Aaja Nachle! Wait!

Aaja Nachle, which is supposed to be Madhuri Dixit's comeback vehicle etc. etc., has been banned in UP by the Mayawati Government. A nationwide ban is in the works, although there is a possibility of a compromise, a la Taslima Nasreen. All this because of a single allegedly casteist line in the movie's title song.

As far as we could tell, the offensive line was this:

Mohale mein kaise mara mar hai
Bole mochi bhi khud ko sonar hai

The lyrics are as atrocious as the transcript from where we got the above. A loose translation:

There is hullabaloo in the neighborhood
The cobbler is claiming to be a goldsmith

This is somewhat surprising, it would be a stretch to call the line casteist. Traditionally a lot of leather workers could be Dalits (since caste Hindus would not have anything to do with leather), but a large percentage are also Muslims and sometimes MBCs. In any case, the reference here is to the vocation and not to the caste - one of the sad facts of the complexities in the caste system.

Needless to say, the media is calling it Mayawati's ban, but there is more to it. As we have mentioned several times before, the establishment is trying their level best to destroy Mayawati's stronghold on Dalits. The common line of attack is to hold her to a fictitious standard of Ambedkarism, i.e. pure dogma. For instance, while covering the Gujarat riots, a CNN-IBN program showed a Dalit MLA praising Modi. The reporter concluded that by supporting Modi the MLA was letting Ambedkar down!

The second line of attack is to create numerous law and order problems. SP has staged N-number of protests in UP, reducing the state to a permanent state of anarchy. Even the recent blasts are suspect, the only blasts in which a domestic group claimed responsibility. Mayawati responded to this by chastising the IPS officers very strongly.

Rumor has it that the Samajwadi Party with the sponsorship of Congress is causing all these troubles. A certain vote bank is acting as facilitators.

The movie ban is a third line of attack. Mayawati's strength is also her biggest vulnerability, she must of necessity show the largest bleeding heart for reasons of political expediency. As you can see above, to pick out that line from a noisy Bollywood caper requires some doing. The issue was first brought to light by the Indian Justice party - a known collaborator of Congress. Mayawati was appraised of the situation and she stayed neutral, asking her advisers to watch the movie and pass a verdict. When the verdict came out as guilty, her hand was forced.

The ban shows Mayawati in somewhat poor light while staving off some pressure from the Taslima Nasreen controversy. A grand strategic maneuver, if there was any.

One of Samajwadi Party's innumerable protests
in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This is
supposed to be a secular protest by pensioners.