A Secularist's Rant

And what about us? With all the powers-that-be around us busy getting offended or capitulating to those who did, where do we stand? The fans. The lit lovers. The people who actually took the trouble and made the effort to go all the way to Jaipur to get a chance to meet our idol in person?

Now I'm offended. There! Suck on that! I really wanted to meet Salman Rushdie. I really like his work. Who had the right to stop me from doing that? Let's forget the fabricated death threats connived to keep Rushdie out of the country, the battle over freedom of speech, the offending of the sentiments of random Muslim groups, even the politicization of the whole bloody affair. Let's for a moment, for just a teeny tiny second, focus on ME! The Reader. Because we were the civilians there, caught in the cross-fire. We were the ones who suffered too but were mostly cast aside with the crowd. I wanted to meet an author I have admired for years. I was disappointed because of the entire drama unfolding over these events. And I am angry. May I even go so far as to say, Offended.

With all the fuss being made about religious sentiments being offended, I have to ask: What about the offending of secular or even literary sentiment? Why are these not given equal priority? I feel disappointed, enraged, offended as a reader. Who's answerable to me? The minute you mention a god, what elevates the status of your arguments? Tolerance? Respect? Who the f*** respected MY desire to meet a great writer?!!! Where was the respect for my literary and secular sensibilities?!

I am tempted to imagine what would have happened had Rushdie come quietly into the country. Come like the thousands of human beings travelling to and fro from the country everyday. He didn't need a visa. He didn't need anybody's permission. Perhaps the enraged clerics of the Darul Uloom Deoband would never even have been aware of his visit. Would it have hurt them? Would it have made the Muslims of our country any less Muslim? Would it have posed any threat to the secular fabric of our country if a single man had flown in to Jaipur, attended a literary festival, spoken to a certain gathering of people about (predominantly) LITERARY ISSUES and then flown out? Would it have been so hard? Certain members of the populace might have been made very happy. I, for one, would have realized a life-long dream of being able to meet Mr. Rushdie in person; maybe even get a picture taken with him. The people who claimed offence at his visit would, in all probability not even have KNOWN, much less CARED!!!! Do you see the irony here?

It's not just censorship, it's the frustration. What if I read Salman Rushdie? Even if I read the Satanic Verses (which I have). It didn't change my opinion of Islam or the Prophet. Ask a Muslim person who's read (as in FULLY READ, not just extracted paragraphs taken out of context) the Verses. Seriously, what are you afraid of? A lot of people read Rushdie for PLEASURE!!! Maybe because he writes well! It's not all political spiel and not even intended as such! I feel like hammering such common sense ideas into the heads of ultra-fundamentalist Muslim clerics. Yes, I agree, Muslims have been ill-treated in India. They continue to fare poorly on the socio-economic register. But hopefully it may be realized this wasn't exactly Rushdie's fault! This is not even insecurity or paranoia. It's plain RIDICULUOUS!

I challenge: If even one of the people who protested against Salman Rushdie coming to attend and speak at the Jaipur Literary Festival can logically (not religiously!) explain why he shouldn't have been allowed to do so, I swear I'll retract everything I've just said here.