Of prophets, protests & thin skins

For over a quarter century now and most of my adult life, there have been protests, often violent, by Muslim groups who felt their religion or the Prophet had been insulted. A part of me wonders how true believers of any religion can have such a thin skin and be so quick to see insult to the Prophet. But I must make full disclosure up front that I am a die-hard liberal and out of step with such feelings. I also know that Muslims are not the only ones who frequently feel 'insulted’. Some Hindu groups also spot insults to their gods and goddesses, the reason why India's greatest modern painter M.F. Hussain, died outside his homeland. 

But let's face it, it's the consequences of many Muslims (or the clerics who claim to speak for them) being thin sinned that have had an impact across the world. A seminal event took place in 1988 when Ayotollah Khomeini issued a fatwa offering a reward for the killing of Salman Rushdie after publication of the Satanic Verses. The Rushdie fatwa certainly played a role in the narrative of the clash between the West and the Islamic world. In more recent times we know what has happened in Europe after publications of cartoons that were seen to be insulting. The massacre at the office of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is still fresh and the first anniversary on January 7 was just noted. 

In India too there are always protests every time there is a perceived insult in any part of the world. I remember the huge protests against the Satanic Verses that made India one of the first countries to ban the book. Over a quarter century later, at the beginning of this year there was mayhem in Malda, in poll-bound West Bengal, where a police station was burnt down by protestors, who were also protesting against insult to the Prophet.

In the course of the last year, the Mumbai based Raza academy also got some publicity and five minutes on television when it issued a fatwa against composer A.R. Rahman for giving the music to a film made by a celebrated Iranian director on the life of the Prophet. This time they were not complaining of insult but saying it was wrong to depict the Prophet in any form. 

Personally, I am appalled by how quickly Muslim organizations get into protest mode on such issues. They issue death threats and fatwas as if their beliefs are more sacrosanct than any rule of law. When they do so, I believe they also damage the community that is now negotiating its rights in a BJP ruled India, where forces of majoritarianism are embedded in institutions of the state. In any case the BJP has no stake in Muslim welfare but its politics is also driven by positing the minority community in a negative light.  

So when Muslim groups take strident positions, they only play into the caricatured image of themselves as illiberal conservative fundamentalists. I do wish the same groups would be as energetic about seeking education, health care, jobs and even perhaps showing some magnanimity to women's rights within the unfair personal laws. It's occurred to me that should the forces of the Hindu right wish to show Muslims in a bad light (which they do), they just have to wait for a few more Kamlesh Tiwaris to say wildly insulting things.  

For those who have not followed the story, there have been protests across India for over a month ever since Tiwari, a member of the Hindu Mahasabha, said unspeakable things about the Prophet.  He did so after SP leader Azam Khan described the RSS leaders as homosexuals. Again I confess to being out of step with the mindset on all sides as some of the most talented people I know are homosexuals and proud to be so. Kamlesh Tiwari incidentally is in jail.

I completely agree that in India we have to exercise restraint and should not go around insulting any religion. Last week I moderated a discussion where Taslima Nasreen was one of the panelists. I have read the parts of her novel Dwikhandita in which she originally said more scurrilous things about the Prophet than Tiwari has done. She eventually withdrew those passages. I am not a fan of Ms Nasreen, whom I see as a mediocre writer, but I think she has a right to life and freedom.  

Years ago as a teenager during my first trip to London I saw the musical Jesus Christ Superstar on Westend. It was deliciously entertaining and I have had the album ever since. I am sure that devout Christians would not have liked it, but that's their private matter. Last summer I took my teenage daughter to London where we feasted on theatre. One of the most exciting things we saw was the musical Book of Mormon that openly ridicules American preachers who set out to harvest souls in Africa. It was brilliant and terribly liberating for us to see religion (and Americans) being lampooned. There was injury to religion, god and prophet but the show went on.