Outlook Blogs

Untranslatable Dharma

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:50:59 GMT

'Behold All, The Rise Of Quotocracy!'

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 11:21:06 GMT

Booby Trap

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:15:11 GMT

Salman Rushdie & Friends: 'The Only Subject is Love'

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:58:58 GMT

Salman Rushdie Reads 'Enchanting Story'

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:56:29 GMT

Sridevi Lite, Sridevi Right

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:58:48 GMT

Ends And Means

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:58:58 GMT

Why The Maoists Want Arundhati Roy

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:55:32 GMT

'Husain Has Not Gone To Qatar'

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:08:22 GMT

Work, Not Threats, Keeping Me Back: Husain

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:22:11 GMT

For the record.

The Internet Hindus

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 14:35:37 GMT

Ashok Malik in the Hindustan Times:

The Internet Hindu has blogged and tweeted and emailed exultantly about the defeat and exile of Husain. In parallel, a new campaign has gathered momentum, centred on a new hate figure: Wendy Doniger.

...

Why are these Internet Hindus worthy of notice at all? There are three reasons. First, a collective of the intellectually inadequate, the professionally frustrated and the plain bigoted, they represent the collapse of Hindu politico-intellectual space into a caricature of the very Talibanism it opposes.

Second, as Hindutva as an idea has contracted in real-world politics, it has become shrill and over-the-top in cyberspace. The Left has its universities, journals and institutional support system. It is a commentary on Internet Hindus that they only have multiple email accounts.

Third, there is a hard question for the BJP. How quickly can it delink itself from Internet Hindus and their offline equivalents? A party that seeks to build broad-spectrum opposition unity in Parliament on governance issues can do without such viral downloads.

More here

Just a few days back, incidentally, Swapan Dasgupta, another journalist considered close to the BJP and a party strategist, had this to say in the Telegraph:

In the past decade, the threshold of tolerance in India has been lowered considerably — thanks in no small degree to the takeover of the internet by competitive extremists. ‘Sensitivity to faith’ has come to mean accommodation of organized blackmail.

The successful anti-Husain and anti-Taslima protests have to be seen in the context of a progressive shrinking of the enlightened public space. India imagined it would be a world player on the strength of its ‘soft power’. Today, that power is being steadily undermined by the clash of rival ghettos. The nonsense has gone on far too long and has touched dangerous heights. It’s time the country extends democratic rights to those who offend fragile sensitivities.

More here

M.F. Husain: FAQ

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:43:22 GMT

The Role Of Siyasat

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:39:29 GMT

Earlier, while discussing the outrage and violence caused in the aftermath of the publication of an unauthorised translation of a Taslima Nasreen article by the weekly magazine section, Saptahika Prabha, of the Kannada daily, Kannada Prabha (New Indian Express group), we had also quoted the following from the Indian Express:

On Monday, Siasat, whose Karnataka edition is managed by Congress leader Roshan Baig, published a report alleging that the Kannada daily had published derogatory remarks against Muslims in the Sunday piece....

Baig said his paper only carried a news item on the Kannada paper’s coverage. “It’s a 2007 article by Taslima Nasreen, which has been up on some hardline Hindu websites and was carried very prominently by Kannada Prabha on Sunday, with a provocative headline from an old Hindi song ‘Purdah hai Purdah’, and pictures of women in burqas. My paper just carried a news item on that coverage which was printed on Monday,” Baig said.

“My mother had passed away on Sunday, so I was not in the office or overseeing things that day. Otherwise, I may have ensured that this was not carried. Anyway, what we carried was a brief report,” he said.

According to Baig, his newspaper cannot be connected to the violence in Shimoga. “It had nothing to do with our coverage as our paper reaches Shimoga only by about 12 noon or 1 pm. Urdu is also not read that much by Muslims in that part of the state. They are mostly Kannada-speaking. There is no way our paper could have contributed to the outrage,” he said.

While the original 2007 article, a translation of which was carried by the Saptahika Prabha, has been read by all, the English media has not carried details of the frontpage report from the Bangalore edition of Siasat. As a result, there has been a lot of speculation about what this Urdu newspaper had reported that it also had charges framed against it under sections I53A, 153B and 295A of the IPC. We publish below, in public interest, a translation of that report:

Derogatory remarks against Prophet Mohammad and his wives: women told to burn the burqas

Bangalore, March 1: (Siasat News)

Kannada Prabha, the Kannada daily which has earned ignominy for its anti-Muslim write-ups, has in its weekly pullout, Sapthahika Prabha, crossed all limits while launching a personal tirade against Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him).

The article titled “Pardah hai Pardah” is authored by the god-damned and Murthad (one who has transgressed the boundaries of Islam) author Taslima Nasreen and translated into Kannada by Sindhu. On the one hand the article launches unpardonable attacks against Prophet’s personality, on the other it makes derogatory remarks about Hazrat Khadeejatul Kubra and other wives of the prophet (Ummahatul Mu’mineen meaning mothers of the believers).

The article contains fictitious findings about how the system of parda came into being and also launches a tirade against the character of prophet’s wives especially Hazrath Khadeejatul Kubra and Hazrath Ayisha. Besides, the companions of prophet Muhammad (also called the Sahabas) have also been accused of looking at Hazrath Ayisha with licentious eyes.

Opposing the system of Parda the article claims that it was introduced about 1,500 years ago by someone for his selfish motives and with a view to protect his own women. Is it necessary that all the Muslims should follow the same system until the day of resurrection (Khiyamat)? the writer asks.

Accusing Islam of denying women their rights, the article says Muslim women have been caged within four walls of the house or tied inside their kitchens. The writer also dubs Parda as an insult on women and says it casts doubts about the character of menfolk. Urging Muslim women to demand their rights, the article urges them to burn Burkas as a first step in this regard. Otherwise they would not be left with any option, the writer says.

This highly provocative article has sparked concerns across Muslim circles.

Incidentally, the other news item on the front page is about the death of Mr Roshan Baig's mother. Whether or not this article played any part in the outrage and violence in Shimoga is immaterial; this brief report certainly seems to present a distorted and inflammatory view of the original article under question.

Needless to say, none of the above is to, in anyway, explain or condone the violence, but only to put the sequence of events in perspective.

***

Incidentally, today's Indian Express has a very incisive piece by Pratap Bhanu Mehta:

Few things are more crooked in India than the discourse on free speech and its relation to violence. Rather than focusing on the basic framework governing speech, the debate quickly descends into the politics of double standards. There is no question that M.F. Husain’s departure from India is a serious indictment of India’s claims as a liberal democracy, and especially the ability of the state to protect those exercising their rights. But this fundamental issue was obscured by three issues that govern the politics of double standards.

After detailing these double-standards, the piece also briefly addresses l'affaire Taslima:

The incidents in Shimoga have once again brought this question to the fore. There is a technical issue of whether Taslima Nasreen’s piece was used with proper authorisation and in proper context. But the ease with which the appearance of the piece sparked off violence by intolerant groups ought to be an abomination to our democracy. But the state’s reaction is typical: legitimise the violence by classifying the purported article as the culprit rather than those who took offence at it and engaged in violence.

It's a must-read piece because it elevates the discourse on recent cases involving freespeech. It goes on to discuss R.V. Bhasin vs state of Maharashtra, and how our legal provisions on controlling free speech induce, rather than diminish, competitive communal politics, and create a culture of mischief and concludes by saying:

And religious believers commit the ultimate blasphemy by thinking that they need to protect their gods rather than their gods protecting them.

If one were to offer gratuitous advice to Siasat, it would certainly include translating this piece and carrying it in full as a penance!

Supersized Diagnostics

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:28:24 GMT

Dr Lal Pathlabs, known to be a reputed diagnostic chain has opened its laboratories to the marketing monster. Yesterday, as I queued up for a battery of tests as part of my annual health checkup, the receptionist gave me an offer to super size my prescription. He advised that I opt for Premium Body Screening Package, which would bring down the cost of tests my doctor had written down and they would throw in a thyroid test free! I was handed over a brochure that spelt out numerous discounted packages with a red blurb announcing Upto 40 per cent off, offer valild till… with a comprehensive list of what’s on offer. I said yes to the extra thyroid test immediately.

Though the guy on the brochure, speeding away with a yellow helmet on a yellow motorbike who can be called home for free sample collection would remind you of the Pizza hut delivery boy (he is his relevant counterpart in any case), I fully endorse medical marketing. Nothing like a big fat discount to brave the big bad needle that sucks back blood and brings back results that can change our life or in a majority of cases, insure it. In the mythology called consumerism, this is my favourite discount this season.

For reasons completely paradoxical, I was reminded of Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 documentary. Spurlock who directed and starred in it, ate at MacDonald’s restaurants for an entire month, three times a day, eating every item on the menu. Every time he was given an offer to super size his meal he would do so. He wanted to expose the corporate influence of the fast food industry and how it actually encouraged –by supersizing—poor nutrition for its own benefit. The then 32 year old director, put on 11 kgs, added 13 per cent of Body Mass Index, his cholesterol levels reached 230 (30 points higher than the safe limit) and there was fat accumulation in his liver! He also experienced mood swings and it took him 14 months to shake that weight off.

But supersizing diagnostics by discounting tests is a reverse and extremely useful aspect of the same marketing idea. It will help detect the cholesterol we may not suspect, the sugar that may be lurking around without throwing a sweet fit or who knows something really serious.

Try it. You will live to not regret it.

L'affaire Taslima

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:44:38 GMT

Trouble seems to follow Taslima Nasreen in India.

Various issues have, as usual, become intertwined in the recent outrage in Karnataka.

First, the weekly magazine section, Saptahika Prabha, of the Kannada daily, Kannada Prabha (New Indian Express group), published an article purportedly by controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, titled Purdah hai purdah. The newspaper did mention that it was translated from the original English by “Sindhu”. The source of the article or the date of its original writing was not mentioned.

Meanwhile, an Urdu newspaper Siasat reportedly carried a misleading commentary on the article on March 1. I have not been able to get a copy of their report yet. [See post script:1]

"Protests and riots" follow in Karnataka chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa’s home district, Shimoga, killing two people -- one in police firing, and the other succumbing to injuries sustained in stone-pelting. More are injured.

The newspapers express regret. An FIR is filed against both under sections I53A, 153B and 295A of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) "for provoking the public and causing misunderstanding between two communities".

Taslima Nasreen expresses shock at the turn of events, denies having written any article for any Kannada newspaper ever. She also clarifies that she "has never mentioned that Prophet Muhammad was against burqa" and concludes: "Therefore this is a distorted story".

It turns out that the article was an unauthorised translation of a piece first published by Outlook way back in 2007, and also available on her own website, and of course elsewhere on the web.

The translation is said to be quite close to the original, but the jury is still out whether it is an exact word by word translation; many claim that some of the words in the translated version seem more provocative than in the original. [2]

The timing of the article (soon after Taslima applied for permanent residency in India and on Milad-ud-Nabi, when Muslims the world over celebrate the Prophet's birthday) and the place of protests (why should they be in Karnataka chief minister's home district alone when the Muslim concentration is more elsewhere in the state) and the nature of the organised protests, particularly as they are said to be based on distorted reports and incitements about her remarks about the Prophet, and that too on his birthday, has predictably led to questions being raised about foul play.

While it needs to be clearly determined who was behind the incitement and rioting in Hassan and Shimoga, those protesting need to realise that such incidents only perpetuate and strengthen the stereotype of "intolerant" Muslims.

As I write this, comes the news that there have been attacks on the offices of the concerned newspapers.

The newspapers concerned clearly will need to deal with more than just the copyright issues with Taslima Nasreen, but what they immediately need is to be provided full security by the state government. Other media outfits clearly need to ensure that they do not misreport such sensitive issues. The chief minister has done well to reassure the Muslim community on the floor of the house, but his administration has a very clear task at hand. It needs to not only credibly investigate and bring to book those behind the whole episode, but also press home the point that no matter what the provocation of the written word, there can be NO excuse for any violence of any kind. The fight should be in the battleground of ideas and not on the streets. If anyone disagrees with what has been published, even if it is something she did not write, the way to engage with it is counter-arguments, as letters to editor or as op-eds joining issue. But for that, those protesting need to first check their facts.

Coming soon after l'affaire M.F. Husain, it is time for all sections of society to come together in reemphasising that violence is a totally unacceptable response that simply has no justification and will not be condoned.

Post Script:

1. More context from the Indian Express:

On Monday, Siasat, whose Karnataka edition is managed by Congress leader Roshan Baig, published a report alleging that the Kannada daily had published derogatory remarks against Muslims in the Sunday piece....

Baig said his paper only carried a news item on the Kannada paper’s coverage. “It’s a 2007 article by Taslima Nasreen, which has been up on some hardline Hindu websites and was carried very prominently by Kannada Prabha on Sunday, with a provocative headline from an old Hindi song ‘Purdah hai Purdah’, and pictures of women in burqas. My paper just carried a news item on that coverage which was printed on Monday,” Baig said.

“My mother had passed away on Sunday, so I was not in the office or overseeing things that day. Otherwise, I may have ensured that this was not carried. Anyway, what we carried was a brief report,” he said.

According to Baig, his newspaper cannot be connected to the violence in Shimoga. “It had nothing to do with our coverage as our paper reaches Shimoga only by about 12 noon or 1 pm. Urdu is also not read that much by Muslims in that part of the state. They are mostly Kannada-speaking. There is no way our paper could have contributed to the outrage,” he said.

2. Hindustan Times: In Bangalore, representatives of the Muslim community met senior members of the Express Group of newspapers (which publishes Kannada Prabha). Many agreed Taslima’s words in her original article don’t seem as provocative as they appeared after translation.

3. The Siyasat report has now been posted -- March 4, 2010

Also See: Joint statement in February 2007 from Khushwant Singh, Arundhati Roy, Leila Seth, Kuldip Nayyar, Vijay Tendulkar, Aruna Roy, Shyam Benegal, Girish Karnad, Saeed Naqvi, Y.P. Chibber (General-Secretary, PUCL), Shanker Singh (MKSS, Rajasthan), Nikhil Dey (MKSS, Rajasthan) in response to the Outlook article:

We uphold Taslima Nasrin’s right to speak forthrightly on any subject, including the burqa. It is her fundamental right. Instead of taking her on intellectually, her detractors are using a reprehensible way of suppressing her opinions. They are gathering outside her apartment in Calcutta, and demanding that the government should throw her out of the country. Keeping in mind that her visa expires by next week, this is a clear sign of intimidating her into retracting her views. It would be a shame if we who pride ourselves on our democratic traditions should refuse her asylum on this count. Or at the very least an extension of her visa

To read more published responses to the article, please click here

Naa Maaro Pichkaari...

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:07:20 GMT

Continuing with our Holi playlist of last year, here are some more songs in celebration:

Nirmala Devi: Naa Maaro Pichkaari
Indubala: Naa Maaro Pichkaari
Gangubhai Hangal: Hari Khelat Brij meN hori
Shobha Gurtu: Holi Khelan Kaise Jaoon
Pt. Birju Maharaj: Kanha Khelo Kahan Aise Hori
Girija Devi: Piloo Hori , Aisi Hori Na Khelo
Pt Ajoy Chakraborty: Aaj Phagua Me Hori Machi Hai
Sunderabai: Hori Khele Mose Nandlal
Sandipan Samajpati - Kaise Ke Kheloon Hori

Jahangir Celebrates Holi. A single folio from the Minto Album. Artist unknown, c. 1635. Colored pigments and gold on paper. [Photo: © The Trustees of The Chester Beatty Library, Dublin]

Earlier playlist:

s.n. ratanjankar -des- hori khelan ko chale Kanhaiyyaa
faiyyaz khan - des- dhamar talaa -- aaj hori khelat
ghulam mustafa khan - basant - piya sang khelu hori
kesarbai kerkar - khamaj - ye shyaam mose khelana holi
kesarbai kerkar - kafi - ab to khel le phaag
hirabai barodekar - hori - holi khelo mose
senior dagar brothers, n. moinuddin and n. aminuddin - kafi - kesara ghar ke ranga
siddeshwari devi -kafi - udat abir gulaal
k.l. saigal - kafi- ho brij raaj dulaare
girija devi - pilu hori
girija devi - mishra gara - udat abir gulaal
shobha gurtu - gara - main to khelungi hori
shobha gurtu - raga pilu - hori khelan kaise jauuN
shobha gurtu - aaj biraj meN hori hai rasiya
shobha gurtu - dadra - rangi sari gulabi chunariya
chhanu lal mishra - rang darungi
(his album holi ke rang tesu ke phool is available as a podcast here)
shubha mudgal - khele rahe rang holi

Radha celebrating Holi, c1788. (digitally enhanced version) Kangra, India. c1788
Source: Victoria Albert Museum

The Right Foundation

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:28:41 GMT

It is with a journalist’s learned sense of skepticism that I usually approach charity events. Especially those held and publicized by fashion and beauty luxury brands. This social responsibility that allows the easy participation of the rich by spending money, not time or commitment is what I call the Buy a Bag and Get Social Justice Free model. It leaves me wondering about many things.

I haven’t found any answers yet. But last week, at an AIDS awareness day event at the MAC store in Delhi’s Promenade mall, I did realize that the answers don’t just lie in trying to figure out various social justice models but also in the process of small but powerful discoveries of human behaviour that such events bring. MAC, the global cosmetic giant whose foundations and lipsticks make cinestars, fashionistas, models and maharanis of glamour all over the world look their beautiful best, continues to push Viva Glam, an extended arm of the M.A.C. Aids Fund that was set up in 1994. You could say it is a “Buy-a-lipstick-and-get-a-guilt-free-shopping trip-free” model. But that doesn't change the fact that the fund has raised more than 700 crores for the AIDS affected through worldwide sales of the Viva Glam lipstick range--six shades of lipsticks and two lip glosses—with 100 per cent selling price routed towards the welfare of those living with AIDS. That's much more than a cosmetic achievement.

While I sit around at such events to observe different people dipping into the same social cause for different reasons, I am quite taken by those who queue up to get makeovers and expert makeup tips. Especially if the person doing the magic is someone like celebrity artist Mickey Contractor. Women sit transfixed before him as his hands work deftly, sizing up the face, the bone structure, the skin colour, texture and the woman’s personality before turning her into a diva. The dazed look on the faces of women is a delight for someone interested in the politics of identity through makeup. After they are done, a new confidence descends on most; they walk out of stores with a better gait, a smile and bright, hopeful eyes. Of course, most also usually end up making huge cosmetic purchases because they now believe that the key to this new, glam self will overpower the inner devil who haunts some of us to challenge God’s creative abilities and beat Him at his game.

And Mickey? His anecdotes and insights on what people want and how they behave before and after makeup would make a rocking television series. I have often seen him dissuading women from buying cosmetics just for the heck of it. He also knows how to give his clients a reality check instead of dreams the colours of eye shadows. “I was doing someone’s face in the store and I saw this grey-faced, sad looking woman come inside, completely lost,” he told me during one of his smoke breaks at the event two days back. “She had bad skin, full of marks and pigmentation and was wearing a foundation that couldn’t have been worse for her skin colour and looks. I just hoped she wasn’t my next appointment, but she was,” continued Mickey. As the story unfolded, the woman who had been using makeup ever since she was an adolescent to disguise her bad skin and to silence that damned inner devil pricking her with insecurity, had never found any real change even after using the best foundation and concealers in the world.

“The wrong foundation is the moral of the story, you cannot become what you are not,” said Mickey almost philosophically, using the metaphor that should guide us not only in choosing the right makeup but everything we seek to change. Soon with the right foundation, (first applied only on half her face to point out what was going on), the woman went out of the store smiling, her emotions transparent under the now correct makeup which made her look like herself instead of grey skinned and ill.

That same evening, I happened to watch on TV the 2007 film Shortcut To Happiness based on Stephen Vincent Benet’s classic short story titled the Devil and Daniel Webster. “God is stingy with his creations,” said the Devil in a highly symbolic court case to decide the fate of the protagonist who had sold his soul in exchange for a better life. “But without a soul, there can never be a better life,” argued the defense, winning the case. The jury believed that the soul was the right foundation to realize any real makeover or change in life.