A constitutional right can be loosely defined as a freedom guaranteed by the state allowing an individual to do certain things without fear of persecution, without getting harassed or obstructed, either from the state, a group or another individuals. One commenter on my blog writes:
…while it is right for Ms Roy to question the status of J&K in Indian union, the court is also right in allowing FIR to be lodged…it is correct to have a court hearing on it and matter be decided in a non-emotive atmosphere.
In the case of MF Husain’s episode, the High Court ruling clearly exonerated MF Husain of any wrongdoing and let him go free. However, that did not stop various groups to continuously lodge complaints against the artists, or stop many police stations from issuing warrants for his arrest. Basically, Indians kicked out MF Husain by hounding him with thousands of cases, generating hundreds of arrest warrants against him, depriving him of his freedoms. He could have fought each case meticulously one after another, but then he would have wasted lot of his time and money, and ended up not doing what he wants to do – which is to paint.
A freedom sanctioned by the state of India also includes freedom from such frivolous and unnecessary prosecution, from such arrest warrants in each and every Indian city, and from related court summons. So that we don’t have to negotiate each freedom in a court of law, the Indian Constitution makes certain freedoms non-negotiable and gives them as rights to its citizens, in order to protect these citizens from harassment of the state or other groups or other individuals, so that these citizens can go ahead and live a free life without getting hindered and obstructed by other people.
MF Husain was acquitted in a court of law, but that did not stop Indians from hounding him with various legal cases, resulting in the artists fleeing the country. What the above commenter is asking is not something very different. If Arundhati Roy has to fight every case originating in every city and town of India against her, she will not have time to do anything else other fighting these cases.
Freedom means freedom from unwarranted hassles, prosecutions, and arrest warrants. A state should protect an individual from such hindrances. If a person is coming out of his apartment, and you don’t like him, you can file a case against him (if it can be allowed as is it is now). That person could fight it in the court, but then he would be effectively losing his freedoms, because he has to run to courts, has to answer to the arrest warrants, attend the proceedings, and by the time he wins the case, another case is registered against him by a cousin of yours, thereby repeating the whole procedure, ensuring he is deprived of his right to lead a normal life. That’s called harassment, using the stupid laws of this country, which allows such persecution to happen. A person who is free should be free of such harassments. And to allow that, stupid laws like the laws of sedition should be scrapped.
I'll call all this as fame by controversy strategy.
ReplyDeleteMy question is why doesn't M.F.Hussain draw nude paintings of some non Hindu(or of his own religion for that matter) gods, and see what happens?
The problem is that the Current Middle class is only by the virtue of its income but it doesnt share the liberal values of the western middle class. Our middle class Despite its Rhetoric is only comfortable with wearing western clothes but becomes queasy when it comes to dealing with Provocative subjects.
ReplyDeleteThe reason dissenting Individuals like Taslima or Hussein are welcomed in Cities like London or paris is because they have a culture that Prides itself in providing Refuge for the unwanted.
Our media is so lame that when the Govt issued a Demarche to Press Trust of India Not to Broadcast too much of the Chinese noble laurate for the fear of upsetting Ties our channels dutifully followed.
M.F Hussain painted the said works in the 1970's and the entire controversy about his paintings came out in the 1990's,almost 25 years later.
ReplyDeleteIt was an art work done for private viewing.
For people who do not know or understand fine arts,Nudity is a subject for arts students.They are supposed to study and portray human and animal anatomy in their works with their own interpretation.
This technique was used to understand the anatomy for medical students before photography was used.
Even today an artist is used by the police department to sketch a criminals profile,in case a photograph is not available.
Well,my point is people with sparse knowledge and understanding of a certain profession should not be given the right to make rules for them.
I wouldn't say that Indian government or the courts haven't tried to help or intervene in the matter.I just feel they should have pushed the enforcement of the law a little harder,been a little more intolerant about the wrongs done by mobs...
People being burnt and killed for paintings!!Can it get worse than that.Happens only in India and gotten away too.
Cases against artists,authors or actors for frivolous reasons have increased several folds after the M.F episode,because the government failed to implement the law inspite of the Supreme Court ruling.....
Opened up a Pandora's box for anti democratic elements to get away with anything in the name of ethnicity.
Guess the mob is bigger than the state.
@above:
ReplyDeleteDo you mind if someone draws your nude paintings.
@Anonymus
ReplyDeleteWithout permission that would be Invasion of Privacy and you will be liable to Prosecuted , same as if someone draws your mother Nude you can file a complaint.
But Bharat matha or Prophet Mohammad are not "persons" so their Modesty is not Outraged when u draw their Nude Caricatures.
@Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI would have replied,if you had asked that question with an identity.
This attitude of attacking someone personally without even identifying themselves is what I call MOB BULLYING.
The very same theory that I explained earlier.
Hence proved.
@Sujai @Lavanya et al.
ReplyDeletegood liberal and rational arguments. Unfortunately the subject is chosen very specific that one cannot counter it.
I was euqally liberal and rational about 20 years ago when Satanic verses was banned in India. Needless to say banned by country not people. Hope you people read most recent bans of 'Red Sari' and 'Such a long journey'.
I am not giving the counter arguments but one should understand it is not the mob culture. It is all about what the ruling sections want.
Of course you will come back with "I condemn all such acts whether it is Satanic Verses, Red sari etc..".
I strongly feel people like you should understand state of affairs in India. Whether correct or not caste, religion, emotions etc are part of Indian culture. Well! One day they have to go and they will go. But India is only 60 year old democracy. Do not expect it to catch up with 200-400 year old democracies.
One straight question to you people.
USA constitution recognizes religion or not?
Do you know there are religious fanatics in USA who look to convert everybody?
Also I hope you read about Intelligent Design and its purpose.
Of course I do not suggest we have to follow what US does. I am only trying to say humanity as a whole not yet found a way to ignore existence of god.
I am not sure about western religions. But Oriental regligions revere the gods. MFH may be not the first one to paint godesses in nude. But why it became contraversy after 25 years? Simply bcoz he chose to create the contaversy and media gave publicity to it.
OK. One simple question.
Why USA debated Clinton-Monica contraversy?
How does American president's personal life affect common man on the streets of Winscon?
Why that affair was not treated as private but and tkane to the extent of impeachement?
Sujai,
ReplyDeletehow do consider Telangana's accusing KostaSeema people?
Hussain had at least a chance to clear himself legally.
But you people want to accuse, sentese and execute the KostaSeema people.
I think mob culture is too small a term for it. Looking forward for a better term from you.
@lavanya:
ReplyDeleteI would have replied,if you had asked that question with an identity.
What you think, you've got an identity by simply writing your name?
@Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteYes,I do.There are too many anonymous writers in here.
Call yourself xyz or anything,but identify yourself.
I do not want to argue for the sake of argument.
I would still stick to what I commented on your previous blog (that you quoted in this one).
ReplyDeleteMr. Hussain and Ms. Roy have the rights to opine their views through speeches, books, or paintings. But if a community gets 'hurt' by it, they should also have a forum to complain. Now, one can argue that getting hurt is so subjective. I concede there. But society should have a place for all kind of people. You can not choose only rational people into your society nor can you make everyone in your society rational. At every point in time, in every place of the planet, there were and will be rational and irrational people living next to each other. There will always be liberals and conservatives. There will always be theists and atheists and so on...
Regarding Mr. Hussain, it is sad that he chose a different nationality (although I doubt if he can do 'anything' in his new nation. But I need not be judgemental). But you must point out in your blog, that Indian court of law bracketed all cases against him in all courts of India and decided to hear all cases at once. The same also happened in (film actress) Khusboo's case.
It is unfortunate that the individuals like Ms. Roy and Mr. Hussain, have to go through all these harassments. But I am still proud of our constitution to have provision to hear the counterpoint no matter how childish or irrational it may be. A justice system can not work with prejudices. Therefore, no matter how frustrating it may seem, we have to bear everyone out!
More Radia Tapes are going to come out, it seems that Ratan Tatas company illegally profited 20K crore from the Scam. And govt shamelessly allowed that arsehole to Meet Obama in some offical capacity.
ReplyDeleteTata made some deal with Kanimori wife of Karunanidhi. Hope some high official takes Inspiration from wikileaks and leaks the whole godamn tapes.
Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteYou should give yourself a name. It would become easier for us to identify your comments.
Mr. Hussain and Ms. Roy have the rights to opine their views through speeches, books, or paintings. But if a community gets 'hurt' by it, they should also have a forum to complain.
They should also have a forum to complain. But that ‘complain’ should not include shutting up the person they want to complain against, jailing them, or kicking them out of the country through harassment.
When a group or state is pitted against an individual in the negotiation of rights, one has to protect the individual, not the other way around.
But society should have a place for all kind of people. You can not choose only rational people into your society nor can you make everyone in your society rational.
Society should have a place for all. Agreed. But that does not mean when rational people should be allowed to shut up by irrational people through use of laws of the land.
But you must point out in your blog, that Indian court of law bracketed all cases against him in all courts of India and decided to hear all cases at once. The same also happened in (film actress) Khusboo's case.
One can win in High Court, but then the people could take it to Supreme Court, then they could take each painting and go about prosecuting him till there is no end to it. Please note the example that one could practically make a person not come out of his apartment and harass him if the whole society is ganging up against him, only by putting innumerable cases. The problem is with the law of land allowing such cases to be dealt in the courts. There are always people ready to shut up individuals who they don’t like. If US had similar laws then Noam Chomsky and Michael Moore would be shut up forever and kicked out of the country. A state has to protect the rights of an individual against the onslaught of the wishes of the majority.
But I am still proud of our constitution to have provision to hear the counterpoint no matter how childish or irrational it may be.
Ability to hear the counterpoint does not mean ability to shut up an individual with ‘childish and irrational’ objections. It is a shame on a nation when its authors and artists have to move out of the country.
@ Prabhakar,
ReplyDelete"One straight question to you people.
USA constitution recognizes religion or not?
Do you know there are religious fanatics in USA who look to convert everybody?"
I don't think there is any country in the world where there are no religious freaks.
Coming to your question,The U.S.A has no official religion.If the government of USA is officially donating its tax dollars to any religious organisation or propagating religious fanaticism,then we could compare the two situations.
"MFH may be not the first one to paint godesses in nude. But why it became contraversy after 25 years? Simply bcoz he chose to create the contaversy and media gave publicity to it."
I don't know of any publicity campaign which starts 25 years before the actual event.
And create a controversy to get himself threatened,jailed,
vandalised and kicked out of the country?????????Some publicity campaign that....
You cannot call him smart and dumb in the same breadth.
"Why USA debated Clinton-Monica contraversy?
How does American president's personal life affect common man on the streets of Winscon?
Why that affair was not treated as private but and tkane to the extent of impeachement?"
If Clinton or any one else wishes to have an affair in his own free time,at his own free will,nobody should have a problem.
My understanding is,the people saw it as an ethical stepdown,as he had committed all the said escapades inside the White House.He simply abused the unquestionable power of a President.
And,an affair with a junior staff member who had access to the inside workings of the White House and the President could have caused severe damage to national security.
I am sure,if he had done something like that after he had retired,not many would have bothered.
Indian counterpart N.D.Tiwari.
Any country,advanced or orthodox, wouldn't want to be a butt of jokes for their President's or leader's activities.
cont...
ReplyDelete"Whether correct or not caste, religion, emotions etc are part of Indian culture."
This is what I am trying to argue!!
It is a part of our culture,not our constitution.
Constitutionally elected representatives must be working on behalf of it,not against it.
If anyone is found doing anything against it,strict disciplinary action must be in order.
This is where USA gets a mark more.....they almost impeached a President and killed his political career so others would't follow.
"But India is only 60 year old democracy. Do not expect it to catch up with 200-400 year old democracies."
Really looking forward to it......
Prabhakar:
ReplyDeletehow do consider Telangana's accusing KostaSeema people?
Telangana people accuse Andhra people of discrimination, marginalization and suppression. While they accuse Andhras of these oppression methods, they do not actually drag anyone to court. There are already laws to deal with cases of discrimination when it comes to individual perpetrators, but when done as a group, it becomes a political movement as seen in Telangana now.
Hussain had at least a chance to clear himself legally. But you people want to accuse, sentese and execute the KostaSeema people.
You are now being too filmi for this blog. Telangana people do not sentence or execute Andhra people.
Prabhakar:
ReplyDeleteI strongly feel people like you should understand state of affairs in India. Whether correct or not caste, religion, emotions etc are part of Indian culture.
They are part of Indian culture. I am not asking them to go away. I am only asking them to be separated from the functioning of the state. You can have your religion, whatever it is, practice any caste, have any emotion. You can have raksha bhandan as part of Indian culture. But we don’t them to be legalized.
Well! One day they have to go and they will go.
I do not share this view of yours. I don’t think they have to go, nor do I think they will ever go.
I am only trying to say humanity as a whole not yet found a way to ignore existence of god.
I am not saying we should ignore god, we are only saying, keep your views private. Don’t extend them to legality.
I am not sure about western religions. But Oriental regligions revere the gods. MFH may be not the first one to paint godesses in nude. But why it became contraversy after 25 years? Simply bcoz he chose to create the contaversy and media gave publicity to it.
It became a controversy because peevish Hindus decided to be peevish about it.
Why USA debated Clinton-Monica contraversy?
How does American president's personal life affect common man on the streets of Winscon?
Why that affair was not treated as private but and tkane to the extent of impeachement?
USA debated Clinton-Monica controversy in the media and in the court. The media can discuss anything for any reason. But the court debated it only for one reason – not because Clinton and Monica had a ‘physical’ relationship with Monica, but whether Clinton lied under oath when he said he did not have ‘sex’ with Monica. It was to do with lying. And impeachment was only about lying under oath, not the sex. Hope you understand it.
I am not sure where you live. But since you discuss USA so much, I urge you to understand the issues of USA before presenting them here on this blog.
Shravan:
ReplyDeleteMy question is why doesn't M.F.Hussain draw nude paintings of some non Hindu(or of his own religion for that matter) gods, and see what happens?
Already discussed this in many articles. You can find them under the label: Suppression of freedoms
@Sujai,
ReplyDeleteYou are now being too filmi for this blog. Telangana people do not sentence or execute Andhra people.
Actually I am talking filmi stuff only. Telangana chuvanists raised 'atma gouravam' bogey in the name of insult to culture. One of the reasons, rather strong one, was using thier language for villains and comedians in Telugu films.
I leave it to you whether you want to apply terms persecution (leagal or otherwise) and mod culture in this context or not.
I am sure you got it. Still for the benefit of others I am drawing anology between MFH and Telangana. KostaSeema people are like MFH. Like he used nude art they used fun. Telangana chuvanists are like self-appointed moral police crying insults blah blah on that fun. Ironically their own people also enjoy this fun and comedy.
India afraid to attend Nobel Prize ceremony for the fear of Upsetting China, Spineless foreign policy of India and its dreaming of having a Security council Seat.
ReplyDelete@Shravan
ReplyDelete<<<I'll call all this as fame by controversy strategy.
My question is why doesn't M.F.Hussain draw nude paintings of some non Hindu(or of his own religion for that matter) gods, and see what happens?
Why cant hindus respond by drawing Obscene Caricatures of Prophet MOhammad.
'When a group or state is pitted against an individual in the negotiation of rights, one has to protect the individual, not the other way around....'
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily always true. At times a handful of individuals have tried snatching the rights of the state. Take, for example, any terrorist attack. A group of individuals either linked to an organization or working independently, may decide to attack a nation where it hurts most. That creates terror in the minds of innocent subjects of the concerned nation and therefore, the group of terror mongering individuals snatch away the rights (like freedom to live in peace) of the nation. I am sure you will not support the individuals in this case.
'A state has to protect the rights of an individual against the onslaught of the wishes of the majority.'
A state, declaring itself as a democracy, has the unfortunate limitation of fulfilling the wishes of the majority. I live in Switzerland. My liberal Swiss friends often feel sorry about the majority view on banning minarets, expelling foreigners involved in crime (that includes misuse of public welfare to rape). But the state, had to bow down to the majority views. The rational group of people, in every part of the world, have to take up the painstaking and frustrating task of bringing sense to their irrational brethren. As I wrote, it is an unfortunate limitation of otherwise sound form of rule.
'Ability to hear the counterpoint does not mean ability to shut up an individual with ‘childish and irrational’ objections.'
I hate speaking for fundamentals! I can not support their practice of heckling, manhandling, or destroying property. But if one will not give them even a chance of filing a (notorious) case in the court of law, then perhaps one has a very narrow and selective view on freedom.
Often seers, visionaries, and intellectuals live in a future world than their contemporaries. They are ahead of their times. They, therefore, face severe criticism and trouble. We know many such figures. Some of them buckled down to the majority view and waited for the right time till the masses can understand their class. Some of them took to instant fighting and succumbed to death but did not compromise on their views and understanding. And some other fought a patient battle and changed the mindset of their fellow citizens.
These individuals had their own understanding and they did what they felt the best. That is how our race has developed.
'When a group or state is pitted against an individual in the negotiation of rights, one has to protect the individual, not the other way around....'
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily always true. At times a handful of individuals have tried snatching the rights of the state. Take, for example, any terrorist attack. A group of individuals either linked to an organization or working independently, may decide to attack a nation where it hurts most. That creates terror in the minds of innocent subjects of the concerned nation and therefore, the group of terror mongering individuals snatch away the rights (like freedom to live in peace) of the nation. I am sure you will not support the individuals in this case.
'A state has to protect the rights of an individual against the onslaught of the wishes of the majority.'
A state, declaring itself as a democracy, has the unfortunate limitation of fulfilling the wishes of the majority. I live in Switzerland. My liberal Swiss friends often feel sorry about the majority view on banning minarets, expelling foreigners involved in crime (that includes misuse of public welfare to rape). But the state, had to bow down to the majority views. The rational group of people, in every part of the world, have to take up the painstaking and frustrating task of bringing sense to their irrational brethren. As I wrote, it is an unfortunate limitation of otherwise sound form of rule.
'Ability to hear the counterpoint does not mean ability to shut up an individual with ‘childish and irrational’ objections.'
I hate speaking for fundamentals! I can not support their practice of heckling, manhandling, or destroying property. But if one will not give them even a chance of filing a (notorious) case in the court of law, then perhaps one has a very narrow and selective view on freedom.
Often seers, visionaries, and intellectuals live in a future world than their contemporaries. They are ahead of their times. They, therefore, face severe criticism and trouble. We know many such figures. Some of them buckled down to the majority view and waited for the right time till the masses can understand their class. Some of them took to instant fighting and succumbed to death but did not compromise on their views and understanding. And some other fought a patient battle and changed the mindset of their fellow citizens. These individuals had their own understanding and they did what they felt the best. That is how our race has developed.
'When a group or state is pitted against an individual in the negotiation of rights, one has to protect the individual, not the other way around....'
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily always true. At times a handful of individuals have tried snatching the rights of the state. Take, for example, any terrorist attack. A group of individuals either linked to an organization or working independently, may decide to attack a nation where it hurts most. That creates terror in the minds of innocent subjects of the concerned nation and therefore, the group of terror mongering individuals snatch away the rights (like freedom to live in peace) of the nation. I am sure you will not support the individuals in this case.
'A state has to protect the rights of an individual against the onslaught of the wishes of the majority.'
A state, declaring itself as a democracy, has the unfortunate limitation of fulfilling the wishes of the majority. I live in Switzerland. My liberal Swiss friends often feel sorry about the majority view on banning minarets, expelling foreigners involved in crime (that includes misuse of public welfare to rape). But the state, had to bow down to the majority views. The rational group of people, in every part of the world, have to take up the painstaking and frustrating task of bringing sense to their irrational brethren. As I wrote, it is an unfortunate limitation of otherwise sound form of rule.
'Ability to hear the counterpoint does not mean ability to shut up an individual with ‘childish and irrational’ objections.'
I hate speaking for fundamentals! I can not support their practice of heckling, manhandling, or destroying property. But if one will not give them even a chance of filing a (notorious) case in the court of law, then perhaps one has a very narrow and selective view on freedom.
[cont..]
ReplyDeleteOften seers, visionaries, and intellectuals live in a future world than their contemporaries. They are ahead of their times. They, therefore, face severe criticism and trouble. We know many such figures. Some of them buckled down to the majority view and waited for the right time till the masses can understand their class. Some of them took to instant fighting and succumbed to death but did not compromise on their views and understanding. And some other fought a patient battle and changed the mindset of their fellow citizens. These individuals had their own understanding and they did what they felt the best. That is how our race has developed.
sorry about posting repeated messages. I got some error messages and hence the mistake.
ReplyDeletePrabhakar:
ReplyDelete…I am drawing anology between MFH and Telangana. KostaSeema people are like MFH.
Your analogy is misleading. Telanganas did not prosecute any director for negative portrayal of Telangana people in Telugu movies. They did not use the legal means to shut up anyone. Nobody was arrested, not any director was called to the court.
Mishra:
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily always true. At times a handful of individuals have tried snatching the rights of the state. Take, for example, any terrorist attack.
Terror attack is a criminal offense where a certain individual willfully causes harm – physical harm to others. There are already laws to take care of it. When an individual physically strikes another, we don’t defend that individual saying ‘it his right to do so’.
To start with that individual does not have a right to cause physical harm to others, and therefore there is no question of state trampling on that individual’s rights. Your example is not in the context of the discussion.
A state, declaring itself as a democracy, has the unfortunate limitation of fulfilling the wishes of the majority. I live in Switzerland. My liberal Swiss friends often feel sorry about the majority view on banning minarets,
You are talking of something else. I was talking of protecting an individual’s rights against the onslaught of a majority ‘group’. You are talking of expression of rights of two different groups. We have different articles for those discussions on this blog.
expelling foreigners involved in crime
Extradition laws are not being discussed here.
But if one will not give them even a chance of filing a (notorious) case in the court of law, then perhaps one has a very narrow and selective view on freedom.
Sorry to repeat myself. The law of land should be framed such that every tom, dick and harry, does not consistently and incessantly file a case against an author or artist to such an extent that they are forced to flee the country. Hence, the title of the article: freedom from persecution.
When you use the word like ‘hate’ in the Indian Penal Code giving lifetime punishment it unnecessarily allows every tom, dick and harry to file cases. That’s the point of discussion here.
Thanks for your views.
The new CM Kiran reddy is reported to have said to Poor farmers in Medakh that " Mee boomulu okkokkatee 2 kotlaku potuhntey maaye 2 lakshalaku kuda povetley" implying that Medak farmers should be happy that their land rates are so high.
ReplyDeleteAnd he also commented that Regionalism is responsible for the lack of progress in State.( I thought it was corruption by the altrnating Reddy and Kamma regimes)
He also said that Building Pranhitha Project is Impossible.
Hard core Tvadis couldnt have asked for a Better CM to stir up the movement.
You are assuming Tom, Dick, and Harry are always wrong and authors are always right. And wilfully ignoring the fact that authors or painters 'may' have vested interest in demeaning a section or a religion or a country. If the motive is to hurt and scare, it is similar to terrorism. Be it in the form of violence or art and literature. The way you differentiate 'authors' from ordinary citizen (Tom, Dick) is revealing that you are biased and writing with emotion.
ReplyDeletesujai:
ReplyDeleteThe law of land should be framed such that every tom, dick and harry, does not consistently and incessantly file a case against an author or artist to such an extent that they are forced to flee the country.
In case of MFH it was not just tom, dick and harry, but the majority went against him and that made him leave the country.
When you use the word like ‘hate’ in the Indian Penal Code giving lifetime punishment it unnecessarily allows every tom, dick and harry to file cases.
I have never seen an individual who has got life time imprisonment just because of his words(in our country).
And the courts know which case is worth hearing and which one is not.
One more thing which I would like to ask is, why does author something when he knows it's going to be controversial?I don't find any reason other than gaining popularity.
ReplyDeleteMishra:
ReplyDeleteYou are assuming Tom, Dick, and Harry are always wrong and authors are always right.
I am not assuming anything here. I am not discussing ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ either. The essential argument is whether ‘sentiment of a group’ should be protected from ‘getting hurt’.
If the motive is to hurt and scare, it is similar to terrorism.
Disagree. ‘hurt’ can happen very easily and therefore need not be protected. A group can be hurt for silly reasons, irrational reasons or for no reasons. ‘Sentimentally hurting’ someone is not terrorism. In India, religious people get hurt for every silly reason every other day. We can’t treat all the triggers as ‘terrorism’.
Shravan:
ReplyDeleteI have never seen an individual who has got life time imprisonment just because of his words(in our country). And the courts know which case is worth hearing and which one is not.
That’s the whole point.
If the courts already which cases are unworthy, why to even allow people to file a case on those grounds?
Why to make laws subjective using words like ‘hate’ thereby allowing every tom dick, and harry (which happen to be the majority here) to file a police case against those individuals whom they do not like for what they speak or do. Those laws are the very reason why majority gets to prosecute the individuals they don’t like leading to harassment. Those laws should be repealed thereby saving that individual from such prosecutions without having to go to court all the time.
@Shravan
ReplyDelete<< have never seen an individual who has got life time imprisonment just because of his words(in our country). And the courts know which case is worth hearing and which one is not.
You are wrong many people were Incarcerated under Sedition laws just take Binayek Sen who was improsined for more than a year just for speaking against Sulwa judem.
@Shravan,
ReplyDelete"One more thing which I would like to ask is, why does author something when he knows it's going to be controversial?I don't find any reason other than gaining popularity."
Several scientists,
musicians,physicists,astronomers and so many others were killed by the church,since they felt that any form of deviation from religion,was against the church.
Age of ignorance....
Later when people understood the reason behind their actions they denounced their ignorance and adopted science.
Age of reasoning.
If you stop freedom of expression,hoping to pacify the masses or the religion they follow,we would have never ended up with all the inventions that science has brought us and that we enjoy today.
The medium of expression could be science,music,art or anything.As long it is not harming an individual personally and directly
(physically)it should not be banned from being practised.
Questioning something need not necessarily mean insulting it.
It is ignorant to think that a few paintings can insult the sentiment one can have for religion.
@Prabhakar,
ReplyDelete"Telangana chuvanists raised 'atma gouravam' bogey in the name of insult to culture. One of the reasons, rather strong one, was using thier language for villains and comedians in Telugu films."
"MFH may be not the first one to paint godesses in nude. But why it became contraversy after 25 years? Simply bcoz he chose to create the contaversy and media gave publicity to it."
You are contradicting yourself here.
You mentioned earlier that MFH was to be blamed for the paintings,as it hurt sentiments and led to communal violence.
Then,you say that the depiction of comedians and villains as Telanganites must not be "misunderstood",though it hurt their sentiments.
Why change your stand here???
One man's(MFH) intentions could be misunderstood.How do you validate an entire group's(Tollywood) prejudices???
"I am drawing anology between MFH and Telangana. KostaSeema people are like MFH."
Incorrect.The people of Telangana did not go about filing cases against all the artists,directors,producers or others who have worked in them....
@Aditya,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on Binayak Sen.
For people who want to google it...it's Salwa Judum.
It reminds of how Julian Asange of wikileaks is now hounded by the courts, first Swedish courts that dismissed the Flimsy rape case against him and then redacted due to political pressure of US, how EU issued a europe wide arrest warrent for him and how British courts cant even see evidence presented by Assange.
ReplyDeleteHow US government is Charging him under sedition eventhough he is not a citizen of Us (Australian).
Big Corporations like amazon,paypal,Visa dumped him citing some dubious terms of conditions of use violations( they allow the KKK) . How these Big corporations Joined Totalitarian govts like China, Iran in condemning wiki leaks.
But people are starting to stand up against the Big Brother, Pirate parties allover europe are extending financial and moral support, Hackivist groups like "Anonymus" are starting to fight back against these corporations, they sucessfully shutdown some site of Paypal and some swedish bank that froze asanges accounts.
Bradley Manning the Source of this leaks who faces 57 years in military prison is the real hero.
Long live Anarchy...This couldnt be a better golden jubilee gift to CNT the anarchist organisation that fought facists in Spain.
Cool Lavanya! I am just poking Sujai on Telangana.
ReplyDelete@Prabhakar
ReplyDelete"I am just poking Sujai on Telangana."
The Telangana issue is not exactly something that you poke about.You may not like the result of it.
If you still insist,I suggest you take it offline....
" There are already laws to deal with cases of discrimination when it comes to individual perpetrators,"
ReplyDeleteLet anyone identify and bring one person to justice at an individual level.
At last from WIKILEAKS:
ReplyDeleteThe entire episode demonstrates that the Congress Party will readily stoop to the old caste/religious-based politics if it feels it is in its interest.
Confirming my view that congress party is a Maestro when it comes to Playing Identity politics. They got no principles for winning elections their only aim.
The way they are playing "reddy poilitics" in Ap is Disturbing( and Iam a reddy how must it look to SC's and BC's).
Hope something will come out from wikileaks too.
Dear Freinds,
ReplyDeletePlease come to warangal today to participate in "Telangana Maha Gharjana" and be a part of historical moment.
Jai Telangana
Traffic Jam from Uppal to Bongir, Andhra officals cut off power in Nalgonda, warangal. Andhra railway officals tried to Disrupt Trains going to warangal Sabotaging signalling system.
ReplyDeleteTurnout at gharjana more than expected,
ANDRHAS GET READY FOR THE D DAY
She also revealed that common women in India's rural areas do not hold her in great awe and don't think of her as a great personality, as "their priorities are so different.
ReplyDelete<< Just because her last name is Gandhi doesnt make her a "Mahatma", atleast now we know that she is a Megalomaniac and will give portfolios readily if u kiss her feet.
Her political views are also left to center, atleast in rhetoric.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/128891
ReplyDeletefrom wikileaks:
ReplyDelete<<<While remaining publicly restrained and taking care not to be seen as interfering with domestic Indian politics, the Embassy will continue to meet with all political, business and civil society organizations to urge them to support the agreement. We will continue to press the UPA government on the need for early completion of the safeguards agreement with the IAEA. And, we will continue our efforts to remind the BJP that the US-India civil nuclear agreement is their deal, too.
....This sums it up how american officials Shape govt of Indias Internal policies.
@above:
ReplyDeleteyou need to find a better place to write your mindless rants.
More rants at this site http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/series/us-embassy-cables-the-documents
ReplyDeleteI wud like all Indians to read about wikileaks on India.
i wish someone starts a site like wikileaks in India and exposes people like gali janardhan reddy, jagan, kcr, etc
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greatandhra.com/viewnews.php?id=25638&cat=15&scat=16
ReplyDeleteI wonder what else is going to be ILLEGAL.
Central govt is going to Deploy 50 Paralmilitary companies in AP for the D day, Out of this only 7 companies are going to be Deployed in the Entire Seemandhra, according to CRPF organisational units each companie consists of 135 personell, but mostly RAF( CRPF with some special crowd control training) are going to be deployed.
ReplyDeleteSo the figures are like this :
3105 RAF in Hyderabad, 2700 in remaining Telengana districts and only 945 in Seemandhra.
So 5805 RAF deployed in TG vs 945 in Andhra.
These RAF troops are much more Agressive than local police when dealing with crowd control. So they are going to be vital for the govt.
Clearly the govt is expecting trouble in TG, u can guess what SKC report is going to be.
For those having trouble finding Unedited wikileaks cables on India can visit my blog and view my postings(wholesale plagarisation of US govt property)
ReplyDeletehttp://wikileaksoniagandhi.blogspot.com/
@Aditya, Thanks for compiling them.
ReplyDeleteI am least interested in wikileaks. There are many more imporant things in life that I need to care about wikileaks. I just cannot believe someone is recompiling already compiled information and then sharing with others. This person has lot of time on hand :)
ReplyDeletehttp://wikileaksoniagandhi.blogspot.com/
ReplyDelete@Pushkar
I just cannot believe someone as "busy" as you has time to comment on my comments. Dont you have other more "important" thing to do in your life.
You are so full of shit.
@Aditya
ReplyDeleteYou are so full of shit.
Looks like you either had tasted shit in the past or you are getting shit from me....
Food for your thought or shit for your thought : It takes 5 mins to read a blog whereas it takes lot of free time to put up a site. .
pick your poison...
BINAYAK’S GREAT WORK DESERVES RECOGNITION, NOT PUNISHMENT
ReplyDeleteAMARTYA SEN, Anandabazar Patrika, 28 dec 10
I am not only annoyed but shocked at Binayak’s lifetime imprisonment. The reason for my annoyance is , Binayak is a nationalist intellectual. He has selflessly done good work for common people’s well-being for many years. We have never heard of him giving any anti-national speech. In fact, he has written against violent terrorism. It is an extremely inferior act to imprison such a person instead of giving him recognition. We have sometimes seen such mockery of justice in the the state Chhattisgarh where he serves people . He was imprisoned for many days without trial. This reflects the perversion of thought of the state.
First of all, no thinking person can accept the reasons behind his life-term. The reason of his arrest, i.e. he delivered a Maoists letter to another, even if he had done that, doesn’t show any treason against the state. Secondly the evidence the state government has provided raises many doubts. Finally, when there is no abetment of violence, in that scenario if someone says anything anti-political, to term him as seditious defies logic. There is a huge reason to assume that law has been misused here.
This legal verdict has taken place in a state where we have many times observed lack of justice. There is reason to hope that when this verdict of lower court reaches higher court, the higher court will correct this verdict. But if that doesn’t happen, still this case will definitely reach the supreme court. Indian Supreme court has demonstrated for a long time that they are efficient and firm in preserving civilian and human rights. There is surely reason to think that Binayak Sen will get justice in Supreme Court. I do not think that misuse of law will last. But many in India and abroad are annoyed and angry at this misuse of law. We should highlight this truth. I have firm belief that finally Binayak sen’s great work will find recognition and honor. And the attempt to hand him punishment instead of recognition will fail. I hope this change won’t take a long time.
Regarding Binayak Sen’s mistrial, many have asked me if I agree with the many causes raised by Maoists for tribal welfare. My reply is there is many scope for tribal welfare in India. Because for a long term they have been treated unfairly. I am not aware of what the Maoists have exactly said. So I can’t say anything conclusively regarding this topic. But I have seen many research reports regarding this unfair treatment. I myself have written on this topic. There is no reason to be surprised if Maoists are saying something about this subject. The truth doesn’t turn into a lie simply because Maoists are saying this. Then again , even if it is correct that Maoists are speaking the truth, that doesn’t prove that Maoists’ political thinking and the methodology adopted is justified. But this matter has no connection with Binayak Sen’s mistrial.
He has been given life-term imprisonment without any reason, this is the main point.
(translated by UNITED INDIAN)