Just read an article in TOI about Mr.S.M.Krishna (S.M.K) ridiculing Mr.Shashi Tharoor (S.T.) about his tweets. And just for the heck of it I decided to go through the people's reactions as well which are reflected in the comments which usually follows a story in a well known site like that of TOI's. Well, to be completely honest, I was a little surprised by the comments. Unstatistically speaking, S.M.K too had a fair share of approvals in what is called a bashing of S.T., a gag on S.T. and what not. This is what amazed me. S.T. had simply questioned the new visa procedure and whether that would be really helpful in combating terrorism as such. I personally don't want to be a judge of the visa policy or the government's actions or watsoever in this regard. What caught me perhaps was the fact that a simple tweet or an expression of one's thoughts is ridiculed so much. As per S.M.K. any such discussions should be confined to within the four walls of the ministry. What the hell was that supposed to mean. Aren't we supposed to know? Or was S.M.K. just trying to make us believe that S.T. didn't even object at once on the said proposal within the "four walls" yet blasted his views on Twitter. I believe as a citizen of the country S.T. has every right to express what he believes in. He is not asking for a approval of his thought process, he is just expressing his opinions on a matter he is not on side with. And this is what is probably irking S.M.K, the Congress and many others. How can a person of the ruling coalition ridicule a decision of the coalition (read: party) that too being a Junior Minister. How come he has the guts to think about this, let alone speaking about in public. has he forgot the basic tenets of politics, of kissing the ass of one's senior, of always toe-toeing what the boss says whether it is right or wrong. What is wrong S.T. ?
Really made me smile when I read the news piece. Here, was a person who simply doesn't agree to a decision that has been taken by his superiors and has just expressed his own views. Did he commit a crime? Now, about half a million people or maybe more than that tweet, blog and do what not to express themselves. S.T. does exactly that and its not his fault that half a million also follow his tweets and hence it becomes a matter of media scrutiny. Many readers or commentators of the story in TOI said that S.T. is simply sensationalizing an issue which is a matter of national security, trying to get sound bytes or cheap publicity. Yet, I don't believe in the same. Even if its for those very reasons, he is entitled to do that. Its his opinions and me and you have no business in trying to change that. Are we Taliban? Such a gag or restraint usually is expected in those places. As an independent democratic society we are entitled to express what we think as long as they are not breaking any law. When some Thackereys can say or do anything, and I mean any goddamn thing, then S.T. probably just did nothing at all in comparison to those.
It will be interesting to see how S.T. responds in time to come. Does he succumb to the pressure of the baaps and netas or he remains as he has always been. Waiting for you to tweet S.T.
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