This guy is an old familiar friend. See the latter half of this article I wrote in 2000.

Ever since I saw the news about Tussaud’s, I have wondered what Gandhi would have had to say about the lies and “patriotism” as exhibited in those ads.

When that had appeared back in January I had linked to it on Kafila.

It is quite telling that Modi’s men want to harass not those who call Modi a ‘mass murderer’ or a ‘maut ka saudagar’. Why are they targeting Nandy for a piece which is not so much about Modi but about what Hindutva has done to Gujarati society and its Hindu middle class, almost saying they are in a trance. The piece is not only critical of secularists but also the main opposition in Gujarat, the Congress.

I think the reason why the article has evoked such a response is that it has touched a raw nerve, it has made them feel so much smaller than any accusations of ‘mass murder’.

There’s a saying in Hindi, khisiyayi billi khamba nochay. I can’t translate it. Actually, it needs to be translated into Gujarati, not English.

Btw, 178 academics and intellectuals have signed a statement to protest this harassment of Nandy.