Having Arranged The MNS-Producers Meeting, Fadnavis Cannot Distance Himself From Its Outcome

Is Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis’ defence of his role in mediating between Karan Johar, the producer of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil, and Raj Thackeray of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), well, defensible?

Clearly, clearly not.

A recap, for those who may well have been living under a rock. Amid the growing crescendo against employing Pakistani artistes following the Uri attack, the MNS and the Shiv Sena had demanded that films starring actors from that country should not be screened. That put Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (which stars Pakistani actor Fawad Khan) into trouble since it was slated for a Diwali release. Fadnavis’ government first threw a bunch of MNS activists into jail and assured film producers of security. But in an inexplicable U-turn, Fadnavis called a meeting between the Film Producers’ Guild and the MNS at which the now infamous deal – that Karan Johar will donate Rs 5 crore to the Army Welfare Fund – was arrived at.

When faced with widespread criticism, Fadnavis sought to justify his action. In this interview to the Indian Express, he said it was Johar who offered to pay and that he said there should be no compulsion. He also said that the Film Producers’ Guild had approached him to discuss the problem with the MNS and that he had said there would be no compromise with law and order. “I cited the fact that my police force had cracked the whip against 12 MNS activists and would do the same if they took the law in their hands.”. In an interview published in the Economic Times today, Fadnavis is quoted as saying that he had told the producers’ guild that they did not need to pay.

Even though, that was a good, chief ministerial thing to do, the larger point still stands. After assuring that law and order would prevail, he should have ensured that it did. What was the point in later arranging a meeting between the Guild and the MNS? Having done this, Fadnavis cannot now distance himself - and the chief minister’s office - from the extortion that the MNS successfully indulged in. How voluntary could Johar’s offer have been when the chief minister of the state gets him to sit and negotiate with a party of goons?

Fadnavis has a justification for this as well. “If talks can be held with the Hurriyat and Naxals, what is wrong in talking with the MNS,” he said in the interview. (A quick aside: how will the MNS react to being compared with secessionist groups?) He then goes on to say “Is it not a good sign that the government has pulled the curtains down on the issue through discussion across the table? Can you overlook the general public mood which is all set to celebrate Diwali?”

This is nothing but a craven surrender to hooliganism and an abject admission that an elected government cannot enforce law and order. What is, then, to stop the MNS doing the same repeatedly or other loutish groups to try the same tactics ahead of some major festival or the other? Today, the issue is about snapping cultural, sporting, business and sundry other ties with a country waging a proxy war against India. Tomorrow, it will be about something else.

To be fair, Fadnavis is not the only chief minister to have succumbed to pressure from bullies. Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan is now being praised for taking a tough stand against Shiv Sena threats to disrupt the screening of My Name is Khan, but what is conveniently airbrushed is his government banning James Laine’s book, Shivaji: the Hindu King in Muslim India. The informal ban continued even after the Supreme Court lifted the ban. Let us also not forget Tamil Nadu banning the Kamal Haasan film Vishwaroopam in 2013 because of pressure from Muslim groups. There were precautionary bans in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka as well. There will be many similar stories about governments across the country giving in to hooligans using the cloak of religious/regional/cultural - and now nationalist - sentiments to further their agendas and gain political clout.

But the earlier surrenders do not justify what Fadnavis has done – his protestations do not hold water. And this should not become a precedent for future muscle-flexing. What happened with Johar should become the proverbial last straw. Maintenance of law and order and ensuring that personal, religious, cultural and economic freedoms are upheld is the primary responsibility of any government. There can be no compromise with that for any reason whatsoever. Goons cannot prevail over governments.