Guns and budding politicos

THE over-the-top birthday ‘event’ of Sahdev Salaria, BJP MP Kirron Kher’s political adviser, at a night club in Chandigarh was meant to be a VIP-studded, gala affair; one to draw attention, one to remember. It was one to be not forgotten. The thing about gunshots is they linger on. The celebrations went awry following an altercation between two attendee groups. Balloons didn’t stand a chance against bullets for airspace. Intra-, inter-party feud may be the lame explanation. There is none. Four persons sustained injuries; it could have been bloodier.

Salaria is the national executive member of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha and co-incharge of its Himachal unit. Among his guests were those with a criminal background, including a proclaimed offender and an NSUI leader wanted by the Punjab Police. A heady, deadly cocktail of money power, political muscle and gun culture, guaranteeing quick social sanction, has come to define this land. Any one of these, or all three, is a potential ticket through closed doors. Just what kind, is suspect. Often, celebratory firing at weddings and sundry functions has claimed lives. There is no lesson, of course, only a message — one not of caution, or shunning the gun, but about big-ticket functions: bigger the better, for a place in society laying undue emphasis on stature earned not through work or worth, but wealth and power. In the present case, why were guests allowed to carry weapons to the midnight party, also ‘graced’ by the Mayor? Why was there no frisking? To top it, there was a conspiracy to keep the incident under wraps. The police were informed after an hour.

Whatever happened to responsibility? Society, especially led by our leaders, needs to be wary of perpetuating a culture of extravagance, where citizens want to compete in superfluous aggrandisement. The younger generation is looking on keenly. We don’t want them taking a free ride on this supposed highway. What they gather will be our cross. It is time to reject social ‘trends’ that carry within them the insidious seed to become an established norm. Here’s hoping there are no such unhappy returns of the day.