Would You Sign This Petition


As I was walking down the street this afternoon I came upon a group of protesters shouting slogans. Given my command over the native languages it took me a second to figure out what they were saying. While attempting to understand the slogans being chanted, some fairly well educated upwardly mobile women walked up to me. “Would you sign this petition against M.F. Hussain’s representation of the nude mother India” I was asked.

Politely refusing the offer I walked away with a number of thoughts running through my head. I asked how different are these people from those that were against Salman Rushdi for “Satanic Verses” or for that matter the fundamentalists that chose to target the Danish Cartoonist for his strip on Mohammad

What has become of the freedom of speech? In the words of Michael More “Was that all a dream”

I think this debate should be seen in the larger context of tolerance and upholding the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression. Today everyone seems to have a gripe about “Those People”. This fundamental intolerance cuts across all sections of society. And if not checked this will kill the spirit of democracy as we know it.

The other day I got a mail asking me to attend a rally against certain movies that have cast aspersions on the catholic faith. In my reply to the mail I asked if people’s belief systems were so shallow as to be shattered by just one other person’s opinion.

My humble submission is that if you spend the time that you would protesting, in doing some work towards a social cause, the world would be a better place.