[You're free to express any view whatever as long as
it suits me!]
http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/245832.html
My freedom of expression is better than yours
Pamela Philipose
Posted online: Sunday, December 02, 2007 at 0000 hrs
IST
It is only in India that we take the right to freedom
of expression seriously. So seriously, in fact, that
we freely exercise our free right to freely interpret
our right to freedom of expression. Phew, hope I got
that right. Of course, my freedom of expression may
not be your freedom of expression, but I will defend
to death my freedom to express my version of freedom
of expression and your right to agree with my version
of freedom of expression. The recent kerfuffle over
Taslima Nasreen unleashed four distinct versions of
our freedom of expression. There could, of course, be
many more, considering there are 1.1 billion of us.
But I will confine myself to these four . . .
The Sangh Parivar Freedom: This is a very subtle and
super-refined philosophy of freedom of expression. So
please pay attention or you may miss an important
nuance.
There are many activities this important community
committed to freedom of expression believes should not
find expression. Valentine cards, denim jeans, and
'Ba, ba, black sheep' may figure in the list. So it
unleashes its most excitable cadres, suitably equipped
with crowbars, to storm shops and schools in defence
of freedom of expression.
However, when it comes to Salman Rushdie, they are the
first to come out on the streets in defence of his
right to express. This commitment is truly
praiseworthy. However, Rushdie being right, should not
be taken to mean that M.F. Husain is also right.
Sometimes Husain's canvases need to be slashed or
inked out in pursuit of their freedom of expression.
Now, generally, the Sangh Parivar is not welcoming of
Bangladeshis. In fact, they believe they should not be
recognised as life forms but herded together and sent
home. However, given its largeness of heart and
vision, it is prepared to allow one Bangladeshi,
Taslima Nasreen, not just right of residence but full
citizenship, with hospitality thrown in, courtesy
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Fortunately,
Taslima is not a student at the Baroda University of
Fine Arts, or Modi may have had to send in this police
to beat her up and jail her for expressing her right
to express herself.
Mullah Freedom: This may seem something of a misnomer
but that is because you don't understand what real
freedom of expression is all about. Real freedom is
letting anyone issue a fatwa against one and every
thing. Mullahs are big on gender. They passionately
believe that every woman should freely express her
freedom of expression. But she should do this but
within the chardiwari , or four walls of the home.
Arrey, it's a whole universe out there, so why should
they complain? Who is there to stop a woman from
expressing herself by making a really good mutton
biryani or shammi kebab? Now mullahs don't have much
of a view on M.F. Husain, at least not when we last
checked.
West Bengal Freedom (sponsored by the state
government): I dare anybody to deny that the Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee government is not committed to culture.
Fine films that testify every day to freedom of
expression are regularly screened at Nandan — with the
chief minister himself often in attendance, sparing
time from onerous labours at Writers Building, like
directing cadre action in Nandigram. However, the
state government sometimes feels the need to go the
extra mile to protect freedom of expression. It does
this by occasionally banning Taslima Nasreen's books
or sending its police to protect her freedom by
pushing her into a taxi and handing her a ticket to
Timbuktoo. In an eloquent token of their commitment to
freedom of expression, the state government even paid
for Taslima's transportation, without demanding TA/DA
forms to be filled.
Freedom, Govt of India style: The Manmohan Singh
government is committed to protect the Constitution,
and does this by sitting on a fence while keeping an
ear to the ground. It will defend the constitutional
right to freedom of expression of every citizen with
all the power at its command. Provided it does not
jeopardise the Congress's Hindu vote or the Congress's
Muslim vote, or indeed the Congress's Sikh, Christian,
Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, Bahaai, Dravida, OBC, SC/ST,
Upper Caste, Medium Caste, Other Backward Caste, or
SC/ST vote.
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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190
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