Dumb headlines and measured responses
Boston Herald printed an AP news story last week with a dumb headline “Hindus lament divine case of erectile dysfunction” to which HAF had a very sensible and measured response.
I was struck by the contrast with the Danish cartoon controversy. For more on this, see “The Danish cartoon controversy: A contrast in protests“, Michelle Malikin’s “Support Denmark: Why the forbidden cartoon matter” and Tavleen Singh’s article, “The right to laugh at gods”
…and before someone asks, here is my position on the Danish cartoon controversy:
The point is not whether the cartoons are offensive, outrageous or insulting – that they may well be – the point is are we going to defend the right of people to create and publish them?
This is about freedom of expression, freedom to offend, freedom to “laugh at gods”.
And that is exactly why, on one hand, I condemn M F Husain but on the other, am equally against strong-arm tactics to force him to withdraw his paintings that are seen as insulting towards Hindu deities.
*****Â Below is a more detailed comment that I made on another blog on this topic
To make it absolutely clear: Although I do feel offended by certain paintings of Husain 1] this is a free country and Shri Husain is free to paint what he wishes to 2] I absolutely and unequivocally condemn the death threats and threats of violence in this situation (just as I would condemn the fatwa against Salman Rushdie) and 3] if certain people are upset about it, they have recourse to judicial means.
Now to the main argument (and this is not really about just the one painting that you have on your blog).
What I cannot understand is the inconsistency in the stand of the government (the cartoon controversy comes to mind), in the mind of the artist (did Shri Husain defend the Danish newspaper editor?  not as far as I know although I am willing to be corrected on this) and in the minds of various defenders of “freedom of expression”.
I think it is really very simple: Either you are FOR “freedom of expression” – in which case you would also show the Mohammed cartoons on your site along with the Husain painting (- or desist from showing both out of deference to popular sensibilities) OR you are FOR “limited/restrained freedom” in which case you will probably agree that Husain’s paintings are sometimes over the top.
I am not a right-wing Hindutva-wadi (in the sense that you imply) and I cannot support their threats of personal violence against Shri Husain (or the moral policing by certain groups that you refer to – the Richard Gere-Shilpa Shetty controversy comes to mind).
In fact, the essence of Hindu traditions (as I have written before on your blog) is to hold all alternative viewpoints in equal respect and not consider them as blasphemous or sacrilegious. So a true Hindu may be offended by Shri Husain’s paintings but will not call for his death just because of that.
Further, a true “Hindu fundamentalist” will (i) have belief in the one-ness of all life and (ii) hold that in spite of diversity and external dissimilarity, all beings are one, all life is sacred and all creatures are part of one eternal truth and (iii) be tolerant and respectful of others. The “Hindutva-vadis” you mention are far removed from this.
As regards dieties being painted in the nude, let me try and explain:
Hindu temples are not just places of meditation and solemn rituals. Temples have historically (and even today) been one of the important centres of social and cultural activity in any village, town or city. This is important so that one can understand the context and appreciate that not every sculpture or icon in a temple belongs to a diety.
The Khajuraho sculptures that people routinely refer to are not those of Gods and Goddesses but of courtiers, courtesans, royals and ordinary mortals. Please go and visit if you have not done so far (or if you do not believe me).
Bear in mind also that the Khajuraho temples were built by Chandela kings who were heavily influenced by (and were followers of) the Tantric cult. This is not the best place to get into the complexities of that belief system (and it is widely mis-understood) but that partially explains the sexual postures on the outside of temples.
Yet, to be clear, the temples do not contain sexual themes inside the Temple premises or near the deity(-ies).
The erotic carvings themselves are a small proportion of the overall art (they obviously get disproportionate attention) and the idols of Shiva, Durga and Vishnu avatar are clothed.
Image courtesy: Wikimedia.org
Namaskaar Santanu,
As someone who is an avid reader of your blog right from the first post, I am truly disappointed that you linked to SepiaMutiny for this post. The blog is hypocritical and intellectually dishonest, to say the least.
Just take a look at its Religion page. The depiction of Sanatana Dharma vis-a-vis other religions is on it is for all to see. It shows Sanatana Dharma and Bharat in a completely opposite light than you are trying to portray (If I have understood your writings correctly, that is). Any person who tries to explain our religion as it is done here, is systematically hounded out or swiftly banned. So much for their “freedom of speech”.
On the post you linked, abhi writes,
“So where do I stand on this issue. After much thought I decided that I must stick to the principles I believe in as an American, most importantly the freedom of speech. Freedom means the right to publish hate-speech, as long as it doesn’t incite violence against someone. Freedom means the right to publish hate-speech, as long as it doesn’t incite violence against someone. In this case, the newspaper has apparently incited violence against itself. You should not have to fear for your life, or the lives of your countrymen abroad, simply for drawing a picture. I am not being a hypocrite or inconsistent with past beliefs. I also support the right to place Ganesh on a beer bottle, and Rama on shoes, or any other “blasphemy” you can think of. I may protest things that offend me, but never through violence. This behavior you see around the world is not Islam. It would seem that many Muslims have just decided to turn their backs on the teachings of the Prophet and return to the pre-Islamic roots of some of their cultures. Especially under poor socio-economic conditions, a false sense of justice, blood feuds, intolerance, and tribalism has taken over. These pre-Islamic norms are what must be protested.”
Very apparently, they have no problem in posting pictures of Ganesha on beer bottle, Rama on shoes and lewd Kali Maa (they have separate posts on all three) but shy away from posting the cartoons. What kind of “freedom of expression” is that? Can you believe that he actually tries to blame the violent protest in the Muslim world on its pre-islamic roots?
He defines Freedom of speech as, “Freedom means the right to publish hate-speech, as long as it doesn’t incite violence against someone”. Then goes on to say, “In this case, the newspaper has apparently incited violence against itself. You should not have to fear for your life, or the lives of your countrymen abroad, simply for drawing a picture.” So what he is saying is that because the publishers “incited violence” on themselves and the Danes in Muslim countries, the publishers are at fault. This according to me is a very shallow and dishonest view.
Continuing,”This behavior you see around the world is not Islam. It would seem that many Muslims have just decided to turn their backs on the teachings of the Prophet. Especially under poor socio-economic conditions, a false sense of justice, blood feuds, intolerance, and tribalism has taken over. ” Isnt countering such apologetic and defeatist behavior the purpose of your writings? (Once again I have to ask you, have I understood you correctly?)
AS if that is not enough, when someone in the 5th comment prods him for not posting the full picture, he replies, “AMfD, I have no problem with posting the full picture. If I do however, half the comments on this post will be about whether or not I should have posted the picture, instead of the more substantive issues that we could be discussing.”
Really, how much more pathetic can one get?
I understand that it is your blog and it is your prerogative to link to anyone you want. Maybe you were trying to link to different POVs. But even then, why would you link to some place which despite calling itself “brown” and “S Asian” has evidently distorted and myopic understanding of S Asian religions and issues, let alone being open and objective!
Your fan,
Sarvasadhu
Sarvasadhu,
Thank you for your comment…and for your kind words.
I have not had a look at SepiaMutiny’s religion section – which I shall do later this evening or as soon as I get some time.
I will also respond to your comment after that. In the meantime, thanks a lot for being an avid reader – and for pointing this out.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharat.
Waiting for your reply,
Sarvasadhu
I agree with Sarvasadhu. Sepia Mutiny is everything that afflicts pseudo-secularists. They try to overcome their second generation American born confusion with bashing Hinduism and Hindus (after all that’s what secularism is all about). Their Hinduism is crass promoted by Indology departments in US – caste, sati, and apparent discrimination of women defines Hinduism for them as it does in Indology studies.
Sepia Munity would be perfectly happy to ally itself with Boston Herald’s post on Shiva Lingam because their view of Hinduism matches the lowest common denominator mentioned in the HAF letter to the Herald’s editor.
Sarvasadhu,
Sorry I could not reply to your comment earlier.
I had another look at the SepiaMutiny link and like you I found inconsistencies in their stance towards the Danish cartoons and other sacred icons, deities etc of other religions.
I have not been able to find the “Religion” page but if you have the link, pl. do forward it to me.
As for trying to explain our viewpoint on their blog, I would not worry too much about that.
One reason why I started this blog was that I wanted the freedom, flexibility and opportunity to explore various views, ideas and thoughts without being constrained by moderators and editors who sometimes know a lot less than they think about particular subjects.
I also looked at abhi’s comment and I agree it appears to be a “shallow and dishonest” (and very likely inconsistent) view.
I inserted the link originally as I wanted to draw attention to the “contrast” in protests (the photographs) which chimes with the point I was trying to make in the post above… (see for example the contrast between the first and the third photographs)
…but I will be careful next time.
***
@ Chandra: Thanks for your comment and I agree that the way Indology is taught in some colleges, departments etc (not just in the States but elsewhere too) leaves much to be desired – sometimes it is gross misrepresentation of facts.
Hopefully, books like the recent Invading the Sacred will help. Please also see one of my recent posts: Redefining Hinduism
I would like to end this with Hari Kunzru’s response to the cartoon controversy – which comes closest to my own view on this (and depictions of Hindu deities in funny, vulgar, insulting poses or postures):
“My own feeling is that an appropriate response is exactly the one I’m making – to say the cartoons are nasty, sniggering and mildly racist and have done with it.”
Dear Shantanu,
First of all let me tell you that I have been very impressed with your site. I hope the discussion posted in this site will lead to a better understanding of the problems faced by the people vis a vis the major religions of the world.
I would like to comment on the Boston Herald news story last week with a dumb headline “Hindus lament divine case of erectile dysfunction“.
It is sad that the newspaper in the so called most civilized country in the world has found it acceptable to use such uncivilized language to report the natural phenominon of stalagmite formation in Amarnath. While it is too much to expect such minds to appreciate the principles behind various practices in Sanatana Dharma, one would at least have expected this widely read newspaper not to have lied by reporting that the Lingam at Amarnath has been worshipped for last 200 years. I do not know from where they came up with the time span of 200 years.
The reality is that it is not ignorance but the spirit of arrogance and lack of respect for other cultures that prompt such reporting. Such display of deplorable language only show them in their true colours to the discerning public. God save America and their people.
Dear Nandan,
Thank you for your kind words.
Journalism today has been reduced to sensationalist headlines with little regard to veracity or “fairness”.
What you see in this article (and in large sections of the Indian media too) is a great example of this tendency.
That said, we are not entirely “powerless” today.
The internet has provided us with a medium to discount these stories and gradually make them less and less effective and influential.
This is already beginning to happen and the lowering standards in quality are hastening the change.
At a more practical level, what we can do is 1] to make sure that we educate ourselves better (there is little excuse today with the wealth of information available) and 2] make every effort to combat such propoganda either through our writings or by forwarding articles, links, comments to friends and acquaintances.
We can make change – but it will take time and need patience…and every little effort helps…
Even a single comment on a blog or one email to a friend leads to one additional person, who is now more more aware and better equipped, to fight falsehoods, ignorant statements and dumb reporting.
Jai Hind.
Namaskaar Shantanu,
Here are the links.
Gender Page:
http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/cat_gender.html
Religion page : http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/cat_religion.html
History page:
http://www.sepiamutiny.com/sepia/archives/cat_history.html
Thanks,
Sarvasadhu