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I am extremely pissed at the news that India’s I&B Ministry is considering holding the release of the movie, The Da Vinci Code. Why? Because some vitrolic defenders of the Catholic faith are threatening violence if their demands of banning the movie are not met. India, as I believe has always been a wuss state regarding frivilous demands of minorities (or even majorities) who threaten violence. Banning Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses, or the marathi play, Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy, or even removing Jo Bole So Nihal after theaters were bombed are just few examples of blatant stifling of freedom of expression in what is otherwise a democratic state. My reactions to such fear mongering by anti-social religious zealots are perfectly reflected by Atanu’s thoughts on this issue:
My conviction is that only those whose faith is on very shaky ground feel threatened by books and movies that cast doubt on those beliefs. Their violent reaction is indeed a sign of their own faithlessness and should be cause for some introspection. But whether they figure out their insecurities or not, is not such a major issue. What is a major issue is when the government capitulates and drives one more nail into the coffin of free speech and liberty.
I wonder when will we learn to let the democratic principles remain alive or are we so enamoured by votebank politics that we are going beyong free televisions and Rs.2 rice to trample on the foundations of our republic?
by Patrix | on Tuesday, May 16th, 2006 at 9:00 pm | 
Governance, India, Movies, Politicking, Rants . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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May 17th, 2006 at 12:16 am reply
The retardation of actually trying to ban the ‘Da Vinci code’ in the name of ’secularism’(read pseudo secularism), makes me wanna retch.
May 17th, 2006 at 2:39 am reply
[...] Related Links: Reuben Abraham, Patrix and JK are all outraged. Home | Permalink | [...]
May 17th, 2006 at 2:53 am reply
You know Vir Sanghvi (editor HT) wrote an interesting editorial when the whole plaigairism issue was on. He was saying that how all over the world, despite a book like Da VInci (though claiming to be fiction) kinda shook the pillars of christianity.. it just made people may be denounce the book or bring out other books in retaliation but in a place like India a book mocking any faith is always responsible for bringing out the violent streaks in mobs.. be it christians, muslims and hindus. Why can we also just laugh it off like a conspiracy theory like the rest of the world? (I cant find that link as HT is a paid site but its a bloody good point)
May 17th, 2006 at 8:27 am reply
Interestingly, why wasn’t the book banned ? Just because (as someone pointed out on Amit Varma’s blog) less people in India read English ? That doesn’t make sense. Firstly, I assume those who don’t read English also can’t really follow the spoken language very well. There is probably no particular scene in the film that potrays Jesus in a bad manner. Secondly, by the same yard-stick why was the ‘Satanic Verses’ banned - they should have banned the future movie version ?
What next - banning Harry Potter (the church is pretty much against it) ?!
May 17th, 2006 at 8:36 am reply
Megha, secularism is an oft-abused term in India. so much that it makes rational people like us lose faith in its intent.
Jaygee, that seems to be an apt observation by Vir Sanghvi. I guess, violence gets things done faster in India and is generally tolerated more often. Please send me the link if you chance upon it.
Bongo, trying to understand the logical or rational reasons behind these book/movie-banning incidents is giving them too much credit. To put it bluntly, we are a sensitive lot and generally cannot tolerate any criticism and such pet peeves by a tiny minority are tolerated is a sad thing. That said, I would still be pissed if the Hindus asked for banning any book/movie. If Da Vinci is indeed banned in India, we would prove to be more prudish than even the Vatican. Imagine that.
May 17th, 2006 at 9:02 am reply
In order to avoid even a hint of controversy, the Indian government is simply passing the buck. By letting the Catholic Church essentially make the decision for them, the Indian government can wash its hands of the whole affair. It is an act of cowardice, pure and simple.
May 17th, 2006 at 12:05 pm reply
The new Argumentative Indian…
In his book, Shivaji : Hindu King in Islamic India, James W. Laine presented a non-flattering view of Shivaji. Shivaji remains a “mountain rat”, a guerrilla of the hills and a narrow-minded fanatic Hindu rebel who, animated by vaulting ambitions……
May 18th, 2006 at 7:41 am reply
Patrix,
The most interesting thing is that Muslims and Christians have come together in demanding a ban on the movie! Why dont the trigger happy SHiv Sainiks also join them!
If they could display the same brotherhood in the rest of the world….
June 5th, 2006 at 5:07 am reply
Forget Chandrayaan 2007. With Indian governments banning all kinds of creative work left right and centre for the past 2-3 years, we have to rethink whether the country is moving forward or backward with time.
The self proclaimed custodians of religion (of all faiths) need to delve into the archives of their respective religions and read what the books say about people who question their religious beliefs.
Isn’t it in the bible wherein Jesus says, “Forgive them for they know not what they do”?
Should’nt that be the philosophy for the followers of Christianity with regard to the makers / viewers /readers of DVC, rather than behave aggressively and DEMAND acts of banning etc.?
Is the act of prostitution by the widows in Varanasi or the depiction of love and sex acts between same sex individuals in Khajuraho not a fact? If so, why are films like Water and Fire banned on “moral” grounds?
Secondly, where were these holier-than-thou people when the book was doing (and still doing) roaring business (pirated or otherwise) at the book shops or the streets?
The official figure of sales of the book globally is 50 million … it is several times more taking into account copies in libraries and pirated copies all over the world.
There are 2 billion Christians in the world as per statistical estimates.
I suspect that nearly this entire 1/3rd of the world’s 6 billion population has been “exposed” to the premise of the book and have fomed their own opinions without resorting to demands of banning (including the Vatican).
Surely India, as a so called “secular” country not above the more sane global whole.