How another “secular democracy” might have dealt with Sh. Karunanidhi
Even as Shri Karunanidhi refuses to back down from his remarks on Shri Ram, comes this news from neighbouring Bangladesh*:
“Bangladeshi authorities (on) Tuesday (18th Sept) arrested a cartoonist after drawings that Muslims said insulted their religion were published in a national newspaper…
…he was arrested under a stringent law that allows detention without any specific charges.
Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation, has no specific blasphemy laws. But offenders can be prosecuted for hurting religious or public sentiments….
The controversy involves a cartoon character making a play on Prophet Muhammad’s name, which Muslims deem insulting to Islam and its prophet.”
According to Wikipedia, Bangladesh is a Secular Parliamentary Democracy although the population is about 90% Muslim.
The cartoon (with a translation) appears here: Yet Another Cartoon of Blasphemy (sourced from, I believe, here; Hat Tip: Anirban)
P.S. Let me make it absolutely clear that regardless of what Shri Karunanidhi said about Shri Ram, I unequivocally condemn the attack on his daughter’s house and am shocked at Shri Vedanti’s “reported” remarks.
That is NOT the way to deal with this situation. Shri Karunanidhi is an elected leader and if the VHP is so upset, they should take the fight to the elections due in 2011 or challenge the statement via courts.
* Source: International Herald Tribune (dt 18th Sept ’07)
I don’t see what the point here is ……. that we should follow a backward nation in its backward policies.
BTW, Bangladesh is secular because it does not have a state religion …. that is the definition. What you actually do may be very unsecular.
And, BTW, Secular means that the state recognises no religion, respects no religion and supports no religion. Not the bastardised version that Nehru foisted upon us, which has led us to the current sorry mess.
More power to the athiests!
Dear Shantanu
The two issues: of immigration from Bangladesh (we discussed yesterday), and their draconian laws are linked in a fundamental way, at an underlying level.
In chapter 2 of my book I show how the ‘net flow’ of migration is ALWAYS from the less free to the more free societies. This is because freedom impacts the economy directly and churns out economic migrants- which the Bangladeshis are.
Therefore there is a third solution to preventing illegal migration from Bangladesh, namely that Bangladesh adopts the mechanics of freedom and transforms itself into a Singapore. (In that case Indians will form a beeline to migrate to Bangladesh.)
Ideally, all the south asian nations (including Nepal and Bhutan) should evolve into a free trade zone which is underpinned by agreed principles of freedom. That will also minimize “net migrations”.
I have a suggestion for you. I don’t know if technology permits, but I’d recommend you consider inviting journalists like Jawed Naqvi from Dawn, Pakistan and many others (don’t know names) from Bangladesh and other neighbours into this forum so that issues can be discussed directly between the people of these 5 nations. I had a discussion with Jawed a few weeks ago on something he wrote, and we perhaps agreed to disagree; but discussion is good; and open discussion on blogs is even better.
Jawed can be contacted by writing to him:
http://www.dawn.com/weekly/jawed/jawed.htm
On this topic, In 1998 I had written a book (never got time to finish it) in which I advocated the ‘joint modernisation’ of the 3 main nations. The book is called: Becoming Rich and Powerful: A Primer for the Citizens of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh
and is available at:
http://www.sanjeev.sabhlokcity.com/Bk/index.html
Regards
Sanjeev
@ Patriot: The point of the article was that Thiru Karunanidhi appears to be abusing a culture of tolerance and accommodation that (usually) leaves plenty of room for disagreement.
That does not feel right.
By the way, one can be an atheist but does that mean that you then get the right (and the freedom) to abuse the believers?
***
@ Sanjeev: Thanks for the comment and the excellent suggestion of inviting other writers to join the discussion…I do like to hear opppsing views – as long as they are expressed in a civilised tone and manner.
As you say, we might agree to disagree ” but discussion is good; and open discussion on blogs is even better” – Agree 100%.
Shantanu,
Thanks for your response. Karunanidhi may have been over the top, but if you see the commentary emanating from the VHP, then Karunanidhi can only be accused of responding in kind. The VHP (and its ilk in the muslim community) has vitiated the debate in this country for the past decade. Hence, I applaud politicians who stand up to them, while deploring the language used, if you get what I mean.
Atheists do not have the right to abuse believers but they certainly have the right and the freedom to question their beliefs in a civilised manner. However, in modern India, any such questioning is considered tantamount to abuse by believers, forgeting our rich heritage of “informed questioning” (I forget the exact sanskrit term for it).
The problem as I see it is that as India progresses economically, the worst excesses of our culture comes to the fore and tries to pass itself off as “Hindu/Bharatiya” culture. This, I will certainly protest against.
Cheers
1. So far, the none of the persons arrested in MK daughter’s house attack are proved to belong to VHP (or it’s friends).
2. From whatever clips I saw of Sri. Vedanti’s speech in TV I did not hear MK being mentioned any where.
Any inputs? Are we being taken for a royal ride by the present govt. and the (it’s) media?
Ram Sundar:
Good points. Re. 1, I do not have the details but what you say may well be true.
Re 2. I believe Shri Vedanti later on “clarified” his remarks – I have not heard the original so cannot comment beyond this.