Faith stifles free speech in India

The Indian government has tended to yield ground to extremists, writes

AMULYA GANGULI

Is Gandhism extinct in India?

Mahatma kowtowing clid nor satisfy them i s, however, evident from Rushdie's decision to scay away from the Jaipur Literature Festival last year because of the government's reluctance to guarantee llim protection

Both Hindu and Muslim fanatics are up in arms against artistic and literary freedom in lndia One of their targets is the ol d "sinner" Salman Rushdie. But there are two others.

One of them is social scientist Ashis Nandy, who stirred a hornet's nest by saying at the Jaipur Literature Festival chat most of the corrupt people in the country happened co be from the lower castes (he s,lid this in a certain context that was ignored) It is a slur which champions of these communities can hardly ignore i f only because their entire political career is based on promoting caste consciousness that fuels antipathy towards the upper castes.

And this year too, he had to call off a visit to Ko lkata for the same reason along with filmmaker Deepa Mehta in connection with the rel ease o f Midnight} Chilrlre11, a film based on llis Booker prizewinning book of the same name.

The government did nor even allow the film to be shot in India fo r fear of offending fundamentali sts. As a result, Mehta had to shoot the film in Sri Lanka

}IBY NOEL G DE SOUZA

Maliaana Gandlli, die Father of the Indian nation, was a comple.x person, like many other great people. However the thing whic h stands out was that he was a peaceful man, even to the point of naivete. There has been no other such person in India's history since its independence.

President Barack Oban1a openly professes his admiration for Gandhi He told sn1dents at die Wakefield High School in Arlington in 2009 that Gandhi represent5 die power of chru1ge through erhics, and how to use morality ro foster change. Obama pointed out to the srudenrs that Gandhi m ade people realise t hat di ey had powe r within tl1emselves and char that power needed to be used to help others, an d not to oppress them.

There are those who

The government is reluctant to

Another film, which is having to run die Foremost among them is Dalit czarina Mayawati, wbose slogan at one time was: "Tilak, tm-azu aur ta!1JJat; inko f!larojootry chm:" It meant bear with shoes the Brahmins (who wear ' tilak' on the ir foreheads), Banias (w ho weigh the goods in their shops w ith 'tarazu' case it i s seen to be directed against the community as a whole. or pair of scales) and Kshatriyas (the warrior class who sport 'talwar' or sword and hold second p lace after Brahmins in caste hierarchy).

''ga untler of the Mus lim nillitanrs is Kamal Haasan's Vish1JJaroopa111 even act against the trouble - makers in though i t shows an Indian Muslim intelligence officer battling lslanlic fanatics in Afghrulistan and s hould be a matter of pride therefore for "patriotic" Muslims, as Haasan said.

Mayawati's demand was that Nandy be arrested forthwith under an act w llich seeks to protect Dali ts and adivasis (tri bals) from atrocities.

What she did not care to consider was whethe r the Jaw, meant to safeguard these commu nities from a continuation of the cenmries -old social denigration, could be applied to a scholarly thesis. It has to be noted that rhe person mentioned by Nandy in this context was former JharkJ1and chief nlinister Madhu Koda, a tribal, who is now in jail on charges of corruption.

The p oint, however, is not about who is right and who is wrong. It is about whether a renowned sociologist h as die right co express an opinion based on his scudy of the social and political scene - or whether he should be pm in jail for saying what he believes to be correct

Nandy is not the first academic, of course, who has to confront t he b igots. Nor Jong ago, die Oriental Research fostirute in Pune was vandalised because h istorian James W. Laine had worked there while preparing a biograph y of Shivaji, wh ich was nor Liked by the present-day admirers of the Maliarashtrian warrior.

Arguably, if vandal s a nd intemperate politicians are having a free nm in the matter of intimidating those holding contrarian views in their opinion, the reason is that the governments at both the centre and in the sta tes have tended to yield ground co the extremists.

One notable instance of such a retreat was the banning of Ru sh di e's novel The Satanic Verses, by die Raj iv Gandhi government in 1988 under pressure from Muslin1 hardliners. The fact that the

''The standard explanation given by the Muslim radica ls for lambasting Rushdie or Haasan is that they have hurt the conuimniry's religiou s sen timents.

It is the same argument which compelled Galileo to deny in the 17th century that the earth moved round tl1e sun since his claim was found hurtful to t heir beliefs by Christians at the tim e. Ir took the Catholic church three centuries to offer a formal apology for its denunciation of the astronomer.

Yet, this argument is offered time and again in 21st century India to satisfy rhe prejudices of the diehards. [n view of the difficulties which his film faces, Haasan has even said that he ma)' have to seek refuge in a secul ar countr y just as painter M F. Husain had ro Aee from India and die in exil e because of the threat posed by Hindu storm- troopers.

Regrettab ly, it is no secret that the silent majority of Hindus and 1\.'Iuslims do nor subscribe to the irrationalism of the fanatics.

Ye t, the government is reluctant to ace against the a·oub le-makers in case it is see n to be directed against the community as a whole.

Interestingly, the Marxis t s are no berrer despite their c laim to be p rogressive, for i t was when the y were in power in West Benga l that the controversial Bang ladeshi audior, Taslima Nasreen, had to leave Kolkata because of the disturbances caused by a mi.nor Muslim outfit.

There i s little doubt that the decline of tl1e Congress and t he growtli of backward - looking parties based on speci fic casres ru1d communities are responsible for the prevailing cultural terrorism

Gandhian methods helped India gain its freedom from the British and t h e French which were democratic cow1tries, but failed when i t came to tl1e Porn1guese under rhe dictatorial rule of Salazar. Peaceful demonstrators con sider J\fohandas Karamchand Gandhi ('mahatma' is a title meaning 'great soul') to be a naive and impractical person Por exru11ple, Gandhiji (a respectful address) believed that passive resistru1ce by Jews against the Nazis could help them to u ltin1ate ly ·win their right~ History has

''Duri ng his famous speech , ' We have a dream ' on Capitol Hill, Martin Luther Ki ng and his supporters around him wore white Gandhi caps

(satqyagrd) marching into Goa in 1955 we re met by g1mfire and mowed down. Several were killed.

In 1961, India ultimately seized control of tl1e Pormguese possessions widli.n Lidia through military means. 1n 1975, the army overthrew the undemocratic successor to the late Salazar regime and clearly proven otl1erwise.

Gandhiji hailed from the state of Gujarat. When h e moved from Britain to South Africa, he was smartly dressed and sac in a carriage reserved for whi tes. But d1ough he was fair- skinned, he was thrown out of the carriage because a white person objected to h is presence there. This scarred the C ivil Rights movement i n South Africa.

After rerurning to India, fo r a time Gandhij i Li ved in Gujru·at which was known then for its Hindu -Muslim amiry. 1n recent decades ironically, Gujarat has seen communal riots in die city o f Godhra. In 2002, a railway carriage carr ying activists ren,rning from Ayodhya was set on fire, reportedly by extremist Mus li ms (over 30 of them were lacer convicted); fifry- nine person s were killed including women and children.

1n retaliation, Hindu activists set tire to Muslim shops and homes, resul ting in over a thousand deaths. The current prenlie r of the State has been blam ed for the incident, but he denies ru1y involvement.

Gandhiji 's methods of peaceful and nonviolent agitation secured In dia's freedo m from British rule. His methods worked admirably witlun tlie parruneters of a democratic society. That is why Gandhian ideas of 'pass ive res istance' (called '.ra!Jagraha' or action for truth, d1at is, for justice) have been successfully used in South Africa, tl1e USA and Zimbabwe

Gandhian mediods helped to secure rights for Afro-America n s in the USA. Gandhi's methods were emulated by Martin Luther King] nr in rbe Civil Rights movement in the USA. During bis famous speech , 'We have a dream' on Capitol Hill, King and his supporters around him wore white Gandhi caps. People were reminded of char speech during the Atlanta Olympic Games w hen images of Gandhi were prominently displayed.

''soon after, democracy was re-established in Portugal. The co untry tl1en signed a a·eaty recognising fodian sovereignry over its former possessions.

Today, the relationship between Porrugal and India is a ver y friencU y one. There are thousands of fodians (both Christians and Hindus) Living in Lisbon where signi ficantl y, there are two scames of Gandhi in the ciry. There was one m.1e foUower of Gandhi who lived a selfless life. He was Acharya

Vinoba Bhave, a freedom fighter who was jailed for agitating against British colon ial rule i n l 932. He was known in a Limited circle becau se of his writings in llis native Marathi l twas Gandhij i him self who introduced hin1 to Lidia in 1940. Bhave ,vas a spiriru ally minded person who had d eeply sn1died di e major Hindu texts and commented on them , as weUas some on Islam and Christianiry. He sta ted that hi s main purpose was rhe union of hearts. Bhave dedicated himself to achieving land distribution to the poor by persuading large landowne rs to d onate land, in what became well known as die bhoodan (gift of land) movement.

GMdhiji's utopia was an India composed of self-s u ffic ient villages. Since then, urbanisatio n has skyrocketed and what were o nce smaU rowns are now growing urbru1 centres To protect rural jobs, the government has allocated certain industries to rural area s. It is essential tl1ar jobs having mass employment be protected. Thus a maclli.ne invented to mechanise tl1e production of a local cigarette- rype item (bid,) was banned, as it would create mass rural tmemployment.

In India, Gandh ism is still alive in tl1e rural sector However, growing intolerru1ce and vociferous activism is harming tli e country's political fabric

• General Skilled Migration (onshore & offshore)

• State Sponsored Visas

• Employer Nom inated Visas

• Partner & Family Migration

• Business Migration

• Student Visas

• Advice on various pathways for permanent residency to onshore graduates.

• Adv i ce & Assist ance with Professional Year Program.

• MRT App lication for Review

• Ad vic e & fac ilitate proce du res fo r Student

Visas

Ou r Assoc iates : Robert (Bob) Fenwick - IVisala w New Zealand

Katerina Kn ize - Law offices of Katerina Kn ize, Montreal Canada

• Guidance and assistance in selecting appropriate professional cou r ses based on education and background

• Change of Course, University and Education Provider

• Assistance with credit transfers

• Immigration & Visa Advice

• Student Visa and Appea l Matters

• Admission and Visa Assistance for other countries including Canada and New Zealand.