Day 26, 27 - It's Brand building, of a different kind!

Jog - done.

This is not the thought that occurred to me today. But somehow I felt like writing it today.

After the Mangalore pub incident by Rama Sene media called it Talibanization. But I think that the two cannot be compared. Though the actions of both Taliban and Rama Sene are comparable, the undercurrent is no where the same.

In case of Taliban the activists really believed in the principles and were even ready to give up their lives to have those principles implemented. It's a different matter that what they believe is not agreeable to most of us. However in case of Rama Sene, I don't think the activists are doing what they are doing because of a staunch beleif in principles. I think what Rama Sene is doing is a pure gimmick to garner political mileage. And media is their biggest partner!

I think that such political-mileage driven things are much easier to manage than the ones driven by principles. In case of the former their oxygen is publicity - good or bad. They want to be in the public eye. They want people to acknowledge their existence and recognize their identity. This is a kind of brand building. Cut off publicity and they are dead - at least the current form of their actions don't yeild any results and they would have no option but to give them up.

Our inaction doesn't mean that we support them. We have to take action. But that action should be such that it hurts them where it matters. Deny them what they need - the branding. In the current scenario I think one of the simplest solution is to just neglect them - pure neglect. Laugh at them, make their actions look ludicrous. Make them feel ignored - not cared for. Just don't recognize them.

However one lesson we should learn from Taliban is that if we support them now they will grow to be a weed that is hard to rid of later - like parthenium.