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May 18, 1998
SPECIALS
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Pritish Nandy How Readers responded to Pritish Nandy's last column
Date sent: Mon, 11 May 1998 11:59:50 -0700 Everyone changes colour. Nandy has also done the same. I don't think he knows that India went nuclear today. A great day for me. India achieved independence after 50 years of Independence! For India to be a force we want a two-third majority BJP ASAP.
Date sent: Mon, 11 May 1998 10:51:50 PDT Cheers, Pritish. I totally agree with U. I love art, music... These all are small departments of the mind. But God and religion is the heart of everybody. Give me a single human being who doesn't love his religion... When some insane artist tries to explore his art and breaks somebody's heart, how can we admire such art and the artist? Such artists should be wiped out of society. Shame on those who support such dirty activities under the name of ART. I like ghazals, I like Gulam Ali -- but I'm happy about what happened to the concert. Prasad Zope
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 11:46:59 -0400 Very well written. It conveyed exactly the right feelings as always! Well done! Rajeshwari Godbole
Date: Tue, 12 May 1998 12:34:43 +0530 I totally agree with Pritish that we should not look at things as secular or fundamentalist. It is either right or wrong. And we should always keep the interest of India paramount. In so far as Ghulam Ali's incident is considered, I feel Shiv Sainiks could have also protested peacefully rather than abusing him. Anyhow, this is a welcome departure in the thinking of Pritish as compared to his earlier views. I think he has realised the fundamentalist attitude of Muslims after the recent massacre in Kashmir. Better late than never! While I agree secularism is the only option available for any civilised society to run the country, we should not be fooled into thinking that everything is hunky-dory because we have adopted secularism in our Constitution. If a problem is looking us in our face, we should tackle it head-on. I hope Pakistan and the Muslims of this country realise the futility of having a confrontationist attitude. I hope they learn to live peacefully. Vijendra Sawhney
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 10:43:54 -0400 This certainly is one of the best articles I have ever read on Rediff. Pritish is indeed "intellectually articulate" in this column. Congratulations and thank you, Pritish! A tip for Varsha Bhosle: This is a perfect example of difference between awachya sawa badbad and to-the-point writing. Regards, Rajesh
Date sent: Wed, 13 May 1998 14:47:21 -0500 Mr Nandy, You have thoroughly mixed up issues, confused yourself and tried to do that to all readers. Here are the flaws in your argument: 1) Not allowing Pakistani nationals, however eminent they are, to display their wares in India is a moot point. They are Pakistanis, Pakistan tries to perpetrate terrorism and other heinous crimes in India directly and indirectly and every which way. But if any of these eminent people thru their performances anyway demean India or Indian things, you don't go to war with Pakistan. Nor do you try to execute them thru your internal Indian judgments. Their punishment still remains just that -- banish from your region. This makes what Ayatollah Khomeini did to Salman Rushdie utterly barbarious and uncivilised. Nobody wanted Ayatollah or any of the unwilling Iranis to read Rushdie, least of all Rushdie himself. If the guy happened to write crap, call it crap and move on. Can't you see where this avenging and revenging for hurting sentiments stop or even start? 2) Artists thru their expressions look so many times uncivil, hurting, iconoclastic and sometimes even strange in their show of deference (which I guess is Hussain's case as he himself claims often. I don't claim to understand Hussain's paintings or for that matter any high-brow art.) If they happen to hurt you and they happen to be foreigners, you can just disregard them or even run them down using your own civilised channels. In Hussain's case, he happens to be an Indian, committing a hurt to the majority Indian community. India has a legal system, a rule of law. So just challenge the culprit and go by whatever your own legal system prescribes. You don't go about ransacking other citizens's places because they hurt you. Once again, can't we see where this will stop and also start? In India, we mix up the basis for civilised behaviour with protection of minorities and whatnot, and thus the confusion. Whether majority, minority or a single person, a uniform civilised lawful mode of behaviour is the only way for the progress of any society which aspires to call itself civilised. And artistes deserve and require all the freedom of expression they can do with. After all, the complicated art that actually uses this freedom is understood and appreciated by only few. The Rushdies and Hussains receive their punishment for 'hurt' in that indifference of the common people. C S R Jawahar
Date sent: Fri, 15 May 1998 08:36:33 -0400
I want to ask Nandy to write a column about: I am not an English-educated intellectual but a common Indian. Intellectuals like Pritish Nandy should throw some light on this so that common Indians like me can understand the intricacy & moral right involved in the above concepts. Sundaram
Date sent: Wed, 13 May 1998 09:07:45 -0700 Sir, It was an excellent article, an eye opener of sorts for all the "secular bigots" in the media. You are right. The media should point out the correct thing, irrespective of the religious affiliations. That is being truly secular, and not blind minorityism. To me your credibility (not that it matters) has shot up by leaps and bounds, because you have espoused a true cause. Next time if you write in favour of the Muslim community I will not think - "Oh well!! he always favours them." Sameer Kuppahalli
Date sent: Wed, 13 May 1998 10:54:44 -0500 Hi! Preet, I regularly follow your articles. The best till now was the one on 50 Years of Independence. But the current one at some points sound sensible and the way it should be. Let the Ghulam Alis, Junoons come to India. Ask them to give a concert in the same village where tens of innocents were slained to death. Ask them to do it for their memorial. But will they dare to do it??? Will they mind going to Ladakh and entertain our brothers who keep a constant watch at the frontier??? If so we will definitely welcome them. Venkat Varanasi
Date sent: Wed, 13 May 1998 08:32:30 +1000 Dear Pritish, It was very good article, and it reflects my opinions. We have been mistreated for long, but no more -- that message must go across the border. Shalini Singh
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 18:04:45 -0400 This time Pritish is right on. Secularism does not mean taking one on the chin from your enemy all the time. Secularism to me means respect for all religions by all religions all the time. Islam, sadly, does not fit in this category and therefore has lost its right to be respected. Vijay Mathur
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 16:35:26 -0400 (EDT) I was appalled at Nandy's insistence to defend the Ayatollah and Bal Thackeray. For a supposedly intelligent man, Mr Nandy displays remarkable obtuseness by bracketing all Pakistanis (and all Muslims) under a fantastic identification that *he* has determined for them. Would he ban Chankdrika Bandarnaike from entering the country because Sri Lankan terrorists assassinated Rajiv Gandhi? Would he advocate that Sikandar Bakht be thrown in jail because Muslim terrorists in Coimbatore are wreaking havoc with trains? Come on, Mr Nandy, surely you have to develop a modicum of logic: artists and terrorists do NOT do the same things. In case you hadn't noticed, it's called a division of labour. Madhavi Menon
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 12:28:19 -0400 My opinion is that there should be heat produced/shown to those people who cause so much of bloodshed without conscience. The activities of artists can be banned or restricted for this reason, but not violently. Yes, if Mr Husain comes up with nude pictures of Hindu deities he should not be allowed to do that. India is not ready for that, if the percentage of literacy is high and if the people can make their own decision of what they want and don't want, then Mr Husain and similar artists can be allowed freedom of expression!
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 08:20:50 -0700 Pakistan should send their goodwill ambassadors as a gesture towards lasting peace for both countries. By the way, the richest Indian, one Mittal, had Hussain paint his house and spent a fortune on that. If Hindus have to be tolerant it should be reciprocated by the Muslims. I still do not see how the Sena's disturbing behaviour will help Hindus. The Sena should send their warriors to the front in Kashmir and give those "Landiyas" a good kick on their butt. The Sena is constantly taking their wrath on the Muslims who have little to do with the policies of Pakistan. Why is Hussain painting nude pictures of goddesses? Why does he not go to the temples and photograph them? If Hussain was a Hindu all this controversy would not have happened. Freedom of artists and their choices should not cover religious beliefs or places of worship -- this will keep Rushdie and Hussain off the bad boys list. By the way, Rushdie only said in his book that Mohammed was ignorant and could not read or write, his followers who wrote what he was supposed to be saying, wrote it wrong, or in their own words to suit their pattern of thought at that time.
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 10:29:14 -0400 Hi there, I have been an avid reader of Rediff for the last 7 months. I like it very well, but the best column I have ever read is this column of Pritish Nandy. Hats off to you. Jai Hind.
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 19:52:32 +0530 Bullshit. This is not about secularism, or the lack of it. Shiv Sena is a bunch of thugs, period. But then that is a statement that applies, in varying degrees, to all political outfits. This outfit should be spit upon; it has breached all limits. Thackeray and outrage at the Pakistanis? Right now, he would do anything, probably even instigate another riot, to let people forget for a while about his miserable government and incestuous relationships. Even Navalkar has only one prime agenda -- be in the news. And I sincerely believe that if it comes to the crunch any politician would kill and then organise a protest ceremony to protest the killings. Well, if you think that media thinks that conservative attitudes are not politically correct, lets get this clear. I am not politically correct. But I sincerely believe that if Husain wants to paint Hindu dieties in the nude, he should do it. Not that I would care a penny about his art. If you are really worried about that, the way to go about it is by painting Allah or Mohammed in the nude. Would not be the Muslims offended? But that IS the idea. Society cannot afford to be offended by everything around here. It needs major shock treatment. I am born Christian, but if someone abuses Christ, I can go in a morcha, I can abuse the abuser, but I cannot ask him to be jailed. That way, we end up with blasphemy laws like the miserable wretchesd in Pakistan. I, as a member of a civilised society, is expected to suffer a lot for the common good. And protest within limits. The worst I can say is -- Thackeray and his bunch of goons make me feel like a miserable Pakistani. I think real Indians would be offended by that line. And I am sure Thackeray would only laugh.
Lolan
Date sent: 12 May 98 06:49:26 -0700 A very good column by Pritish. A real good thing, exposing the so-called secularists and the media. Why did not the media highlight the killings in Kashmir as it had highlighted the attack on Hussain. As Pritish had asked, can Hussain paint the picture of Allah at all? If your credentials are good, it does not mean you can hurt others. No newspaper would dare to print that the recent killings in Kashmir had happened because the people refused to convert to Islam. Why cannot they do it? Even the BJP is going the Congress way. It may or may not gain the minority votes, but is sure to loose the majority vote.
Date sent: Tue, 12 May 1998 14:35:52 +0530 Sir, I fully agree with Mr Nandy's views on secularism. Keep it up Mr Nandy.
Yours sincerely, |
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