Yours Sincerely

So SRK can pee in a church in DDLJ. Nobody gets offended. Minor girl can be raped in a temple . Nobody gets offended. Come to think of it - Hrithik Roshan was romancing near Haji Ali in Fiza, and nobody got offended. But Hindu woman kissing a Muslim boy in a temple on-screen. THAT'S offensive! Never mind the scores of college kids who make out in empty temples anyway. Reality does not matter. If someone says it is offensive on a whim, it is! You see - it is very easy to be outraged in India for all sorts of illogical reasons. You can be outraged over someone eating beef, you can be outraged over someone kissing someone else, you can be outraged over someone writing a book, you can be outraged over a great many things. Unfortunately, when it comes to the real test where you expect outrage, that is where this country remains mute, like when a rape-victim is burnt alive in police custody on her way to testify in court. THAT can be forgotten, in fact, it's hardly noticed, if at a...

I went through two links which have been shared on this regard in an attempt to argue that the Wendy Doniger episode is not an issue of importance in the context of free speech: 1) Link: http://www.firstpost.com/india/why-the-wendy-doniger-episode-is-not-a-free-speech-issue-1388751.html?utm_source=ref_article 2) Link: http://centreright.in/2014/02/wendy-doniger-academia-racism-and-hinduphobia/#.UwxLEfmSxCi As these arguments are being taken seriously, I decided to post my response here: 1) The first post article claims that the issue is not that of free speech because the book was withdrawn within the framework of Indian law. Also, that the book was withdrawn on the grounds of factual inaccuracies as opposed to making Hindu texts erotic - making this an issue of fact Vs. error as opposed to stifling freedom of expression. My counter-view:  Below is the link for the official statement of Penguin India on why it chose to withdraw the book  only...

// If free speech means anything at all, it means to tell people what they don't like to hear. // In a world where so many things seem to be falling apart, some things give me fresh hope. This interview came as a huge relief where sense prevailed and those words of Taslima Nasreen were music my ears. Each line from the interview was precious. I found it to be very bold, honest and simple. Please do watch this interview where she talks about her thoughts on free speech: link Here are some excerpts:  // The worst enemy of censorship is always curiosity. // // Free speech is universal. There is no such thing called national free speech or international free speech. Like there are no such things called Islamic human rights or Eastern human rights or Western human rights. // // I don't think there is a conflict between Hindus and Muslims. Of course, there is a conflict. The conflict is between two ideas: secularism & fundamentali...