ss <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Husain is a Muslim name. A man with a Muslim name has painted a
> picture of a Hindu goddess having sex with an animal. If Hindus were
> to invent the concept of blasphemy for themselves, there could be no
> better symbol than this painting to invent it for. Hindus do not
> have a pre-defined concept of blasphemy, but they have no dogmatic
> code that prevents them from inventing it if needed.
In the 60's Malayalam writer Vaikom Muhammed Basheer published a
collection of short stories titled "A Bhagavad Gita and Some Breasts"
(Oru Bhagavad Gitayum Kure Mulakalum). There's no history of violence
incited by hurt Hindu feelings; I'd imagine that the offence-induction
potential of this title was hardly noticed.
There's no question of a Muslim or even Hindu writer doing such a
thing today. Kerala society has changed enough to harbour religious
leaders offended by alcohol named "Christian Brothers", caste-based
groups bargaining hard using their assumed vote bank strength, and so
on. I think these precisely are the kind of creatures that would have
been fashionably scorned upon, in the more liberal days of past. And
I keep wondering who invented this idea of using easily hurt feelings
as a negotiation ploy.
--
Don't you wish you had more energy... or less ambition?
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