How many I-love-Modis will it take, Anupam Kher, to get to Pakistan?

Now, Hollywood hunk George Clooney has made political activism fashionable all over again, from getting world attention on the genocide in Chad to Darfur, advocating gay rights and international action to recognise atrocities in war-torn regions, has denounced the Iraq war, and supported President Obama’s two campaign.

So much so, Clooney is Obama’s good friend, he holds fundraisers and bashes for the prez, is invited to White House dinners and fiercely defends Obama on every occasion.

Anupam Kher is no Bollywood hunk, but his spasmodic activism and witless utterances are hilarious. The "award wapsi" when intellectuals, writers and some of his peers returned their awards protesting the climate of hate, was sneered as "selective outrage"; he attacked opponents saying they hate Prime Minister Narendra Modi even as he declared "I love Modi" in TV news studios; his pet theme is to raise the "genocide" of Kashmiri Pandits whenever he is confronted; even as he ignores the history of the exodus of Pandits from the Kashmir Valley.

He is Modi’s great friend, is invited to official dinners, was thrilled when he got state recognition with the Padma Bhushan award though he has mocked the awards earlier.

So, is it any wonder that Kher has fanciful ideas of political revenge and isolation after he was denied a visa to Pakistan to attend a literary festival? Here’s why Kher’s patriotism is of the bargain-basement variety:

1. "It’s because I’ve applauded Modi": In case Kher is not aware, the very publicised bonhomie between Modi and Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif and the boost in Indo-Pak relations should have been a super advantage rather than a curse. But try telling Kher these facts who now believes he is becoming a central issue in Indo-Pakistan ties.

2. I’m a Kashmiri Pandit: Kher even went to ridiculous heights to say, as a Kashmiri Pandit he "may expose Pak terror nexus" which is why he was denied entry. Is Kher saying he can achieve what Indian intelligence agencies have failed miserably so far – to establish and break Pakistani terror networks?

3. Milking refugee status: The Pandit issue has now become his war cry at every occasion – in the tolerance and hate campaign debates, now Pakistan visa issue, but if he had looked into the historical causes that led to the exodus, perhaps he would not be so chauvinistic? And, what has he done so far for the Pandit cause despite his close proximity to the Modi government?

4. "We welcome their artists": Kher has feebly added that "If there are objections to their (Pakistani artists) performance at one place in India they are welcome at other places. But there is no reciprocity," he wailed. It seems Kher’s favourite phrase "selective outrage" has come to bite him.

Or, as anyone with common sense would ask, where was Kher when Pakistani artists like Ghulam Ali and others were banned in his city of Mumbai? Did he condemn the blackening of Sudheendra Kulkarni’s face with ink at the book launch of the Pakistani author?

Or, when Pakstani cricketers were denied to play in the IPL? Did he petition the Modi government he so loves, to not allow politics to wreck art and culture? Instead, he loudly declared two months ago, "According to me, till the time our people are being killed on the front, matches should not be held."

5. "My views on tolerance debate": Kher now deludes himself to believe that Pakistan has denied the visa for his intellectual radicalism! And this, despite the fact that Kher’s tolerance debate was founded on his love for Modi and his opponents’ hatred of the prime minister, why they didn’t return awards earlier after more heinous national crimes, and the unpatriotic act to embarrass the PM and the country; apart from name calling foes as shameless Congis, and unpatriotic Lefties.