The Right To Bigotry

Patel ji,

I`m not sure that `absolute` freedom of expression really exists..there are very few absolutes in this world we live in and `freedom` definitely is not one of them, as much as those of us would like to believe it is.

`the right to freedom...`--I always thought these were two separate things, Civics class lecture back in the old country (won`t specify which one)--rights to do blah blah, and freedoms of blah blah (forgive the profound blah blahs: it was many generations ago that I had to sit through a boring Civics class, made more boring by the fact that what we learned did not apply to the `real` world)--so to me, the right to freedom is a misnomer, an oxymoron, and just in my humble opinion a joke.

Aakar:

[…Anybody have an opposing view?…]

Well, how about just ‘views’?

You should thank your stars. Am exhausted. Just wasted a fine evening paying tributes to the editor/writer of the article below yours. Don’t feel like complimenting two editor/writers in a row! :)…

Seriously, for ‘another’ editor … yaar yeh tum log ‘presentation’…formatting waghera per dhiyaaN kyuN nahiN daitay ho?

And how are your Urdu classes coming along?

rgds,

t

``Anybody have an opposing view?``

Nope. Lets go burn down Sandesh and Gujarat Samachar. Such a thing didnot already happen and the editor was able to make those statements only because there was a mismatch in numbers, so lets make up the numbers and use the same logic on him and his paper. What is sauce for the goose ought to be sauce for the gander.

http://www.pucl.org/reports/Topics/Religion-communalism/2002/gujarat-media.htm
THE ROLE OF NEWSPAPERS DURING THE GUJARAT CARNAGE:
a brief analysis for the period Feb 28 to March 24, 2002

By PUCL Vadodara and Shanti Abhiyan, Baroda
April 5, 2002
Draft to be revised
(Material submitted to the Editors’ Guild of India)

I hate to say this, Aakar, but I think you need to read ``Manufacturing Consent`` once again.

When the real ``misuse of freedom`` in India is the growth of poverty and illiteracy, not to talk about bad health and absent governance, what difference, frankly, do a few thousand lives in the name of ``religion`` make?

I think media in India needs to go through a far more anarchic phase, where it reports blindly and blatantly everything and anything, before media gets worried about its own importance. Perceived, if I may say so, more by itself.

Editors meet collectors and senior police officers. Chief Ministers meet media owners.

People still do what they perceive as their truth in that moment. I don`t think media (or collectors, senior policemen, chief ministers etc etal) make any difference in what people will then do after that.

Freedom based on Anglo-Saxon mores would make a lot of sense if somebody from the Western media, say even The Economist, did a one-to-one comparision between Saudia and Afghanistan, for example. But hey, that would`nt be right either?

So, at the end of the day, Aakar, if you print / publish what you think is correct, then that is about the best you can do people, freedom . . .

cheers/veeresh

``Anybody have an opposing view?``

No.

This is horrible. Forget about Hindu or Muslim, this is simply inhuman.

Thanks Aakar for letting us onto the truth. It`s a sad day for our great secular democracy when things like this happen but as long as we have a conscience, at least we can try and avoid it in future.

Any ideas on how the HELL Gujarat got this way?

I don`t have an opposing view. Indeed I feel that curtailing freedom of expression might be a good short term solution sometimes. My amazement however derives from the fact that the newspapers were obviously delivering something which their bloodthirsty audience wanted.

So what has introduced so much poison into Gujrati (maybe Indian?) society? And if it is not possible to fool all the people all the time, how come this poison has survived for so long? Does this mean that there are real issues involved which we dare not address?

And where do we go from here? If we are a democracy, should we let people really express thier views, knowing that these will destroy secular society as we know it? Or should we, like our freedom of expression, curtail democracy for a while?

-narain

``We are, simply put, unfit to have this freedom because we will misuse it. For murder.``

quiet right. being an indian myself, i do think that indians were not and are not reaedy for democracy and freedom. what india needed and still needs is a system where freedom is restricted. close example to that would be china.

50 years since freedom, half the population is living below poverty line, half the population is illiterate. what kind of leaders would such people choose.

My memories of Sandesh mostly include furtive glances at the movies page in my 6ht and 7th standards.. Along with the usual suspect Hindi movies, there used to be titles like Frech Teacher, Bedroom Eyes, House of Love and The Last Seduction, all of which were screened in movie theatres I had never seen or knew where they were.

The fuzzy pics accompanying these movie ads, were enough titillation for a 12 year old boy in those days of DD and DD only. The descriptions were not bad either.. One translation from Gujarati to Hindi:

`` Jab kisi ke shayan kaksh mein teesra jhaankhta hai to kya hota hai? Pati ki jawani jab sexy patni ko dabati hai, to teesre jhaankhte hue aadmi se kaisa raha jayega? Garam Jawani aur Hasin Husna ka milan hua to kya hua?

Sheher ke yuvako mein HULLA !!(No Yuvatis, we are Indians :-))..

Kaam-vaasna ko nazro-nazar dekhne ki liye aaiye --Bedroom Eyes.

18 or upar. Sirf Vayasko ke Liye``

But the ads were there for all, even children to see.. Though making sure that Mom didnt see me reading that page was difficult at times..I suspect she knew..I must thank Sandesh for all the fun that we had then :-)

Other memories include ``reports`` about Martians landing in Russia and giving birth to a baby with blue skin and three eyes.. These ``reports`` were published in all seriousness, with photos and no denials ever.

Needless to say no one ever took Sandesh seriously.. Gujarat Samachar was always the classier one..

Anyways, later..

Satyavadi

Aakar, this article articulated the struggle going on inside of me since all this started.

I am such an ardent supporter of freedom of expression. I believe in the adage, I don`t agree with what you say but I will defend, with my life, your right to say it. But then, nobody I have loved has died a horrendous, hate-propelled death.

And what is the cost of human lives? And shattered dreams? And this dark, vicious hatred that is churning our world? Are all these worth the freedom of expression?

Well, part of me, says that principles are what keep us going, hoping for a brighter future, an idea, an ideal that will be triumphant in the end. Some day. One day.

And the other, more cynical (realistic?) part of me tells me I have really not seen much triumph of good and right lately, or ever. That these are all fairy tales invented to keep us complacent. That there is no right and wrong.

I think, in India, we need real dialogue. Examine the roots of this hatred that seems to grow stronger each day. Throw away those stupid national integration messages with hindus, muslims and sikhs dancing on Holi and Eid, or whatever. Why do we hate each other? Really? What can we do? It is rooted in our history, in everything that has happened till now. And it will get worse if we don`t acknowledge and truly deal with them in a healthy manner. Maybe we can`t get along but perhaps we don`t need to kill and rape each other to show our hatred. But I know this honest, painful dialogue is never going to happen. National dialogue and self-examination is not our way.

All sides have culpability in this climate of hatred. But when the government intercedes, it is something else altogether.

So, I have no dissenting views. Just a terrible darkness and a groping for answers. Wondering where we are headed. And it scares me.

I look forward to reading others` responses.

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jawahara:

``I am such an ardent supporter of freedom of expression. I believe in the adage, I don`t agree with what you say but I will defend, with my life, your right to say it. But then, nobody I have loved has died a horrendous, hate-propelled death.

And what is the cost of human lives? And shattered dreams? And this dark, vicious hatred that is churning our world? Are all these worth the freedom of expression?``

veeresh:

``So, at the end of the day, Aakar, if you print / publish what you think is correct, then that is about the best you can do people, freedom``

...both of you have said what i was thinking so well...so what do we do?...

Aakar,

A well written Article.

Welcomed respite after the iodine deficient ramblings of Sumit Ganguly (“I took the pin out of the grenade to make it safe”) , P-Mishra2 ( “so whats wrong with Ganguly’s claim”), Jay and Rsaxena (“Pakistan is geographically too thin a country to have DST”)…

Sincerely

YLH

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RE: Reply #: 11 arjun_m

``But the question is: Why would the US do that?``

Very simple, my man. Nations don`t have friends, they have interests. I think India has learned a hard lesson after doing a 180 degree turn in it`s friendship with the U.S.. She is now being lectured by Colin Powell about how to hold elections in Kashmir while he pats the master manipulator and democracy killer Mushy on the back for pimping his country to the U.S. yet again.

I think somebody has to tell the U.S. Emperor that he has no clothes. Osama bin Laden is a U.S. creation, Saddam Hussein is a U.S. creation and I don`t see why self-respecting people of the world who have no intention of even harming a hair on an American`s head should be held accountable in it`s war on terror, especially when the U.S. Govt. was responsible for creating these demons at the expense of the local populace in the first place.

The coming elections in Gujrat could be a watershed point for the BJP.

The BJP has initiated, ``early`` elections, because it feels it can take advantage of the charged situation in Gujrat, i.e. it feels the killings will play to its advantage, and it will get even more votes than it would have gotten, had it waited for the normal elections.

If the BJP does end up getting more votes, it would probably indicate that pursuing the Hinduvta agenda, without worrying about moderate alliance parties, is actually a plus point for the BJP. This could encourage the BJP to drop its facade, and show its true RSS colors throughout India.

If it gets less votes, then it could indicate that Indians are fed up with Hinduvta, and may force the BJP to moderate its views.

If the former happens, then I am afraid the worst days of communal violence in India are ahead, and not behind. If the later happens, then that could be the first step in the BJP losing its popularity.

re: Romair

If the voters vindicate the BJP in Gujarat it does not logically follow that Indians are in favor of the RSS agenda.

At the worst it means that Gujaratis are.

Stop making authoritative comments about India while sitting in some stinking cube farm.