Husain laughs at saffron love for ‘Satanic’

So much drama has been unfolding over Booker-winner author Salman Rushdie’s proposed visit to the Jaipur Literary Fe­stival, with several groups pitting themselves for and against his visit.
Ironically, Rushdie had attended the Festival in 2007 and there was hardly any protest then.
This time the scenario is different, with Assembly polls to five States set to commence shortly. No wonder the love-hate soap opera over his visit has reached a crescendo.
In 1988, the author had courted controversy (and invited a prize for his head from Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the spiritual leader of Iran) with his book The Satanic Verses, which alle­gedly made derogatory references to the Prop­het. The book has since then been banned in 12 countries including India.
Twenty-five years have passed and even Iran is no longer keen on persecuting him but the ‘guardians of the faith’ in India refuse to dilute their aggressive appro­ach.
Rushdie called off his visit over security threat inputs he received from Mumbai and Rajasthan police, only to thunder via Twitter that the Rajasthan government had cooked up the threat story to keep him off the conclave and avoid unnecessary tensions.
An angry Rajasthan CM said the threats were real and were passed on by the Centre whereas the Mumbai cops said they did not receive any threat intelligence.
In another development, four authors fou­nd themselves in a legal soup when they read out passages from The Satanic Verses at the Festival to justify Rushdie’s creative freedom — only to find themselves booked under law to prosecute inciters of communal violence.
With so many feet muddying the waters, it also triggered a great opportunity for the specialists who fish in troubled waters — the politicians.
The BJP and its allied outfits have come out in support of Rushdie and his freedom of expression, citing India’s culture of tolerance. They were also quick to point out that it was the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and the policy of minority appeasement by the Congress government, which had robbed the Festival of the esteemed presence of a hallowed litterateur.
In a repeat of the several political debacles that took place recently, the move has only done damage to the BJP by exposing its doublespeak and lack of credibility.
The saffron party was vocal in its attack on MF Husain and its offshoot organisations hounded him with dozens of cases across the country and vandalised his works wherever possible. His works had to be pulled off several prestigious art shows due to fears of violence and vandalism.
The internationally acclaimed painter was forced to live abroad like a fugitive for fear of being arrested on returning to India. He bre­athed his last not as Indian but as a Qatari, lon­ging for India and homemade food. His crime — objectionable depiction of Indian goddesses in his paintings.
Even after his death, the BJP refused to go back on its stand that his artistic freedom was not acceptable to them.
Now let’s break this down to simple equations. Rushdie ‘insults’ Islam — acceptable. Husain ‘insults’ Hinduism — not acceptable. Both were exercising their creative freedom. Both are internationally acclaimed by critics and fans alike for their contributions to their respective fields.
We would like the BJP to explain the rocket science they have used to differentiate between the two and take separate stands. There is much more to India and the depth of its culture than what its self-appointed defenders project.
Step aside zealots, before you go down in history as geckos who assumed they supported the roof and stopped it from falling.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on January 25, 2012)

Is Priyanka the next Congress matriarch?

Priyanka Gandhi took political circles by surprise when she announced that she is willing to expand her role beyond the family-held constituency of Rae Bareli and assume more responsibilities, if asked to do so by the family and the party.
There has been a lot of uncertainty over who will call the shots in Congress in the absence of Sonia Gandhi — whose health and extent of recovery from a recent surgery is still under a cloud of secrecy.
Rahul Gandhi, projected by the Congress as the family scion and prime minister in waiting, is yet to progress beyond party strengthening and assume the role of a national leader.
His latest and much-hyped Bihar campaign to oust the Nitish Kumar government not only failed but failed at a grand scale resulting in total humiliation to the party.
Of late, there have been several voices questioning his effectiveness to deliver at the polling booth despite all the publicity advantage provided by hut-hopping and tirades against non-UPA state governments.
Post-independence, except brief spells, the Congress has always found refuge in woman leaders whenever faced with a crisis. Take a look at Priyanka’s photo in black and white and the resemblance to her grandmother is remarkable.
One can’t help but wonder if another woman, after Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, is about take the helm of India’s oldest party and ‘First Family’.
So far Priyanka has maintained a relatively low-key profile, appearing in public functions only during the time of elections. Everyone knows that she is married to prominent Delhi businessman Robert Vadra and has two children. Described by several media and political observers as a power-dresser, she carries off a t-shirt and cotton sari with equal élan.
Unknown to many is the information that she is also a Ham radio operator. Ours is a country where personal charisma is more effective in ensuring mass following than ability or willingness to govern — a factor that gives Priyanka a huge advantage that can offset her lack of experience in the hinterland politics.
Also adding to her advantage is the fact that about half of the electorate are women. Whether this combined thrust will propel her to the top office of the country is the question only a full-fledged national election battle can answer.
The Congress is in dire straits, rocked by mega scams and arm-twisting by allies. The party has also drawn flak from the industry for its ability to deliver on key policy initiatives. The only advantage is a divided Opposition, led by the BJP, who have no credible alternative to offer.
The saffron party recently shot itself in the foot by inducting Babusingh Kushwaha who was booted out by Mayawati over the NHRM scam. The party will find it tough to explain why Yeddyurappa’s nominee is ruling Karnataka and why it made peace with the Reddy brothers, all under a cloud of suspicion over multiple scams.
With Anna Hazare’s anti-graft movement fizzling out after a media overkill and parliamentary dead end, the Congress has no credible challenge to its status quo. However, in Uttar Pradesh, status quo means flash in the pan or the grass that gets trampled when the wrestler patriarch grapples with the pachyderm.
Rahul has had his chance for over a decade now and yet has fallen way short of expectations. Therefore, it’s only natural that other leaders and party members may rally around a new face. It is time for the Congress and the Gandhi khandan to take some tough and decisive measures.

(This article was published as the editorial column in Postnoon on January 20, 2012)

Jarawa ‘cabaret’ reeks of colonial hangover

All hell broke loose a couple of days ago when British media aired footages of Andaman’s Jarawa tribal women dancing half-naked for tourists in exchange of food. It is alleged that the policemen who are deployed to keep the tourists from intruding into their reserved area were the facilitators for this ‘entertainment’.
With brickbats being rained on the Central government and the Andaman administration, the Centre has ordered an inquiry and has sought explanation from local authorities.
The blame game is on but no clarity has emerged till now on how Jarawas, designated by international bodies as human equivalent of ‘endangered’, can be treated so shabbily. The whole episode has proven that despite suffering from colonial bondage for 400-plus years we don’t know how to respect our own people.
Or maybe it’s a new phenomenon called ‘brown man’s burden’. When the ‘white man’ set out to reform the ‘uncivilised’ world with the Bible in one hand and a gun in the other, it sounded the death knell for several ancient civilisations, which did not conform to the West’s idea of modernity.
Today’s torchbearers of freedom, liberty and equality, who invade countries to liberate countries from tyrants and despots, are themselves products of the blood of indigenous populations who were suppressed, oppressed, tortured, enslaved and/or annihilated.
Canada and the US were once the lands of proud Red Indians who lived in sync with nature. They were no match for the ‘white’ invaders who almost exterminated them with guns and diseases. Canada’s Indian population was almost wiped out infecting them with smallpox — to which they had no resistance. Today they are refugees in their own country, living in reservations on government handouts. The story of Australia’s aborigines is not much different.
Civilisations of Incas, Aztecs and were also decimated by the European invaders. The ironic part is that when the West went to invade, plunder, colonise and enslave the rest of the world, the missions had full support of the religious authorities who are supposed to promote values of love, peace and tolerance.
Why look elsewhere when we have our own illustrious examples of trampling on indigenous populations. Almost all the mega power projects, industries and other such installations have displaced millions of tribal folk from their ancestral land. There begins the bloody tale of state-sponsored genocide — all for ‘greater common good’.
These illiterate people, unaccustomed to the wily ways of modernity, are being ruthlessly exploited ever since. They form the cheap labour, who don’t seek their rights. They work in hazardous industries as unskilled hands without safety gear. Their women become domestic helps and the remaining unlucky ones are pushed into flesh trade.
Children don’t go to school, start life as rag-pickers addicted to substance abuse and join the ranks of criminals.
While we crib about the extent of reservation benefits they enjoy, we should realise that what we perceive as unfair is the miniscule few who managed to survive and succeed. Their acquired modernity is no indication of equity or equality.
The special treatment and protection extended to the original inhabitants of this land is not our charity but an insufficient compensation for what we have unjustly taken away from them — a life and happiness we can never replace.
How we treat them is an acid test for us as a nation, a democracy and polity. And we must not fail.

Sankranti T-party may sink students’ future

Barely has the State found its feet after the innumerable miseries of the 45-day Sakala Janula Samme and Telangana Rashtra Samiti supremo KCR has dropped his Sankranthi shocker — another wave of separate-statehood agitations.
Other than the industries, which suffered a whopping Rs32,000-crore loss and a massive migration of investments to states considered more ‘stable’, it is the education sector, which bore the brunt. Schools, colleges and universities lost precious working days, putting enormous pressure on parents and students alike.
Since the conclusion of the Samme, the educational institutions have been working extra hours, cutting short holidays or skipping them altogether to finish lessons. Such a massive interruption has had a serious impact on the psyche of students, not to mention the tremendous pressure brought about by the massive workload and in­adequate rest. The length of the agitation also forced parents to hire private tutors or arrange for tuitions, causing a further strain on family budgets.
Also thrown haywire, were plans of students preparing for entrances to higher education institutions elsewhere in India and abroad. About 10,000 foreign students in different colleges and universities were also at their wits’ end as the visas are issued for limited period and getting them renewed involves a lot of paperwork and expenses.
Life for the public was made difficult by closed government offices, lack of public transport and the massive power cuts forced by employees of Singareni Collieries joining the strike. Everything has a tipping point; the same applies to the agitation for separate statehood. With the Centre in no mood to concede to their demands, the public opinion, fuelled by the denial of services, turned against KCR and Co, the T-protagonists had no other go but accept the first face-saving truce.
But what happened to the students of Osmania University, the heart of the agitation? Nothing! OU students came out with flying colours in their exams and the cream of the lot was lapped up by major companies in campus placement drives.
So what happened to the students who were forcibly made to ride the separate-statehood bandwagon? They are struggling and toiling to ensure they don’t miss the bus when their contemporaries across the country are inching closer to the limited pie, without any hassles.
Even the latest round of agitation has been planned by the TRS bosses keeping the convenience of their foot soldiers in mind. The OU students will participate only 10 days after the stir begins as they have exams during those days. Now what makes the pink squad assume that the lives and priorities of the rest are not as important?
The last round of agitation was nothing but prolonged nuisance, misery, destruction of property, monetary losses and missed opportunities. A repeat of the nightmarish ordeal definitely looks scary.
If KCR and his T-brigade are confident about the public support they claim to have, they should have the guts to make participation in the Telangana agitation voluntary. Let the people decide if they are desperate enough for a separate state that they will drop all work and join their visionary leader and his cronies in realising the land of milk and honey that will cure all ills that have been ailing the region.
With the dismal performance of states for­m­ed on similar lines at ensuring jobs, development and justice to their regions in mind, the people will show the T-men where they stand.

This high-steak game could land you in jail

The president has given her approval for Madhya Pradesh’s anti-cow slaughter legislation after a delay of almost two years. Not just slaughter, even consumption of beef can land you in jail for seven years.
It also has provisions allowing a whole range of officials beginning at head constable to barge in anywhere and conduct checks on mere grounds of suspicion.
Cow slaughter is one topic that has been the centre of heated debates and disputes over it have led to innumerable communal clashes across the country but not a single government, Central or State, has been able to come up with an amicable solution.
Such legislations’ implications don’t stop at socio-religious spheres but spill over into guidelines on state policy that defines the right of an individual.
Ours is a country where there are thousands of castes, sub-castes and communities — each with its own culture, tradition and way of life. One sweeping law like that is a blunt statement to those in the minority to let go of all that and be in ‘conformity’ with what’s ‘acceptable’.
For many communities, beef is very much a part of their regular diet and a cheap supply of essential proteins. Beef dishes are part of ceremonies ranging from birth to death. It would be gross injustice to force them to abandon their culture using legal coersion.
What about the Northeastern states or a State such as Kerala, where beef is a delicacy popular among all communities? Who will protect the rights of millions of Hindus spread across the country who eat beef?
Now imagine a scenario where two of the biggest minorities were to declare onion as sacred to their faith. Will the governments introduce laws to prohibit farming, sale, transportation and consumption of onions because it would hurt the religious sensitivities of the minorities?
The essence of a functional democracy is presence of an environment of tolerance where every segment can enjoy their unique way of life without being arm-twisted to fit into a larger picture.
If a plural country like ours can’t ensure their rights, how different are we from countries where rape victims are stoned to death because they did not follow the lifestyle demanded by the majority religion?
For a country to progress the people have to feel motivated and for that they need to feel that they are valued for what they are. If not, the feeling of alienation would creep in and the social, economic and political cost would be too much to bear.
The harassment and humiliation people from Northeast face all over India, with hardly any help coming from the police or the otherwise vigilant civil society, because of their ‘different’ lifestyle has left scars that reservations and economic packages can’t heal.
When Indians are targeted abroad in racially motivated attacks there is an outrage across the country. Media, civil society and politicians compete to outdo each other in pointing out the stark contrast between our ‘tolerant’ heritage and the narrow-minded West. Next time your blood boils at the news of racial abuse of Indians, think of what we are doing to our people in our country.
A possible solution doesn’t require rocket science to arrive at. It’s called the policy of ‘live and let live’.