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Why writers must not stop protesting

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Kamal Mitra Chenoy
Kamal Mitra ChenoyOct 12, 2015 | 12:14

Why writers must not stop protesting

More and more writers are protesting and returning Sahitya Akademi awards and other honours over the murder of the three rationalists, the last killed being MM Kalburgi. Sara Joseph, a feminist writer stated, "The tide of intolerance has risen to such a level that individuals do not have the freedom to eat what they like or to love a person of their choice." Professor Satchidanandan protested against the inaction of Sahitya Akademi president Vishvanath Prasad Tiwari because of his inadequate "response to the recent attacks on the freedom of expression followed by a series of murders of independent thinkers in different parts of the country". Every day more writers are resigning from the Akademi following on the initial protest of writer Nayantara Sahgal. This is unprecedented.

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Not surprisingly, in the murky political atmosphere, carping criticism against this damning criticism of the attack on freedom of expression has started. This is also motivated by BJP's fears that the protest may damage its prospects in the Bihar elections. In any case, writers have questioned Modi's silence on the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq in Bisara. Modi spoke only the day after the President intervened. He, however, did not mention the names of either Bisara or Dadri. Later, he rhetorically appealed to Muslims and Hindus to not fight each other. However, Muslims were not fighting the Hindus. But BJP leaders like Dr Mahesh Sharma, minister of culture and tourism, dismissed the lynching of Akhlaq as an "accident" while also alleging that three to four men could skin a cow in five to seven minutes, implying that Akhlaq and his sons could have done this so fast that others would not find out. He played down the lathi wound on Akhlaq's younger son Danish's head as "minor"; the young man has been sent to the Army Hospital in Delhi. He also claimed that Danish's 18-year-old sister "had not been touched". However, women's activist Kavita Krishnan, who went to Bisara, has testified that the sister was pushed around.

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The host of a popular TV debate asked why the writers were protesting now, when there have been earlier attacks on freedom of expression, or communal riots since 1984. Writer Shobhaa De responded, saying that, in this case, writers were attacked, and also protesting against the prolonged silence and inaction of the Sahitya Akademi. The host accused the protest as being politically motivated against the BJP. But poet Keki Daruwala stated that they were neither motivated nor partisan. Such debates are coming up throughout the country as people are asking questions about what has driven the writers to protest in this unprecedented manner. Of course, the freedom of protest was attacked during the Emergency in 1975-77. Some writers and intellectuals did protest, with newspapers leaving blanks where their pages were censored. Snehlata Reddy, a cultural activist, died of an asthmatic attack in jail because of the lack of medication.

But now the murder of rationalists and communal attacks by the RSS/BJP ranging from Bisara to Mainpuri, with the involvement of Muzaffarnagar 2013 riots accused Sangeet Singh Som (a BJP MLA who was indicted by the Justice Vishnu Sahay commission of inquiry that also criticised the Samajwadi Party government for belated and inadequate intervention to stop the violence), show that UP is the next target for communal polarisation. Incidentally, Som has been found to own part of a factory exporting buffalo meat, which is also protected by Article 48 of the Constitution. In such an atmosphere, freedom of expression is bound to be under threat. Any criticism will be treated as supportive or critical of political parties. This is a cop out. To criticise communal or casteist propaganda or politics is to be considered oppositional or ill thought. But criticism or blunt analysis is an integral part of the writers' craft. And writers are a core part of a nation's conscience.

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So the sustained and public protest of writers, intellectuals and activists in support of freedom of expression is a determined effort to strengthen and deepen democracy and secularism, in keeping with the tradition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Rabindranath Tagore (who renounced his knighthood in protest of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 1919), and Prem Chand. This should be welcomed as a breath of fresh air, which, with support, could become a wind blowing away dogma, sectarianism and assaults on democracy.

Last updated: October 12, 2015 | 13:21
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