Only crap ideas and notions need to be shoved down the throats of adults. By this measure, Bal Thackeray’s ideas were not worth debating on their merits since they couldn’t stand on their own and needed his band of thugs to coerce people to follow them. Like Marathi signboards. Like preventing Pakistani cricketers from playing matches in Mumbai etc.

If you care about right and wrong, violence never enters the equation. As soon as you use physical force, you become a thug. By this standard, there’s no doubt in mind about Bal Thackeray’s legacy. He was a thug. Nothing more.

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19 thoughts on “Bal Thackeray – When You’re a Thug, Who Cares about Right and Wrong?”

  1. Violent individuals who wish to lead are intellectually deficient. They do not have the means by which they are able to lead by either reason or example

    Reply

  2. Bhagwad, you need to lead, young man. Enough of this pontification. I’m coming over to India for 3 weeks and (if you’re around) would appreciate if you can take time to come over and meet me.
    s

    Reply

  3. More than the media going overboard in eulogizing the man, I was surprised that the Congress-led Maharashtra govt. thought it fit to give him a state-funeral– looked like even the government was afraid of incurring the wrath of the Shiv-sainiks. It was either cowardice or hypocrisy of the first order.

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    • In reply to scribblehappy

      The government caters to the violence prone mob – even if they are in the minority as far as actual numbers go. I’m ashamed to say that we don’t live in a land where there is the rule of law. There is only the rule of the mob.

      Reply

  4. THERE IS A SAYING IN INDIA :- WHEN YOU SIT ON AN ELEPHANT A DOG WILL NOT BITE YOU”
    .THAT IS WHAT YOU ARE NOW ,SITTING IN USA AND WRITING NICE/STRONG ARTICLES ABOUT INDIAN POLITICS AND ETC
    I FEEL SORRY THAT I CANNOT DO THE SAME HERE BECAUSE OF YOU KNOW WHAT .
    I LIKE MANY OF YOUR ARTICLES BUT I AM SCARED TO SAY SO AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TO THE TWO GIRLS WHO MADE INNOCENT REMARKS ON FACE BOOK

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  5. But you must understand the context:
    According to the Gita : ” Ahimsa paramo Dharam;
    Dharam himsa tathaiva cha”.
    This means that the best dharma is ahimsa but when faced with tyrants and rakshasas and asuras, violence is the best dharma on par.
    By this complete aphorism, one understands that non-violence is useless when faced with evil entities like Hitler(catholic bible inspired violence against gypsies/roma, Jews, etc.), and Islamic Taliban and isis and al Qaeda mentality.
    Or do you subscribe to ‘turn the other cheek’ in all contexts?

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