While delivering judgement on a criminal case against painter M F Hussain, for his nude paintings of Hindu deities, Delhi High Court judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul lectured from his dias in a palpably sanctimonious tone:
I hope Justice Kaul will upheld the right of citizens to peaceful organization and enlightenment through mass reading if not Taslima's right to read since she is not a citizen.
Hey, its a free country you see.
Just a thought.
"[M F Hussain] deserves to be in his home, painting his canvas.....In a free and democratic society, tolerance is vital. This is true especially in large and complex societies like ours where people with varied beliefs and interests mingle,” said the single-judge bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul. “It is very unfortunate that the works of any artist today who have tried to play around with nudity have come under scrutiny. These artists have had to face the music, making them think twice before exhibiting their work of art.”I am tempted to ask the judge if he would be equally ecstatic about the rights of Taslima Nasrin , or say this in her defense: "she deserves to be in her (Calcutta) home, writing her novels(with stray references to Islam's prophet)." Interested groups can invite her to New Delhi for a reading of her novels or organize mass readings of the "purged" passages from her novel.
I hope Justice Kaul will upheld the right of citizens to peaceful organization and enlightenment through mass reading if not Taslima's right to read since she is not a citizen.
Hey, its a free country you see.
Just a thought.
1 comment:
Interesting thought. By the way, I just wanted you to know that I did not post those comments regarding the communal/secular debate and the state's role in regulating religious institutions. For reasons that are not clear to me, someone else did. I hope to write about these questions at some point later to put things in perspective.
Cheers.
P.
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