Why this tokenism, Mr Raj?

The Indian Express’ expose that eight of 13 Maharashtra Navnirman Sena legislators, who assaulted Abu Azmi of the Samajwadi Party for not taking oath in Marathi, send their children to English-medium schools (and not to the Marathi-medium schools) has not come as a surprise. It is well known that the son and daughter of MNS chief Raj Thackeray study in English medium schools and colleges. Hypocrisy is not considered a sin in Indian politics, even if it is as blatant as this one. After all, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lalu Prasad set the standards through their diatribe against English education even while sending their children to the English medium schools. The easiest way to nurture a vote bank is through the politics of tokenism that the Indian politicians have mastered over the ages and Thackeray and his colleagues in the MNS are merely taking it forward. Just how serious they are is obvious from the way they singled out Azmi, who has come to symbolize the resistance to MNS’ attack on the north Indians, while ignoring several others who took oath in Hindi, English or Sanskrit that very day. The MNS doesn’t even have the excuse of the cultural anxiety that gripped Tamil Nadu in early decades of our independence when the Hindi was sought to be imposed by a section of politicians, to justify its action. On the other hand, people of Maharashtra have more pressing problems that require attention. Thousands of farmers are committing suicide every year, especially in Vidarbha, as moneylenders tighten their noose and repeated droughts. A few districts like Gadchiroli and Gondiya continue to languish in utter poverty and are now virtually cut off from rest of the state because of the naxal menace. Terrorism, communal tension and caste-related conflicts also plague the state in a big way. If the MNS is really serious about improving the lot of the Marathi manoos, as it claims to justify its sectarian politics, it should start focusing on these issues rather than indulging in politics of tokenism, which has done no good to anyone, at least not to those who get swayed by it.