What kind of secularism we are having?
There was a time till my childhood when I used to feel proud by saying that India is a secular country. But as I passed my childhood stage I started to realize that probably the definition of secularism, which was there in my mind, is different than the secularism being followed in India.
If we talk about the true secularism then there should be the same parameters related to any religious matters for all the religions. But how many people can say that it’s the same today in India. Difference in these parameters gets very clear each and every time when any such issue arises.
If we closely watch the recent events it will be clear to every one of us. In Barodara, the Municipal Corporation demolished several temples on the name of master plan of the city and every one was silent about it. 17 temples were demolished but there was no statement from anyone because everyone had the opinion that to make the city a better place to live, master plan should be implemented. I appreciate the Hindu community that they accepted this fact and cooperated with the government officials. But after demolishing 17 temples, as soon as they demolished a Mosque, there was huge protest and law and order problem. I would not have put a question mark on the secularism if it would have only till this point but the way all the politicians came forward and gave their statement showing soft corner for those who were protesting and allegations were made against the state government was clearly a matter on which everyone of us who think of a united and strong India should care about. Even actors like Amir Khan registered his protest and was given lots of hype in media. Pictures of mosque being demolished was shown in media again and again but was there any mention of those 17 temples which got demolished and even then there was complete peace in the city. Were there anyone who raised his/her voice that if so many temples got demolished and one mosque, why are we discussing only that mosque?
Almost all the Christian countries have allowed release of the movie Da Vinci Code but in India it had to face problems. Government formed a special committee of Christian people who reviewed it and then it got cleared from the censor board with ‘A’ certificate. Lots of leaders came forward in support of the protest against it and even after getting clearance from censor board this movie could not be released last Friday.
By mentioning these entire incidents I am not saying that government or politicians did any wrong thing. I appreciate them for being so concerned about the sentiments of those people who are involved. But major question is why all this concern comes forward only when there goes anything wrong with any other religions other than Hinduism.
Several years ago MF Hussain painted objectionable pictures of Hindu Goddess. There was nation wide protest against it and even at that time there were several leaders and progressive thinkers of this country who supported his act on the name of creativity. Just few days back NDTV aired a program where its very talented reporter Barkha Datt was shouting again and again that religious protesters are trying to highjack creativity. But do we really need such stupid creative people who have got no respect for religions.
At one side our leaders are opposing release of Da Vinci Code and the matters written in this novel, mosque demolish act is being criticized and on the other hand Indian high commissioner in Britain Kamalesh Sharma, inaugurated the Husain exhibition in London which is exhibiting few of those objectionable pictures of Hindu Goddess. Protests are going on in Britain but our High commissioner is not concerned about all these. When he was asked to register a protest against it with the concerned officials his reaction was - “they said they could not interfere in artistic freedom”. And since those officials didn’t stop it so he went one step ahead and inaugurated it. No leader in India thinks that this is an issue on which even one statement should be issued.
A statement made by Ramesh Kallidai, secretary-general of the Hindu Forum of Britain to Times of India make it very clear that how much secular our political leaders are.
He stated - “When it came to the Da Vinci Code film, the Indian authorities were very careful to slap an adult certificate in order that they do not hurt Christians. When it came to the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally condemned them. India was one of the first to ban Salman Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Verses. Why then should artistic freedom only be enjoyed by those who hurt and insult Hindus,”
Now it’s high time that people of India should come together and oppose this so called secularism being followed by our politicians whose religion is only power and money.
Praveen Pranav
praveen.pranav@gmail.com
www.Bibhuti.org
If we talk about the true secularism then there should be the same parameters related to any religious matters for all the religions. But how many people can say that it’s the same today in India. Difference in these parameters gets very clear each and every time when any such issue arises.
If we closely watch the recent events it will be clear to every one of us. In Barodara, the Municipal Corporation demolished several temples on the name of master plan of the city and every one was silent about it. 17 temples were demolished but there was no statement from anyone because everyone had the opinion that to make the city a better place to live, master plan should be implemented. I appreciate the Hindu community that they accepted this fact and cooperated with the government officials. But after demolishing 17 temples, as soon as they demolished a Mosque, there was huge protest and law and order problem. I would not have put a question mark on the secularism if it would have only till this point but the way all the politicians came forward and gave their statement showing soft corner for those who were protesting and allegations were made against the state government was clearly a matter on which everyone of us who think of a united and strong India should care about. Even actors like Amir Khan registered his protest and was given lots of hype in media. Pictures of mosque being demolished was shown in media again and again but was there any mention of those 17 temples which got demolished and even then there was complete peace in the city. Were there anyone who raised his/her voice that if so many temples got demolished and one mosque, why are we discussing only that mosque?
Almost all the Christian countries have allowed release of the movie Da Vinci Code but in India it had to face problems. Government formed a special committee of Christian people who reviewed it and then it got cleared from the censor board with ‘A’ certificate. Lots of leaders came forward in support of the protest against it and even after getting clearance from censor board this movie could not be released last Friday.
By mentioning these entire incidents I am not saying that government or politicians did any wrong thing. I appreciate them for being so concerned about the sentiments of those people who are involved. But major question is why all this concern comes forward only when there goes anything wrong with any other religions other than Hinduism.
Several years ago MF Hussain painted objectionable pictures of Hindu Goddess. There was nation wide protest against it and even at that time there were several leaders and progressive thinkers of this country who supported his act on the name of creativity. Just few days back NDTV aired a program where its very talented reporter Barkha Datt was shouting again and again that religious protesters are trying to highjack creativity. But do we really need such stupid creative people who have got no respect for religions.
At one side our leaders are opposing release of Da Vinci Code and the matters written in this novel, mosque demolish act is being criticized and on the other hand Indian high commissioner in Britain Kamalesh Sharma, inaugurated the Husain exhibition in London which is exhibiting few of those objectionable pictures of Hindu Goddess. Protests are going on in Britain but our High commissioner is not concerned about all these. When he was asked to register a protest against it with the concerned officials his reaction was - “they said they could not interfere in artistic freedom”. And since those officials didn’t stop it so he went one step ahead and inaugurated it. No leader in India thinks that this is an issue on which even one statement should be issued.
A statement made by Ramesh Kallidai, secretary-general of the Hindu Forum of Britain to Times of India make it very clear that how much secular our political leaders are.
He stated - “When it came to the Da Vinci Code film, the Indian authorities were very careful to slap an adult certificate in order that they do not hurt Christians. When it came to the Prophet Mohammed cartoons, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh personally condemned them. India was one of the first to ban Salman Rushdie’s book, The Satanic Verses. Why then should artistic freedom only be enjoyed by those who hurt and insult Hindus,”
Now it’s high time that people of India should come together and oppose this so called secularism being followed by our politicians whose religion is only power and money.
Praveen Pranav
praveen.pranav@gmail.com
www.Bibhuti.org
posted by Praveen Pranav at 5:04 AM
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