http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article512547.ece is the inspiration behind writing this blog. Supreme court has rightly reminded the politicos about the draconian power vested with it that is oppressing freedom of expression.
To be fair to the criticisers of this view, yes everything has got a limit! But that limit is a thin line between right and wrong which mostly is difficult to distinguish and more importantly defines tolerance of the society. The society is slowly moving towards radicalization or it is pushed towards radicalization by hordes of forces which pull the human race back to the stone ages. Call them Taliban, Call them Sriram Sene, Call them Sangh Parivar :- the ideology may differ,their shapes may differ and way of protest may differ but ultimately all of them contribute to the same cause , narrowing the windows of civilization!
India as a country is most famous for its open and receptive people. People had come from various places,various continents. They brought their thoughts,their philosophy , their religion and art to this land but we received each and every one of them and assimilated and enriched them! Hinduism,an all encompassing philosophy had in itself a receptive organ which helped it to cross orders and inspire many Goethes and Hesses with its captivating ideas. It influenced the thinkers ,poets and artists of modern times!
But there is a stark contrast to all this :- the other face of india painted by the aforementined outfits and people like Thackeray! The newest of this lot :- about a book on shivaji by James Laine ,”Shivaji-A hindu king in Muslim India”, provoked the marathi mannus who have deified Shivaji. The supreme court has taken serious note of this as far as one can understand from the wordings of the judgement
“Undoubtedly, the power to forfeit a newspaper, book or document is a drastic power in as much as it not only has a direct impact upon the due exercise of a cherished right of freedom of speech and expression as envisaged in Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution, it also clothes a police officer to seize the infringing copies of the book, document or newspaper and to search places where they are reasonably suspected to be found, again impinging upon the right of privacy.
“Therefore, the provision has to be construed strictly and exercise of power under it has to be in the manner and according to the procedure laid down therein,” a Bench of Justices D.K. Jain and H.L. Dattu said in a judgement.
Even though the supreme court has noted a technical issue on the state government could not identify the communities whose sentiments may be hurt by the book, its observations are strong warnings to the political bigwigs in the state who harp on the “sons of soil” sentiments for electoral gain. It’s a pity that national parties like BJP and Congress have also taken sides with the ultras.
Details of the book & its comments
http://www.complete-review.com/quarterly/vol5/issue1/laine0.htm : This link gives a great deal of details about what the book is all about and why it was banned . The author has collected fairly large piece of information and collected it here.
http://www.complete-review.com/quarterly/vol5/issue1/laine1.htm : This link gives fairly good idea why all the hell broke loose and what the controversy is all about. The authors have pointed out a lot of lines in great detail to show their reverence to Shivaji maharaj !
The deification of Shivaji and his empire is perhaps a conscious attempt to rewrite the history. The 500 Years of mughal rule is something of an embarrassment to Sangh Parivar. They wanted a hero who defended against muslim thugs! Who was the protector of south india from these thugs. Many historians contradict this but they are threatened with the sword of British era laws oppressing freedom of expression. “He was a kind of brigand chief, who marauded other states from Gujarat to Bengal,” says Ashish Nandy, a social historian at the Center for the Study of Developing Societies in New Delhi . This is in coincidence with hindu sentiments echoed against anything critical against the long held traditions. The philosophical and cognitive uprising started by Swami Vivekananda is more and whoever tries to view the religion through new lenses are fought with sticks and are driven away from the country!
What has happened to us? Yes there is a limit to everything. Including naughty jokes about a ruler who is worshipped as local hero without any documentary claim is reprehensible but why dont we see the apology issued by the author? The very opposition is also based on some myths and mostly they are against scientific analysis. For a historian it is impossible to think the myths will represent an interesting topic . His job would be to harness the myth to analyse the socio-religious conditions prevalent at that point of time and how it helped the evolution of pan-India identity for hinduism. As observed by Ananya Vajpayee in telegraph “My suspicion is that the most critical question is in fact the one that, as Dilip Simeon points out again and again, almost no one seems to be raising. And that is — are we prepared to defend acts of violence perpetrated in the name of our identity, our beliefs and finally, our sentiments? The work on Shivaji by the American professor, James Laine, must be judged on the cogency of its arguments and the propriety of its methodology. Instead, we are asked to judge it on the basis of the nationality of its author. “. How far did the Maharashtra government go before filing such a case? It can be suspected Electoral gains were more of a concern than consulting with author or the publishing house!
“The Professor from Pune points out that banning a book is perhaps the worst form of censorship. “We cannot call ourselves a democracy if authorities are allowed to suppress voices.” The writer is an American, who has also apologised for his remark. Imagine what would have happened had it been an Indian writer? “Nobody should be made to feel scared about writing or voicing what they believe in. Have we reached such a pitiful stage where we cannot write about certain subjects?” If you do, your credibility and reputation takes a huge beating. This new trend is dangerous. Even I cannot let you quote me because I fear about the consequences.,” he said.
The Professor says Laine should be allowed to arrive at his own conclusions. Besides, he said, the larger issue here was that you cannot pick and chose events from history. Unfortunately, Shivaji is no longer a historical figure. He has become a symbol of the Hindu Right. His name is mired in the dirty business of politics and politicians squeeze as much political mileage out of his name as possible. It is not his being a Hindu that is important but that he was a great warrior who took on the British. He did not sell out to them like several other kings and princes of his time, the Professor says.” :- these word rightly echoes the strongly worded statement from Supreme Court.
Banning thoughts in a Republic is very anti-Platonic. Art definitely needs a blanket permission to shake us up from our sleep walking, to re-write the world and its morals..
In the ‘Shivajified’ New Mumbai(he is there from Airport to Museum), a book stripping Shivaji of his demigod status stands in the way of zealots. If the government accommodates and fosters these radicals, this right wing will not stop at anything. Same is the case with other regional parties. Their regional fervour will only help to split the concept of India.
Good to know that you were disturbed. Should be.