Monday, February 04, 2008

Protesting against protestors

Can someone please start a riot against rioters? I mean, seriously, how much more do we, as citizens have to endure before we get serious about the publicity-hungry mobs who will protest at the drop of a hat?

Why this outrage Animesh, you say. Well, it is because the best tennis player in Asia has decided to not play in her home country. And this is obviously because the powers-that-be do not have the ****s to step up and say "enough BS, leave her alone or we will send you to jail". It was Richard Gere and Shilpa Shetty some time ago, and now it is Sania Mirza.

Now, I am all for free speech, but threatening speech is not done. There should also be court-imposed fines over frivolous PILs, so celebrities do not need to watch out for a national flag wherever they go.

outraged,
-A

6 comments:

  1. He/She gets crores of rupees for brand endorsements, people shell out exorbitant amounts of money to get a glimpse of their work. Yet,when it comes to living up to the responsibilities that comes glued with this popularity, they cry fowl. A Shahrukh smokes in full public glare and talks of invasion of privacy. A Sania disrespects the national flag and talks of controversies.
    Very convenient..
    Celebrities thrive on media attention, people talk about them, protesters protest and everything else follows.

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  2. @rahul: From what I know, she did not actively "disrespect" the flag. She was sitting at the dias, and there was a flag in the vicinity. She did not even touch it, perhaps wasn't even aware. How is that disrespect?
    Ans as far as SRK's smoking is concerned, unless we pass a law prohibiting public smoking, we have no right to stop someone from doing it -- celeb or no celeb.

    Sania does not need media attention --- she has her game to do the talking. She is not a socialite, she is a sportsperson for FSM sake!

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  3. Surprised to see you take such a stiff stand on this (non) issue: A better opportunity could be about the Rajput protest against JA or Raj Thackeray's rioting, isn't it?

    Anywayz, the Sania issue got attention because of the perception that without her in the fray, India's chances in the Davis Cup are bleak. (Remember that the Williams sister are also playing.) This is somewhat like Tendulkar deciding to not play an India-Pak match, despite being fit and free, just for the heck of it. Not only does this set a wrong precedent for the future players (Paes never missed any Davis Cup even at the peak of his success) but also stinks of not being a team player.

    Finally, read the fineprint: it is not about Sania and Davis Cup any more! Look at it as just another public spat between the estranged couple-Paes & Bhupathi!

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  4. @sharad: completely agree on the Rajput protests against JA [which I kinda expected in an earlier post :)] and the regular rioting in BBY. The omission was not intentional.

    My reason for getting so pissed off this time is that she is NOT a public/media made person. She is a skill-made person, and should be respected for it. Your tendulkar analogy is somewhat correct, except that I would support him for his record, not caring about whether we "need" him or not.

    I am not sure I heard protests on a daily basis when Paes was at the top of his career. How is that reference relevant?

    Also, I seem to be missing the Davis cup reference. The tournament she is skipping is not the Davis cup AFAIK, and she has not said she will not play for India. Just not play _in_ India.

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  5. 1] Errata: Sania is missing the Bangalore Open and not the Davis Cup (as yet!)

    2] The Paes and Davis Cup references were only because he has also protested Sania's decision and cited his own experience of playing in India as a supporting argument.

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  6. Sania is doing just the right thing...kind of Gandhian approach (remember the non-cooperation movement!).

    Hope she fights on silently and builds enough pressure to start a nation-wide debate on the issues of freedom-to-choose as well as stupid PILs.

    Incidentally, my latest blog entry at http://thedailytamasha.wordpress.com/ also reflects on Sania row. :)

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