An email exchange, Indian media and some perspectives

I recently had an email exchange with Mr. Barun Roy, columnist in Business Standard, in response to my letter to one of his articles. Mr. Roy is one of the few columnists whose writings I greatly admire.

Dear Sir,

The article, A Prison for Mr. Husein by Barun Roy is a well written article and I can understand the author's anguish and also empathize with him on the prevalent situation. It is unfortunate that we have to lose a person of the stature of M.F. Husein owing to intolerance with the subject of his artwork.

However with due respect, I would like to point out one dimension which is missing here. The Indian media have in the past raised issues pertaining to intolerance and gagging of artistic freedom, but some instances have either been deliberately ignored or been downplayed. One notable case here is that of Ms. Taslima Nasrin, who was driven out of India, was attacked in Hyderabad by MIM vandals, and is still under death threat from fundamentalists. In all these cases, since the minority community's sentiments were involved, except for very few courageous people, nobody in Indian secular liberal establishment bothered to take side with Ms. Nasrin. The difference in treatment is stark from the reporting in some of the Indian media where 'Shivsena hooligans" are treated harshly and rightly so, while "MIM activists" go away lightly for the same crime.

My question is, isn't Ms. Nasrin in the same boat (and perhaps in worse condition) with Mr. Husein  with respect to artistic freedom and doesn't she deserve the same sympathy from Indian media? Or is the secular liberal establishment find it blasphemous to take side with anybody who has dared to defy the minority religious sentiment?

Whatever it is, this is not exatly what we call a non partisan approach. This attitude of Indian media to behave in a discriminatory fashion against certain group and communities while downplaying others for similar offense is leading to more polarization and dissonance than the so called saffron groups (or for that matter MIM and other green groups) could have done. A just and right approach would have been to treat both issues with the same degree of importance and decry the obnoxious behavior of gagging artistic freedom in general, than making it appear that while some religion's and community's sentiments are sacrosanct and cannot be broken, that of others are dispensable.

regards

Shantanu Dey

In response:

Dear Mr. Dey,

Many thanks for your comments. However, it's not true that the media have been silent on the question of Tasleema Nasrin. You may read the attached article that I had written not too long ago and was published in the Business Standard.

With regards,

Barun Roy

My response:

Dear Sir,

Many thanks for the attached article. I remember reading it and appreciating it when it was published in Business Standard. I have utmost respect for your opinion and the attached article very aptly summarizes the prevailing situation.

I only wanted to point out in this mail that a section of the Indian media may have downplayed the issue of Ms. Nasrin for the fear of minority backlash, while they have fought (and rightly so) for Mr. Husein. Such a tactics is counterproductive in the long run as it prevents spreading the idea of establishing a just and honest society where all opinions are respected and regarded. Hooligans are only emboldened where unjustness and unfairness reign supreme, which sadly is the present state in India.

We must be objective and transparent in evaluating and assessing the strengths and weaknesses of various communities and societies and not target any one in particular, because any discrimination helps the rogue elements in the community to justify their actions. This is where Indian media has a wider role to play. They should highlight the strengths but also condemn the weaknesses.

Thanks again for the same. Hope to read many more interesting articles coming from you.

regards

Shantanu Dey

I do appreciate your remarks. Many thanks indeed.

Barun Roy