Good politicians are nothing if not opportunists. They are quick to ride with the prevailing public mood as long as it gets them some brownie points and photo-ops. No sooner had Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni hit the final six to claim the World Cup for India that politicians of all hues began looking for possibilities of exploiting it for themselves.
International Cricket Council (ICC) president Sharad Pawar, of course, did not have to do much. Being the president of the ICC, the former chief of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI), the karta dharta of the Wankhede Stadium and much else, he automatically basked in reflected glory.

The dazzling light blinded everyone, making them forget that barely a few days ago his name had popped-up in connection with DB Realty whose chief Shahid Balwa is in jail facing investigations in a scam. Since media (and public) memory has only very tiny windows to process issues, those allegations are long forgotten. Mr Pawar did not have to do much to ensure that, though he did very kindly hand out huge cash bonuses to the hard-working cricketers from the ICC’s tax-free coffers.
On the other hand, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit had to pull out money from public funds. There she was, smiling from one end to the other and declaring that she would be giving `1 crore to all the players from Delhi and, of course, `2 crores to the captain for being such a good leader and a sober man. No one would grudge a few rewards to those who brought glory to the country, but is this her money to give? Who is going to ask that? Meanwhile, does anyone recall that a week or so ago the Shunglu Committee had named Ms Dikshit as one of those responsible for huge cost overruns in the Commonwealth Games run up?
Gauging the janata’s frame of mind is a skill and exploiting it is an art. Even if no immediate gains — like inducing memory loss — are forthcoming, quick and decisive action can generate publicity and goodwill. It does not always pan out that way though, as Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has found out.
Normally an astute politician who can spot an opportunity a mile away, Mr Modi seems to have reacted a bit too hastily in banning Great Soul: Mahatma Gandhi and His Struggle with India. Going by reports in the Indian media, which in turn were based on reviews in a tiny section of the Western press (the Wall Street Journal and the Daily Mail), Mr Modi thought he was being clever and smart by being the first to ban the book. And this when no one was even demanding anything of the kind.
You would expect that someone from the Gujarat government would have waited till he had read the book before taking any such step. But when did that last happen? It is a fair bet that none of the books banned in India — James Laine’s book on Shivaji or Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses or Stanley Wolpert’s Nine Hours to Rama — were actually read before they were banned. Someone demanded that they not be allowed to sell and the government, always looking for cheap popularity, obliged. Forget standing up for freedom of expression, no one even took a cursory look at what exactly was so offensive.
In the case of Great Soul, the book has not even landed on Indian shores. And the author, a respected journalist, quickly clarified that he had written nothing of the kind that was being reported in his book (Gandhi was gay! Shock, horror!). Minister for law and justice Veerappa Moily, who too had made some noises about proscribing the book, fortunately saved the country some embarrassment by declaring that the Indian government would not stop the book from being sold. Some due diligence would have saved Mr Modi’s face. But again, the politician’s instinct for self-promotion had got the better of him and now he has ended up looking like an intolerant man who does not allow different shades of opinion to be aired.
Liberal or ultra-conservative, Right or Left, the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party, the fundamental instinct is the same — spot a chance and clamber on to any bandwagon that gets them publicity. But there is an inherent phoniness to the whole thing that immediately becomes apparent.
If those who love our cricketers so much did something noble for sport at large or brought the game to the under-privileged, one would not mind so much when they make these grand gestures. Or, if Mr Modi was a liberal (forget being a Gandhian) and genuinely felt a book like this could cause damage, one could perhaps understand, though, of course, no book should be banned except in extreme circumstances. Indeed, had Mr Modi’s own babus and advisers been sharper, they would have known that Mahatma Gandhi had himself printed his banned books and distributed them to defy the British government.
As it stands, it is the sheer cynicism and short-termism of the political class that makes their actions suspect and fake. The pity is that public opinion does not militate against it. In any right-thinking society, by now thousands of people would have bought the book. As for Ms Dikshit and other politicians, hopefully the questions raised will continue to be asked.

The writer is a senior journalist and commentator on current affairs based in Mumbai