Aug 14, 2007 12:21 PM
3619 Views
With the savage show of misdemeanor against exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, once again the spirit of Freedom of Speech got trampled under the foot of the fundamentalists. This happened at a time when our nation is preparing to celebrate 60 years of its independence in just one day.
The act has botched up tall claims by the Indian masses and classes of merging ahead on the liberalized path. We need to ask ourselves are we really civilized, does this sort of an incident where a writer, just because she doesn’t comply with the so-called laws of the Islamic faith, is beaten up in full media glare happens in a civilized society?
Each one of us has been gifted with a mind that can think and act accordingly and above all our very revered constitution has provided us with six fundamental rights out of which Right To Speech and Expression is one of them. Nasreen might not be an Indian citizen but as an individual she can differ from you and me. Where has all the tolerance vanish?
Why can’t we simply let people express their views? This is not happening for the first time ever. Noted painter MF Hussain can’t live in his own country just because there is a fatwa against him. Gujratis could not watch Fanna because it had Amir Khan who stood up against the Gujrat CM on the Sardar Sarovar dam issue. Parzania faced criticism even before it was released the reason being it showed the real face of the communal riots that engulfed the whole state in 2001 and torched thousands of houses and ruined millions of lives.
Everywhere in the world fundamentalists carry the same face and the same intolerance. The case in question is the furore created against the Danish cartoonist by the Arab world. When this sort of an incident happens in our country the so-called liberals take no time to vanish in their pigeonholes.
Where have all the feminists and the Mahila Andolan mandal gone? Even our lawmakers seem to be in a deep slumber. Apart from filing a case no action has been taken against the MIM legislator.
The economy may be surging at 9% growth rate but the economy makers are turning to be supressers. It was this govt. that 2 years ago wanted to ban the blogosphere. I wonder is it the same country that is hailed as being the next superpower in a decade. Its not only hurtful but also shameful that asking for Freedom of speech today seems to be a pricey affair but why do we want to take away one's right to live respectfully.
