Things are getting an itsy-bitsy on the bonkers side of Big Brother here. If sharing celebratory messages of a country that India may not be a jigri dost with amounts to suspicions of planning to, or likely to, commit a cognisable offence, then, it would be best we stay indoors, or abroad. Two college students from Colaba were arrested this week before being released with a warning by Mumbai Police for – wait for it – using Pakistan‘s Independence Day on August 14 as their Instagram story status. Some hyper-patriotic, hypo-busy businessman lodged a complaint about how posting Pakistani I-Day stuff may lead to communal tension. Next thing you know is Colaba Police’s anti-terrorism squad placing the two boys under prohibitory arrest. What next? A knock from the Samosa Police for having ordered a Chinese meal even after Galwan? Or a trip to the thana for playing those great disco hits by the late Pakistani singer Nazia Hassan?
Liking something, or someone, from a country one’s own country (read: government, and its fans) doesn’t like hardly should mean calling the admirer a treacherous potential criminal. The need to worry now about posting a Jackie Chan photo on social media, or praising a Haris Rauf scorcher, says a lot about national churlishness. Competitive patriotism – and competitive xenophobia – can get mighty silly.
