Violence should never play a role in
religious intolerance. Killing is
just too dastardly and can never be
justified in the name of god. The
rioters have accused the caricature
sketching as an act of blasphemy and
have gone overboard by ransacking
Norwegian and Danish embassies and
killing scores of people. Our Muslim
brethren could have carried a more
non-violent tirade to make the West
realize that there are other
religions equally respectable as
theirs. Only now we hear Iranian
Newspaper Hamshahri holding a
cartoon competition on the Holocaust
questioning West's reasoning of
freedom of expression to the Nazi
genocide. A tit for tat reply
perhaps?
However passive, religious tolerance
is just as criminal. The depiction
of Hindu Gods on footwear is
downright sacrilegious. If a
religion bans certain acts that
point towards blasphemy it should be
respected. Hinduism should take a
lesson from this global outrage and
Hindu community should gather and
demonstrate their anger sans
violence for their gods finding a
place on their footwear. Sometimes
passive tolerance or indifference
towards one's own religion speaks of
the community's meek surrender.
Islam forbids depictions of their
prophet in public so personally I
feel this was an act of blasphemy
and I empathize with our Muslim
brethren. But at the same time why
have we not expressed our strong
reprimanding to this offense and
insult heaped on us. Have our voices
been buried along with our
conscience?
A freedom of expression also
warrants responsible behaviour that
would not outrage any community,
culture or civilization. Any
sensitive action that could unsettle
religious sentiments and explosive
enough to stir a global fallout
should be condemned from the very
onset. Freedom of expression is
great but even a freedom with no
boundaries is like a mad dog freely
wandering on the streets that bites
someone then feigns a harmless
intent. A free society does not give
anyone the authority to blasphemy.
Isn't the norm of a free society
more suited to the western world.
Why should that be cited as an
excuse for taking digs at more
conservative societies and
religions?
Do we all not follow "An unwritten
law" in our day-to-day lives that
mandates respect towards other
religion. If there is a
conscientious effort on the part of
American media to avoid another
wardrobe malfunction that is now
considered a social taboo on
primetime television why cant the
same law extend their respect
towards other religions. If we
respect 'Passion of the Christ" why
cant we also respect "Passion of the
Prophet" or "Passion of Lord
Krishna"? - Sidhartha Priye -
Feb. 8, 2006
Shri. M.F. Hussian is in the news
again today. He had drawn an obscene
picture of Bharat Mata and put it on
auction. Under pressure he had
apologized and promised to withdraw
the painting from the auction.
I hope this article will not meet
with eerie silence and indifference
as this topic does not pertain to
the problems of Bihar. As has been
pointed out earlier too, many such
articles just "slip away
un-commented on the conveyor belt of
time". I hope people will "honk
their horns" loudly on this
sensitive topic as I would like to
read the reactions of PD readers. An
eerie silence will be more deafening
than your honking horns. Honking
horns means your article has been
read and thought over. Silence means
"I could not care less." Opinions of
all shades and colors are welcome.
Why do we at times permit people to
go to the extent of insulting our
Gods, our mother land without
uttering the, now oft heard term,
"blasphemy"? At other times, why do
we flare up at the slightest hint of
disrespect screaming "blasphemy"?
Where lies the line which divides
the tolerable and the intolerable?
Once we have defined the line
artists and writers will know the
limits of their "Freedom of
Expression" and many ugly, violent
incidents/unrest will be avoided.
In my opinion, in today's intolerant
times, discussions on Gods and
religion should be left to the
priests and no one else should have
the freedom to discuss them in
public. The priests should also have
the freedom of discussing their own
religion only. - Raj - Feb. 8,
2006
Raj, I saw picture of Saraswati by M
F Hussein but not of Bharatmata. You
, me or someone may feel that they
are obscene but sometime you can not
feel very easily what a artist and
that too a great artist like MF
Hussein has in their mind. It will
be too easy and too naive to declare
it obscene and blasphemy. What if MF
Hussein painted Saraswati and
Bharatmata as his mother and we
thought it as insult to us. If you
see Khajuraho then you will realize
nudity is not alone in MF Hussein's
painting.
I think we are tolerant and that is
a blessing. We should not turn
violent or fanatic. I agree that no
one has any right to insult our
religion. There is one more thing if
someone has love and feeling for
their own religion and then I don't
know how can they insult other
religion. Most of the time people
who insult other religion
intentionally have no love or
feeling for their own religion. -
Kaushal Das - Feb. 8, 2006
Just apology is not enough since
this is the second time he has done
it. He should publicly burn the
painting. - Ganesh Pai - Feb.8,
2006
I had decided to wait (after this
article appeared) to see the
comments from those who called my
piece “Message from Hindoostan”
blasphemous and accused me of not
knowing History. Did I expect an
equally vociferous condemnation of
Mr. Hussain’s art from them ? No. I
did not. And by keeping quiet, they
did not surprise me! In his comments
to my article, the author of this
article persuaded me not to say
things that even remotely had the
potential of ruffling any feathers.
While I agree to that, I also do not
care for irrational one-sided
religious exuberance eclipse the
truth of history or the rationality
of respectful coexistence.
It is common knowledge that Hindus
in general are pacifists to the
point of pusillanimity. If this was
not so, Mr. Hussain’s work would
have attracted a similar kind of ire
that the cartoons regarding Prophet
Mohammad have. While both Hindus and
Muslims lectured me on one five
letter phrase in my short story,
“Message from Hindoostan”. I have
not heard a squeak on this issue
from one side of the table.
Education should bring
enlightenment. Most religions are
rooted in antiquity and were written
at a time when people hadn't seen
electricity and thought that the
earth was flat. Did you know that
the Church threatened Galileo with
torture when he first proposed his
theory that the earth was round? The
pressure was so intense on him that
he had to recant his theory! Today,
even some educated people are
digging their heels to hold a
position that evolution did not
happen. Maybe they are right – they
have yet to evolve.
Religions are ‘exclusive’ gangs who
only serve those whose livelihood
they run. It is a remote control in
the hands of the Holy Man with which
he ‘controls' the minds of a lot of
people. Many are expansionist gangs
in which the door is one way!
Religion has caused more misery to
man than anything else. It has
fuelled hate, prejudice and war. I
would like educated people of all
faiths to by cynical about the empty
teachings of religions which ask you
to “accept” and “believe” and never
use your commonsense or judgment. I,
for one, do believe in a higher
power, but being very religious – is
not my cup of tea. I like the
openness and philosophy in Hinduism,
the equality of man in Islam, the
forgiveness in Christianity, and the
principle of moderation in Buddhism.
- Arecee - Feb.8, 2006
You are right Mr. Das. We must give
artists the benefit of doubt. M. F.
Husain was thinking of his Mom when
he sketches the obscene picture of
Goddess Saraswati and Bharat Mata.
The fellows who put our Gods on
their footwear were paying some kind
of respect to their parents or the
Gods which we lesser beings do not
understand. Similarly, perhaps the
man who made the picture of the
Prophet was respectfully thinking
what his father would look like if
he wore a bomb shaped turban with a
lit fuse on top. It will be too easy
and too naive to declare it
blasphemy.
If you see Khajuraho then you will
realize nudity is not alone in MF
Hussein's painting. Correct again.
So many porn sites on the net
artistically designed with maybe
hidden holy thoughts. Perhaps the
college students peering at it in
shady inter-net cafes are more art
minded. It will be too easy and too
naive to declare it obscene. The
artist can draw anything thinking
about something holy which we do not
realize.
After all it is ART!!! What do we
bumpkins know about ART? - Raj - Feb.8, 2006
The author has asked a question
"Should artists be given liberty to
express their creativity by making
sketches and cartoons of Gods and
Goddesses"? My answer is, "No." We
can not allow anyone to play with
others' sentiments and faith. Mr. M.
F. Hussain is insane. He lost my
respect a long time ago, and I do
not believe he is Muslim; having a
so-called Muslim name does not
reflect one's belief and practice,
which is the essence of being
Muslim. A Muslim is not supposed to
draw a human living picture.
I do not like anyone can say
anything negative about my faith,
and I do not choose to degrade
others' faiths. I read Mr. Raj's
article, and I was thinking, when I
go back home during my weekend, I
will write my comments. When I saw
Mr. Aarcee's comments, I felt
terribly sorry: what happened to
this man whom once I admired? This
is the way he thinks? What if I had
gone to India for vacation at my
parents house where there is no
Internet connection? You likely
would have thought that I did not
post my comments because this man
has Hussain last name and is a
Muslim. What you see or hear is not
always true. I simply didn't post my
comments because I am very busy, but
I forced myself to find the time to
write this, due to him. Let me tell
you, Mr. Aarcee, I do not like Mr.
Hussain and I do not accept him as
Muslim. A true Muslim will not
denounce and hurt others' faith.
Mr. Kaushal, I do not agree with you
here that we should give the benefit
of the doubt. How can anyone think
so little about his own Mom? This is
not acceptable. I believe we should
first draw boundaries for ourselves
about respecting other people and
secondly, we should use the laws
that punish people for defaming
others. Freedom does not mean we can
do whatever we like, hurting others'
sentiments in the process. If I
didn't post my comments, it does not
mean I support him. I have said
nothing defending him. Please do not
judge anyone this way. - S. M.
Khurshid Anwar, New York, USA - Feb.
9, 2006
My apologies to Mr. Khurshid Anwar.
Maybe I used too wide a brush. I see
you as a lone voice of reason. I
have friends of all religious
background - all highly educated and
enlightened people. When a person
reaches a level of enlightenment,
these manmade divisions cease to
have any meaning to him. Everyone
should study science and math to
some level. It dispels many
superstitions. Till man peered
through the microscope and found the
bacterium, pox (chechak) was called
'mata' (goddess)! We have to strive
to enlighten ourselves and see the
Taliban types, the Shivsainik types
and the Pat Robertson types as the
ones who, though numerous, are the
dangerous ones. - Aarcee -Feb. 9,
2006
My blood was literally boiling when
I saw these pics and I had a
splitting sense of disgust when one
of the author in this forum actually
tried to defend this spineless
wreck. What benefit of doubt was he
talking about. I think Mr Raj has
rightly expressed his anger over
this piece of art which some people
have tried to justify. Shame on them
for doing so. - Siddharth Verma -
Feb. 10, 2006 [Edited] |
