Islamist fundamentalist organisations rooted in religious obscurantism have long been prone to sudden bursts of irrational violence at the slightest provocation. The stone-throwing and arson in Karnataka by fanatics against the publication in a Kannada daily of an article, purportedly by Taslima Nasreen, on wearing of the burka were a nasty challenge to the freedom of expression guaranteed in the Indian Constitution. Two people died, one of them in police firing, after thousands of protesters came out on the streets in Shimoga and Hassan districts and indulged in indiscriminate destruction of private and public property. Muslim organisations have on several previous occasions voiced their opposition to the well-known views of Ms Nasreen against oppression of women and patriarchal prejudices in Muslim society. By violently protesting every instance of publication of her articles, the religious fundamentalists obviously want to enforce a ban, otherwise legally unsustainable, on her critical and creative works. The larger purpose was to criminally intimidate free-thinking writers who dare to question the authority of religion and religious scriptures. Freedom of expression is an inviolable, fundamental right in India; it cannot be held to ransom by intolerant, communal, fringe elements who invoke religious sentiments to get away with blatantly unconstitutional acts. In secular India, the right to freedom of religion is on a par with other fundamental rights. One fundamental right cannot infringe on another fundamental right.
It is a great pity that after being hounded out of Bangladesh for her views on society and religion, Ms. Nasreen has had to face the wrath of religious extremists in secular India. She is now forced to live in hiding, avoiding all public appearances for fear of provoking radical Islamist outfits. In this particular case, Ms Nasreen sees a conspiracy to “misuse” her writings to create public disturbances and denies writing any article for the Kannada newspaper. The translation of the article too seems to be flawed. However, the issue is not the authenticity of the article or its authorship, but the right to freedom of expression it embodies. For Islamist fundamentalists, the target is much bigger than Ms Nasreen: it is the democratic Constitution of secular India. Fatwas and threats of violence in the name of religion are meant to coerce people, especially writers and artists and public figures, into an unquestioning submission to religious diktats. These undermine the secular structure of the Indian Constitution. Creativity and artistic expression, when stifled, will have the effect of killing off critical reasoning and undermining the very democratic fabric of the country.
Keywords: Taslima Nasreen, burqa, muslim women, fundamentalism, Karnataka, violence
excellent . the govt. should not hesitate to ensure that secularism is obeyed properly in India
A timely editorial. Some of this violence occurs due to media hype. Nasreen claimed that she had written no such article - but even if she had written such an article, this sort of violence is unwarranted. India's freedom of speech is often seen to be in the hands of the increasingly corrupt media, but this is reason, rather than an excuse to introspect on news reports before acting on them. Islamist fundamentalism (and other fundamentalism) is on the rise in India, I hope the trend can be reversed.
Very well written. Some hope in these words. Else I feel the next generation will be born without any right to question their world. The fundamentalists would have answered them for all of us.
India's freedom of speech is a big,"tamasha,". Everybody wants to have a say and nobody listens and most of them do not even know the word,"freedom, let alone 'freedom of speech'."
You can't (and shouldn't)force people to change habits overnight. In India's society, traditions and religious beliefs are deep-rooted. It will help if the media and thinkers tackle issues like Purdah one step at a time. Instead of forcing Muslim women to abandon burqa, spend the same time and resources educating them. Once educated and financially independent, they will be better placed to decide if they really want to be behind a burqa.
Government should stop pleasing fundamentalists. Please grant Taslima full Indian residential status.
I request to all media persons to make a common cause and voice their concerns.
It is not indviduals or religion, it is subverting the constitution. It is not done by the protestors alone but by the government who refuses to act against the offenders.Editorial goes to the heart of the matter. The very existence of free secular India is at peril. Any government worth its name should act tough and fast and send the message that this nonsense will not be tolerated.
Nice editorial. The government must ensure the fundamental rights to every community in our secular country. Banning newspaper and not taking action against so called extremists will not work. The situation must be analysed with a broad prespective and should be dealt in a way where neither the community nor the media will be hurt
Further the articles which create tension and communilsm in any community must be avoided, for better India. We are not France. Indians have a rich history of respecting and exercising every religion, so it must be dealt throughly keeping in mind the intension of both media and Community.
Where are the advocates of freedom of expression like Shabana, Javed?
Strict punitive actions should be taken against those who are trying to oppress the free thinkers.Here both the State and Centre should not stifle but come forward and tell these fundamentalists that right to freedom of expression has a place in this democratic India.
Well said and to the point ! Thanks
Our governments, in particular, the Congress led ones have a track record of succumbing to these kinds of arm twisting by religious fundamentalists and their ilk. When Salman Rushdie's " Satanic Verse" was out it was banned under pressure. When the play based on the "Last Temptation of Christ" was tried to be staged it was prohibited. The "Saraswati" of M.F.Husein caused a lot of such problem and he was hounded out. When such things happen the government instead of taking proper action against the perpetrators hides behind the excuse of law and order. If the government cannot maintain it why should it be governing at all? Till the governments start taking immediate action when such violent protests errupt it will increase only as these anti-nationals become bolder. It should have been nipped in the begining. Still it is better late than never.
The Government needs to take action against the elements that cause disturbance rather than ask the newspapers to print an apology. By blaming the newspapers, the Government is blocking the right to expression.
We need to have more open debates. Religions can't be stuck in stone age traditions and customs. They need to evolve with time.
The Karnataka government should have come down heavily on the perpetrators of the unrest instead of threatening to act against such articles and authors. It is very unfortunate that our own constitutional bodies tend to follow the line of the fanatics rather than supporting the constitutional right of free speech.
Your editorial is well written and clarifies the position of the paper in clear terms. It is really surprising to note the studied silence of so called intellectual secularists.
Precise and to the point! Unfortunately most of the news dailies who cry hoarse at the drop of a hat over petty issues are too afraid to publish reports against Islamist extremism brewing across the globe. Excellent article!
Thanks for this editorial. Every act of subverting freedom-of-expression has to be condemned. In India the subversion of free expression is done by people/groups of most of the religions. Main stream media generally shies away from condemning the acts committed by minority-religions. My view is that all acts should be uniformly condemned without prejudice. As an aside, freedom-of-expression-subversion does not happen solely on religious basis. It happens on political grounds, linguistic chauvinism, and many more. However, we as a nation, have to grow out of this. This editorial is in the right direction.
The freedom of speech in India only exists on paper, in reality it's nowwhere to be found. It is time for us to understand what our Constitution says about our Fundamental Rights and Fundamental Duties. May that solve these problems.
An excellent editorial. The Govt. should not hesitate to take appropriate measures to ensure that secularism is not endangered by extremist organisations.
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