Bush also won the election based on Christian fanatics who were also
responsible for Vietnam war. Sensible Americans rejected Iraq war
but Bush won it by playing Islamophobia to the Christians.
Bottomline is--fanatics are the toys of democracy-and it is
responsibility of all good human beings to stand united against the
fanatics everywhere. Be it in America or in India,
Thanks
Biplab
--- In vinnomot@yahoogroups.com, Mohammad Choudhury <msuc@...> wrote:
>
> Dear All:
>
> I want to quote,
> The argument made in India is that we are an uneducated, deeply-
religious, conservative society where faith is an anchor unlike in
the West. In such conditions criticism of god or religion can - and
often does - provoke violence. To prevent this governments have to
censor and ban. At first that may sound persuasive or, at least,
sensibly pragmatic. But, I'm sorry, I do not subscribe to this line
of thinking. It ignores essential facts. And it's philosophically
mistaken.
> Is it true in the West? "where faith is an anchor unlike in the
West. In such conditions criticism of god or religion can - and
often does - provoke violence."
> Is not in West making a lot of violence occurring due to god or
religion? "You are with us or...........?"
>
> M S Choudhury
>
>
> To: vinnomot@yahoogroups.com; banglarnari@yahoogroups.com;
khabor@...: sahitya@yahoogroups.com; calcutta@yahoogroups.com;
rahul.guha@...; editor@...; mukto-mona@...: akhter@...: Sun, 9 Dec
2007 18:02:35 -0500Subject: [vinnomot] India thinking: Do we pass
the Taslima test? When we (Bangladesh) already failed in writer
Taslima and cartoonist Arif Ahmed Tests!
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Dear All,
>
> According to Universal Declaration of Human Rights of United
Nations (
http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html ) we Bangladeshis
failed in writer Taslima Nasrin(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taslima_Nasrin ) and Cartoonist Arif
Ahmed ( who is in jail now after publishing a cartoon in Prothom
Alo, where a small boy out of religious respect and tradition to put
Mohammad before any name after instruction from a Moulana, names his
cat as " Mohammad Biral"; huge outcry from religious fanatics
compelled the present Government to arrest Cartoonist Arif and put
him in jail ) tests.
> Now India is in dilemma and India's intelligentsia are vocal to
press their government to pass the Taslima Test against the Indian
Muslim Fanatics.
> You can find it at:
http://hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=a04dbb20-5f7a-
4cab-9eff-7ca034c2f7db , it is copied below:
> Regards.
> Yours sincerely,
> Golam F. Akhter
> Bangladesh-USA Human Rights Coalition
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Monday, December 03, 2007
> Karan Thapar
>
>
>
> Do we pass the Taslima test?
>
> Democratic we may be, but liberal we most certainly are not. The
test is accepting that others have a right to say and do things we
don't approve of, consider offensive, or even emotionally and
sentimentally hurtful, but which don't actually physically harm us.
Voltaire put it most pithily: "I do not agree with a word that you
say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." However
he was French. We're Indian.
>
> Taslima Nasreen may not be a great novelist. She may even be
motivated by a quest for publicity. And many say she deliberately
and calculatedly compromises other people by revealing their
personal secrets. But those are literary or moral judgements. No
doubt each of us will accept or reject them as we deem fit. The
question is, do we have a right to silence her voice because of them?
> I might not like someone criticising my gods or exposing the
faults and flaws in my faith. It may even feel like an attack on my
identity. But the correct response is to question my intolerance
rather than vent my anger on the critic. If the criticism is
justified, it can only help. If not, I will emerge stronger for
tolerating or, at least, ignoring it. But to ban the critic is to
diminish myself. It fails the test of the values I claim to espouse.
> Taslima's case is no different to MF Husain, the Baroda University
art students, Karunanidhi, Salman Rushdie, Baba Gurmit Ram-Rahim
Singh or Gautam Prasad's Youtube Gandhi. Whether the motive is art
or literature, satire or politics, the liberal options are to
accept, criticise or ignore, but definitely not ban. To do so would
be not just intolerant and narrow-minded, but proof of insecurity
and self-demeaning. That's why it's wrong. That's why I consider it
indefensible.
> The argument made in India is that we are an uneducated, deeply-
religious, conservative society where faith is an anchor unlike in
the West. In such conditions criticism of god or religion can - and
often does - provoke violence. To prevent this governments have to
censor and ban. At first that may sound persuasive or, at least,
sensibly pragmatic. But, I'm sorry, I do not subscribe to this line
of thinking. It ignores essential facts. And it's philosophically
mistaken.
> The truth is that on almost every such occasion when violence has
occurred, people have been incited and provoked. Not by the novelist
or artist, not by the criticism or the cartoon, but by those who
have exploited and manipulated the situation for their own ends. The
authority to ban and the power to censor plays into their hands. As
long as they exist they will be used. Where they don't, the matter
invariably resolves itself peacefully.
> But I have a deeper point to make. Why should brute force, which
damages property, destroys lives and devastates cities intimidate
me? The answer to those who behave unlawfully is not to give in and
appease but to stand up and enforce the law. If you love freedom you
have to be prepared to defend it. You can't protect freedom by
compromise and concession.
> After all, freedom is not just the right to be considered if
correct, it is equally the right to be heard even if you are thought
of as wrong. And in these matters who is to judge right and wrong?
Were Buddha, Mahavira and Luther wrong? Were Copernicus, Darwin and
even Marx wrong? And who today would maintain that DH Lawrence or
Boris Pasternak was wrong?
> The India I would be proud of would welcome Taslima Nasreen and
grant her sanctuary. It would guarantee MF Husain's return home
without fear of imprisonment or harassment. It would hear
Karunanidhi, read Rushdie, accept Baba Gurmit Ram-Rahim Singh, even
if it does not agree with them. The India I'm embarrassed by wreaks
violence on the streets of Calcutta, vandalises art schools in
Baroda and threatens peaceful worshippers in Sirsa. Alas, that is
the India I live in.
>
>
> Send Feedback
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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