hinduonline.com
Point and counterpoint on WATER
see next post for counterpoint
Culture's vultures
The conspiracy to defame India is real enough but
the crude attempts to tackle it by strong arm
methods only enhance its effectiveness. The fact of
the matter is that the so called defenders of our
culture are doing so in ways that leave the people
threatened by deliberately jeopardising their
security. Are people really more secure today or
are 'protection' and 'courage' part of the same
game? SUDHANSHU RANADE on saffronising
culture.
THE proposed shooting of "Water" in Varanasi has raised a storm of protest from those who
are out to defend Hindu culture. Last week, the seer of Prayag Math, Sri Madhavanand
Saraswati, demanded a blanket ban on the shooting, saying it tarnished the country's image.
Films which projected the Hindu religion and Indian culture in a poor light should not be
allowed, he said. It is a conspiracy to tarnish India's image, he said. To a question whether
this did not encroach on artistic freedom, he said, "this is not art. This is flouting art. You
cannot make a blue film in the name of artistic freedom". In a similar vein, the senior vice
president of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Giriraj Kishore, said that though the VHP
and related organisations were not involved in the hooliganism at Varanasi, the fact remained
that the film was part of a deep rooted conspiracy to defame Hindu culture. There have been
attempts for quite some time by people who are looking to foreign funding, to project
Hinduism in an incorrect and defamatory manner.
Meanwhile, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Mr. K. R. Malkani said in a letter to
The Hindu that: Ms. Deepa Mehta and her friends need to understand why the people
protested. Her earlier film, "Fire", showed two lesbians, bearing the names of Radha and Sita,
to the horror of many people. People like her feel free to revile Hinduism with impunity, but
they do not dare to criticise Islam because in that case the swords would be out. Aren't films
like "Water" being produced to defame India, and win plaudits and millions abroad?
Let us take these issues one by one. The conspiracy to "defame" India (and countries such as
China), is real enough. However, the sincerity and competence of most of the people who
participate, unknowingly, in the "conspiracy" is beyond doubt; and it is the truth that they
bombard us with, not lies. It is because of this that such conspiracies are so hard to tackle.
So, though the "conspiracy" is real (the basic idea being not to help us to our feet, but to
make us lose our sense of proportion, and thereby leave us overwhelmed), crude attempts to
tackle it by strong arm methods only enhance its effectiveness.
As for the point that "people feel free to revile Hinduism with impunity, but do not dare
criticise Islam because in that case the swords would be out", a question arises about whether
we consider ourselves to be such tender plants that we will be safe only under purdah. But I
am sure that this question will be contemptuously and angrily swept aside. This is inevitable,
since the basic goal of the "defenders" of our culture is to convince us by hook or by crook
that we are "under attack". Only thus can they get us to see that we need to back them fully in
order to enable them to protect us from this grave threat. Only thus can they get us to turn a
blind eye to the shocking atrocities that they commit in the name of defending us; and lull us
into complacence about the bloody harvest in store for us.
Even as the papers last week headlined the BJP's view that it "has the right to protest", by
putting an end to "Water" in the way they put an end to the Babri Masjid, the lead story in
one newspaper was about how audio cassettes of the inflammatory speeches of Pakistani
terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar had "flooded Hyderabad". Already a number of audio
cassettes were in circulation in the city and other parts of the Telengana region, the report
said, narrating the "atrocities being committed on Kashmiri women and children by the army".
After all, it is not as if Hindus have a monopoly on the "protection" racket. Islam too has its
"defenders"; they too have no shortage of people who would like to spread alarm, to
convince people that they are "under attack"; and then to offer them their "protection". Each
feeds on the other; both feed on us. The question we have to ask ourselves, we who are
caught in the middle, is whether we are really more secure today, after the demolition of the
Babri Masjid? Was this attack on the Muslims really intended to "defend" the Hindus?
But let me turn to another aspect of this question of the defamation of our culture; ignoring not
only the incendiary ammunition that the Babri Masjid placed in the hands of Pakistan, but also
the question of whether we really came out of this act of "retribution" in a heroic light. Let me
turn to the case of a nun from distant Tamil Nadu who was stripped in Bihar last September,
and made to drink urine. An act of hooliganism that has nothing to do with the defenders of
Hinduism? I am afraid the question is not dismissed as easily as that. Her captors, the nun
said, wanted to know about the number of sisters attached to the convent, and the number of
conversions they had effected. They also asked why had the missionaries not learnt a lesson
from the several kidnappings, rapes, and killings carried out. There was no attempt to rape
her, though they had her completely at their mercy for a long period of time. These are
definitely not the doings of a mere hoodlum. The persons who committed this outrage were
obviously highly committed "defenders" of Hindu culture; out to ensure that it is projected in a
good light. And we pretend to be defamed by movies like "Fire" and "Water".
There is no doubt a melodramatic and titillative element in the movies that Ms. Mehta makes.
It helps add to the marketability of her movies. But this, surely, is something that there is no
shortage of in the dozens of movies we churn out each year. That is what the people seem to
want, so that is what they get. What disturbs me much more is the way that senior executives
of supposedly respectable companies have over the past one year begun paying scantily clad
young girls to pose or dance on the stage everytime they "unveil" a new mattress or a fairness
cream or a scooter. That I would say is indeed a totally unjustifiable attack on our culture.
But the defenders of Hinduism have never said a word about it. Even though, were they to do
so, and do it in a dignified fashion, they would be able to make common cause with the
women's organisations which have been raising such issues for years. Quick results, too,
would be assured; simply by turning things on their head and exposing the companies
concerned.
Another area in which our culture urgently needs to be defended is cruelty to animals. So far,
the "defenders" of Hinduism have only been using the "cow slaughter" issue to launch an
attack on Muslims, from yet another angle. They have not said a word about who is going to
look after hundreds of millions of cows once cow slaughter is banned; in a country that isn't
able to even look after its people. Then there is the question of compensation. Some owners
would gladly give over their cows free, for being looked after; but who is going to
compensate the rest? Here, too, had the defenders of our culture been sincere, I would have
expected them to direct their energies instead to the appalling cruelty to animals that is to be
seen in a country which prides itself on their kind treatment; starting, say, with the shocking
way that temple cows and their calves are treated in many temples, both before and after they
are sent off for slaughter. The support of a number of groups that are active in this area could
be counted on; if the interest is genuine. Here too quick results would be assured. There
would be significant gains for the animals; humans too would become that much more
humane.
But what is the use of speaking about all these things. The fact of the matter is that these
people are out to "defend our culture" only in ways that will leave us feeling threatened; if
necessary by deliberately jeopardising our security. Then they will come forward to offer us
their "protection". They speak of "courage"; but this is part and parcel of the same game. All
that they really intend is to silence the decent instincts and basic humanity of the Hindus, and
bring about in them an utter disregard of consequences. Only when their own necks are not in
jeopardy, of course; as was made only too clear by Mr. Bal Thackeray's less than
courageous reaction to the categorical indictment of his role in the Bombay riots.
Mr. Thackeray, of course, has been in the protection racket for a very long time. Shiv Sena
cadres have, for many decades now, been going around openly offering shops, restaurants,
hotels and factories their "protection"; for a price. I would like to believe that the
Rashtriyaswawam Sevak Sangh (RSS) and its affiliates, including the VHP, are different. But
so far, I am sad to say, I have seen no indication that this is indeed the case. |
