Intolerance goes deep in our ethos. And there’s nothing that we are doing to ensure that our children are not affected by this malaise. Or perhaps we do not wish to. Whatever the reason may be, it is a sad day when thoughts and ideas are sought to be stifled at the point of a dagger, at the barrel of a gun, at the edge of a fist, and no one wants to do anything about it.
When the Faculty of Fine Arts at Baroda got embroiled in the most controversial act of permitting outsiders to enter the Faculty’s premises and beating up a student for his allegedly ‘disrespectful’ works, liberals and ‘moderates’ throughout the country rose to deplore the act. And very rightly so, for even if the student concerned was being disrespectful, that wasn’t justification enough for someone to go up to him and bash him up.
That the perpetrators belonged to an organization supposedly espousing the aspirations of the Hindu community should really have had no effect on the volume of the deprecations. After all, a fanatic anywhere is a fanatic, irrespective of his/her faith or lack of it thereof. The denunciations were heartening, because they illustrated that while the aggrieved had the right to be so, there was a ‘right’ way to resolve such conflicts, a more sophisticated and cultivated manner, if you please.
And yet, the silence when concerning Ms. Nasreen is simply shocking, nay, deplorable. Ms. Nasreen may be a controversial writer, or rather a writer who survives on courting controversy. Her writings involving her faith may verge on the edge of blasphemy and irreverence.
Nonetheless, to barge on her person, to threaten to kill her are neither reverent nor justifiable acts for anyone, no matter how sacrilegious her words may seem to anyone. Does Islam permit any man to injure or harm an unarmed woman on the mere pretext that she has dared to insult his faith? Is Islam so weak on its feet that mere words would shake its very foundations? I think not.
Frankly, politics and faith are two completely different things, and ought to be maintained so. That they have not been so far is distressing, but definitely no cause for the same being propagated through the ages. No faith teaches the path of violence, and if it does, then it is unworthy of being venerated.
Those who perpetrated these offences weren't ignorant buffoons. They were legislators, expected to know the law, and yet that they chose to break it should not be reason for letting them off easily. In fact, they should be prosecuted even more harshly. A threat to murder someone is no laughing matter, and a murderer must not be permitted to hide behind the authority of the Legislature.
There is a legal recourse that can be relied upon. It may be slow, it may be arduous, but it is the right thing. Fanaticism must not be accepted, if not for our sake, then for our children, lest they find themselves in a world where speaking itself offends someone.
5 comments:
The tendency to attribute the actions of certain fanatical elements to larger groups is dangerous to say the least.
To extrapolate that, we as a people, are intolerant from the actions of these elements is outright fallacious.
Moreover, it must be noted that both the Gujarat and Hyderabad incidents were carried out by people who were clearly attempting to capture the limelight and hence mindspace before upcoming elections.
The reason why such incidents continue to occur in recent times is that news hungry media keep putting them on prime time giving them the much needed oxygen of publicity.
Which is why the mad mob chanting slogans against Sania's skirts (and perhaps paid to do so) suddenly becomes the "symbol of militant Islam" and we talk about a "religion is struggling to come to terms with the 21st century"
What I do admit is that the general public has been hesitant to call the bluff of these elements. We need to vigilant not to give undue importance/credence to the people behind such incidents. At the same time, we must find the courage to unequivocally condemn such acts.
When an 'aam aadmi' tries to portray his expressions, however disrespectful it may appear, there would be communities and organisations galore marching against him. But a more vulgar and offensive expression from an eminent personality is at the same time rewarded in crores. His works are appreciated.
I am not advocating freedom of expression at the cost of displaying disrespect to an entity but I do oppose the bias towards certain sects of people. I believe every odious action-however trifling or massive should be judged only by the law and should not be taken into the hands of the common man.
There is one thing interesting about Taslima's case.... Here, even the police was a culpable in letting the perpetrators go scot-free without any punishment... in fact, Talsima was blamed for creating a divide among communities!
This & other incidents point to a fundamental malaise in our system.... Religion is an inherent facet of our social fabric and it has been widely abused over the years... Self-appointed moralists and so called upholders of religion have arrogated themselves the right to dictate the principles on which the rest of us are expected to live and swear by....
The only thing which would reverse this odious trend is the laying down of strict legal guidelines which envisages severe punishments for any violence against the freedom of expression.... my take is that even if someone expressly disrespects religion, the way to correct it is through the judiciary and not sticks or guns..
The sooner the mentality of society is attuned to accept a democratic & tolerant way of living, the faster would be our progress towards being a true world power.
The freedom of speech though granted to everyone in a democracy is scarcely allowed to be fully utilised.People belonging to a certain religion are always on the verge of creating a big fracas out of small issues,blowing them out of proportion for their vested interests just to gain undue attention.
This has to be strictly dealt with and people found guilty have to be severely punished so that people realize that tolerence is a must in such matters and that the solution for such issues is not violence but to give a patient ear to people's opinion and try to clear misconceptions if any!
I don't completely agree with your statement "Religious intolerance goes deep into our ethos". It's more like aarti says.Some people get away with anything,some don't.For instance,MF Husain got away with painting Hindu goddesses in the nude,didn't he? Was that some kind of artistic beauty? If yes,then I'm sorry,I fail to see any beauty in offending anybody's religious sentiments.
As for expressing your views,I agree,especially in a country which prides itself on giving a free hand to its citizens when it comes to speaking or expressing themselves,such an act is indeed shameful and deplorable.
No religion is weak in itself.It's the so-called fanatic propagators that shake the foundations of any religion.And yes,all offenders of any kind must be punished only by the law of the land.
- Maya
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