The Indian angle to the cartoon controversy had its resonance on a
similar offense committed by the 90-year-old noted painter MF
Hussain, who portrayed the Hindu goddess of knowledge Saraswati in
nude. The right-wing Hindu organizations took up the issue,
criticizing the Muslims that while they protest the outrageous
cartoons, none condemn the painter who shelters under the cloak of
freedom of expression.

The liberals join the debate arguing that there is a conspiracy of
silence on taking positions on the Muslim issues. They say that most
are much more mindful of offending the Muslim sentiments than other
religions, for the simple reason that Muslims tend to protest more
loudly than others.

The Indian liberals accuse Muslims of not daring to stand up to the
extremists within their community. Seldom Muslim voices are heard
when their community resort to extremism, whereas the liberal Hindus
voices are heard loudest in condemnation of such acts by the Hindu
extremism. It points that Muslims silence paints the negative image
of the community and the Hindu zealots cash on these sentiments. It
feels that, if the liberal Muslim voices remain silent, Hindu
liberals may take up positions on the Muslims issues.

Within the liberal debate, some argue that those who think that their
sense of offence gives them the right to curb the freedom of
expression of others is a bit hyper. It's the case that equally
applies to all those who are protesting against the cartoons and to
those who are outraged with Hussain's paintings. The solution is not
to get angry but to ignore such things that they consider offensive.

The liberals do not want India to become a soft state and want the
government to establish the liberal principles -- standing up to the
rioters, arresting those who foment violence and never, ever giving
in to the blackmail.

Irrespective of the different murmurings over the cartoon
controversy, the Indian government has its position clearly stated by
sympathizing with the inflamed Muslim sentiments.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh gave public statement expressing "deep
concern" over the publication of the offensive cartoons. He
said, "The Government of India is deeply concerned about the growing
controversy over the publication of cartoons on Prophet Mohammad that
offend the Muslim community worldwide and any such attempt that hurt
the religious sentiments of the people should be avoided."

Prime Minister's statement came in the wake of Shahi Imam of Jama
Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari's letter to him and to the Congress
President Sonia Gandhi, urging the Centre to express its resentment
to the Denmark Government and to strongly condemn such acts.

Manmohan Singh in his reply to the Shahi Imam reiterated
that "India's commitment to religious harmony and tolerance is
unshakeable and the Government is determined to preserve this."

He further added that the Government remained convinced that
diversity and plurality must be nurtured and it is essential for this
that every segment of society be sensitive to beliefs and sentiments
of other members of the society.

The Prime Minster clarified that India had conveyed its sense of
outrage both in New Delhi and in Copenhagen when the cartoons were
first published in October last. "We had suggested that apologies
should be sought and the Danish Government should obtain assurances
that the concerned newspapers would prevent recurrence of such
incidents," the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister, appealing to the Muslim community to show
restraint, said, "any action that cause hurt to the sentiments of any
group of our people is not acceptable to the government".

The government allowed demonstrations to be held across the country
and Muslims came out in large numbers to protest the offensive
publication. The protestors gave vent to their pent up anger by
burning the Danish flags and denouncing western imperialism. Even
though lot of anger was spilled on the streets the demonstrations by
and large remained peaceful.

The only bizarre thing in the whole episode was the announcement by a
Muslim minister from the province of Uttar Pradesh of a booty of 51
crore [~ US $11.5 million] rupees on the head of the Danish
cartoonist who drew the offensive cartoons. This provocative outburst
received all round condemnations that included Muslims as well.

Surprisingly, the Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray did not throw his
hat in this controversy and till now have not made a counter offer of
higher booty to get the head of the UP minister. If one may recall,
it was the Sena chief who had announced booty on Iran's spiritual
leader Ayatollah Khomeni for pronouncing fatwa against Salman Rushdie
for his novel Satanic verses. Perhaps Sena patriarch is too busy
sorting out the inner rumblings of his party or might be chary of
Indian law that could be the cause of his restrain.

As the debate goes on, no final judgment can be pronounced on a
sensitive issue like this. It should be imperative that the duty of
respecting the religious beliefs of others overrides the privilege of
freedom of expression. This is simply because human dignity and
respect should be the rationale for all our actions.

The liberal yet insensitive and inconsiderate passion of an artist to
produce a work that will inflict deep wounds in the hearts and souls
of millions of people across the globe can never be justified in the
innocent name of freedom of expression. The above position does not
stand true for the religion of Islam alone but undisputedly for all
other religions and traditions.

Such issues are above and beyond freedom of expression because in the
name of artistic expression they denigrate, dehumanize and deny the
historical reality of such traditions and beliefs.

Let us hope that, as a civilized society, our conscience will allow
us to recognize the fine line of demarcation and keep the balance
between expressing ourselves freely and at the same time avoid
hurting and belittling people for what they believe.

SOURCE: Despardes.com
URL: http://www.despardes.com/articles/fe...0219-cartoons-
india.asp