MUMBAI // Is Shah Rukh Khan Indian or Pakistani? Until now, the actor, a Muslim, has never felt the pressure to prove his patriotism for Hindu-majority India. But perhaps he did for the first time this week, when placard-wielding protesters from a Hindu right-wing group besieged his mansion in suburban Mumbai, burning his effigy and bellowing slogans including "Go to Pakistan".
One clutched a dummy airline ticket emblazoned with the words: "Mumbai to Pakistan". Khan, who has a large and previously loyal fanbase of Hindus and Muslims, earned the ire of the nationalist group, Shiv Sena, for publicly lamenting the exclusion of Pakistani cricketers from playing in the Indian Premier League. The group has threatened to scupper the release of his much-awaited film, My Name is Khan - scheduled to make its world premier in Abu Dhabi next week - until he retracts his statement and apologises.
Shiv Sena has been strongly opposed to any détente between the subcontinental rivals since the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks, which are widely believed to have been launched from Pakistan. Last week, the group's campaigners tore down posters for Khan's film and threatened to target any cinema that screens it until the actor backs down. "If Shah Rukh Khan wants Pakistani players to play here, he should go to Karachi and Islamabad to play with them," said Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena's spokesman.
But Khan has refused to bow to the group's strong-arm tactics. "As an Indian, I'm not ashamed, guilty or unhappy about what I said, neither am I sorry," he said during a promotional tour in New York, adding that Shiv Sena's stance was "unhealthy, undemocratic and insensitive". But he said it was unjustified to target his film, in which he plays an autistic Muslim living in San Francisco who falls in love with a Hindu woman in the backdrop of the September 11 attacks. "I don't understand what My Name Is Khan has got to do with what I say," he said.
Several actors have come out in support of Khan. "My conscience goads me to speak up," Gul Panang, an actress, wrote in a column in the Indian Express. "Shah Rukh Khan is an Indian citizen and has the right to free expression. How can that be questioned, debated or even politicised? Kudos to him for not bowing down to the powers that be."
Khan is not the only celebrity to be threatened by the group. In recent days, it has threatened to target politician Rahul Gandhi, the billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani, and the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar over views supporting the entry of migrants into Mumbai. Shiv Sena's tirade has sparked off a debate on a seminal issue - is Mumbai, India's financial nerve centre and for decades a traditional magnet for migrants, a city for all Indians?
Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena's leader, proclaims himself to be the benefactor of the local Marathi population, colloquially called "Marathi Manoos". He has been accused of making hateful speeches to incite violence against the north Indian migrants who eke out a living in Mumbai. He accused them of swamping the state, stealing jobs, and degrading local Marathi culture. With India's urbanisation taking on blinding speed, Goldman Sachs predicts that 31 villagers from the countryside will continue to show up in a city every minute over the next 43 years, adding up to 700 million people in search of employment.
Mumbai receives millions of migrants each year, mostly from northern India. One out of every five is from Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state in the north, according to the International Institute of Population Studies. Most work as taxi drivers and street vendors. In 2008, restive campaigners from Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, another nationalist political party, headed by Raj Thackeray, Uddhav's cousin, went on a violent rampage in Mumbai. They targeted workers from Uttar Pradesh, beating them and vandalised their property.
Civil rights activists accuse the Thackeray cousins of violently pushing a "Maharashtra for Marathis" agenda, and peddling the Marathi language as a chauvinistic badge of honour. This goes against the grain of Mumbai's pluralistic social fabric, the activists say. More than any other south Asian city, Mumbai is a cultural maelstrom of diverse ethnicities and languages. "What does the tearing down of Shah Rukh Khan posters, the attempt to muzzle his voice, the intimidation of movie hall owners, and the beating up of taxi drivers represent?" said Pratap Bhanu Mehta, the president of the New Delhi-based Centre for Policy Research.
"It is an attempt to subvert democracy in the most insidious way - intimidate public discourse." But Uddhav Thackeray claims he is a "loudspeaker for people's emotions". Every day, Saamna, the Marathi-language mouthpiece of the Shiv Sena, issues vitriolic editorials. Mannat - the name of Khan's mansion in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra - "is in India, not Pakistan," a recent editorial said. The Congress-led government, which has assured Khan's security, says it is mulling the banning of the publication. But in a recent interview with a private news channel, Uddhav Thackeray seemed unfazed.
The interviewer asked him if the recent tirade against the celebrities was a ploy to gain political mileage after his party's debacle in the recent parliamentary and federal elections. "Most people seem to think you have lost your mind," the anchor said. Remaining calm, Mr Thackeray said: "Those who speak against the interest of Maharashtra will be targeted." "Sir, aren't you mocking at the very idea of India?" the anchor asked.
"Mind your language," Mr Thackeray said bluntly. "You are insulting the sensibilities of Maharashtrians." The opposition to Shiv Sena labels Mr Thackeray a "paper tiger" who should not be taken too seriously. But even though his right-wing party might be a weakening electoral force, it had an immense influence on personal freedoms, said Ramchandra Guha, a Bangalore-based historian.
"This kind of chauvinism, if unchecked, has the capacity to harass ordinary people and deprive them of their civil liberties," he said. "The state must rein them in." * The National
