Re: [nukkad] Pakistan bans Newsweek's Quran issue

["Sachin Vora" <>]

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No mistake is more common and more fatuous than appealing to logic 
in cases which are beyond her jurisdiction. -Samuel Butler, writer (1835-1902)
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----Original Message Follows----
From: Gireesh Dixit - PCS 

Hi Sachin,

I think you sud change your name to
Sahid Vohra so that it will give us a
Muslim sound. Otherwise also you are
behaving like a muslim league representative.
In every debate you have to put Hindus at corner.
Shame on you Mr Vohra. Your name looks like
your r brahmin.
You r a blot to the Brahmin and Hindu community.

Bye
Gireesh
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:-) Well I think in a pluraristic society that we are everything that puts 
any other religion in the corner effectively does it to the hindu religion 
too.
At some point when we are putting forth our views on any subject which deals 
with religion we have to put this question to ourselves.
What are we first Indians or Hindus or Muslims or Christians etc.
I very much cherish the religion I was born into and agree with the broad 
principles of what Hinduism is. But I am very much open to changing the way 
thing are and giving my society a pluralistic flavor so that everybody gets 
a chance to practice or follow what they believe in.
Most importantly it is my belief that religion is a very private matter - 
what one believes in is a very very personal thing and so
1) it should not be imposed on anyone
2) you should not criticize somebody if they are following what you dont 
believe
3) at the same time if somebody criticizes then it should not hurt your 
belief coz belief is your belief and you have your reasons for that which 
should not be dependent on somebody else's perception of it.

Here is an interesting analogy -

Mostly people like/love/respect their parents. Nobody puts this condition on 
people around to consider them their parents, or like them, or love them, or 
respect them as much as they do. Yes, but they like their parents to be 
accepted and strive that there are no misgivings and dislike for them. For 
existing in harmony in a community they sometimes ask their parents to 
change or accept others, or sometimes they try to make others understand 
their parents. They create circumstances when they all can meet and know 
each other so that they can understand and appreciate each other. Also when 
at times they cannot like somebody inspite of all this they keep the 
distance but still exist as part of the same community. Still in times of 
difficulty they help each other.

So religion has to learn to exist in similar fashion.

My question "what would happen if the Vedas are discredited" does not say 
anything in itself - it just poses this question so that the sentiment is 
put in perspective. Also it is very difficult to actually draw parallels 
with Pakistan and Bangladesh or even Saudi states. One should put this in 
the context. They are Islamic countries - they never claimed to be secular. 
This means they are governed by their religion and in that we must say 
Pakistan and Bangladesh are much more moderate as they are not totally 
governed by Shariayat. They have been showing quite a lot of modernism 
compared to the conservative muslim or islamic practicies. Also take 
countries like Morroco, Turkey, Iraq (even during Saddam) etc.. which are 
more moderate. They are more pluraristic and thus less Islamic. So you did 
not see the banning of Satanic Verses or even this newsweek edition. Yes we 
as India did not do very well during Satanic Verses by banning it. We should 
not have. I personally would want that India distances itself from all 
religions and forges a UCC which is more universal rather than Hindu/Muslim. 
But what invariably happens in Indian polity is that either the Policies are 
appeasing the Hindus or the minorities. We are less in control of what we 
want but more in control of vested interests which push or pull depending on 
the situation.
So another situation was MF Hussain painting Sita - if not banned it did 
draw violent reactions from the Shiv Seniks and similar organizations and 
hindu right wingers. So sometimes it makes sense to ban things just to 
maintain the law and order situation coz at such times a few fundamentalist 
or religious caretakers ransom the society and the government and impose 
their reactions on the public at large.
How do we transition from a religion based society to a more universal set 
of values is the question ; the answer to which is out there somewhere but 
scarcely visible. I think it is a slow deliberate process which will 
transform the set of values that people cherish and make them more open to 
ideas which are not part of or contrary to the religious doctrines.
So once again the question is not to corner the Hindus or any particular 
religion but to establish a perspective of the similar but maybe a less 
potent reaction in the hindu religion too. Yes not being a Hindu nation 
helps here.

My thoughts

-Sachin

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