Author Shobha De today tweeted and triggered a political controversy. What was so specific about the tweet which led to this? And it's not everyday that a writer's tweet causes so flagrant a fire in the political circles, though seldom it does. And we have the proofs of known people and politicians such as Shashi Tharoor who landed into trouble on several occasions through his tweets, contrary in nature from the Congress Party lines.
All said and done, the Shobha De controversy is a living example of a power a writer's pen has. Every word they say through mass media such as Twitter, Facebook or blogs can create noise, which might vary in magnitude, and is potent enough to ring in the circles--political or social.
The writer and columnist tweeted after the Congress took the decision to create a new Telangana state out of Andhra Pradesh. She wrote, "Maharashtra and Mumbai??? Why not? Mumbai has always fancied itself as an independent entity, anyway. This game has countless possibilities." In view of the Telangana formation, she vents out her opinion wishing that Mumbai becomes a separate state than being part of Maharashtra. Her opinion has basis since Mumbai is more of a cosmopolitan city where different people from different states and, sometimes, from different countries live and work. But as always the tweet caused controversy. The first ones to react and act were Shiv Sena and MNS who reserve the right to represent the united Maharastra. And they might be right, since it is after the Shiv Sena's campaign that Maha people started getting attention and their rights were respected. However, what irks is a weird statement by the Bhartiya Janata Party which considers her tweet as an act of treason. It is not fair.
Certainly her statement will not go well with the class of people whose existence is defined by the regional card they play to stay in politics. However, I do not decry it, since they may have fought for the rights of their own people. But all of them should understand one thing that an author is an individual at the end of the day and has every right to express his/her opinion. You might threaten but can not suppress an honest voice which is true. There might not be many people to support her idea, yet there might be a few whose opinion--good, bad or neutral--should be respected.
Pragmatically, the idea of Mumbai as a state is not beyond anybody's purview. It makes sense, since the length and breadth of the city with the huge population that it supports makes it a valid case for a separate state.
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