Close X
Sunday, November 10, 2024
ADVT 
India

India A Tolerant Country: Tasleema Nasreen

Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Jan, 2016 01:34 PM
    India is a tolerant country with a few intolerant people and it is time to focus not just on Hindu fundamentalists but on Muslim fundamentalists as well, Bangladeshi author Tasleema Nasreen said.
     
    "I think India is a tolerant country, but some people are intolerant. In every society, there are some people who are intolerant," the self-exiled author said at an event here, while referring to the recent violence in Malda in West Bengal. 
     
    She said while there was talk about Hindu fundamentalists, one has to talk of Muslim fundamentalists as well.
     
    Nasreen said absolute freedom of speech was necessary even if it offended some people.
     
    "I think we should have freedom of expression even if that offends some people. If we do not open our mouths, society will not evolve. Of course, we should fight against misogyny, religious fundamentalism and all kinds of evil forces only to make the society a better one."
     
    The writer was participating in a discussion on 'Coming of the Age of Intolerance' at the ongoing Delhi Literature Festival at Dilli Haat here on Saturday evening.
     
    The author had drawn the ire of fundamentalists in Bangladesh for her controversial books like 'Dwikhandito' and was forced to leave Bangladesh in 1994 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments with her novel 'Lajja'.
     
    On the other hand, BJP ideologue and writer Sudheendra Kulkarni said absolute freedom could only be exercised with responsibility.
     
    "There is no freedom whatsoever to show any religion in bad light, knowing that it will hurt sentiments and insult others. I completely disagree that writers should have absolute freedom. Freedom must be exercised with responsibility," he said.
     
    Kulkarni said India as a country was "essentially tolerant" and that the debate must not be politicised.
     
    "We should neither exaggerate nor belittle the incidents of intolerance. We should never politicise this debate, making it out as if it is between political parties. It is not that intolerance has begun in May 2014 (when the Narendra Modi government came to power)," Kulkarni said. 
     
    In September last year, a debate over what many writers said was a "growing climate of intolerance" saw over 40 writers and filmmakers returning their awards to protest the killings of rationalists and writers like Narendra Dabholkar and M.M. Kalburgi and the lynching on a Muslim man in Dadri over suspicion that ate beef.
     
    He also said a certain kind of marginal intolerance has always been present in Indian society and so it was not right to blame "this party or that party" for it. 

    MORE India ARTICLES

    More Than 62 Lakh Toilets Built Under Swachh Bharat Mission

    More Than 62 Lakh Toilets Built Under Swachh Bharat Mission
    The government has built 62.38 lakh toilets in 2015-16 as part of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin), parliament was informed on Wednesday.

    More Than 62 Lakh Toilets Built Under Swachh Bharat Mission

    November Home Sales In Vancouver Up 40 Per Cent From Year Ago, Board Says

    November Home Sales In Vancouver Up 40 Per Cent From Year Ago, Board Says
    The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says home sales on the Multiple Listing Service in Metro Vancouver totalled 3,524 last month.

    November Home Sales In Vancouver Up 40 Per Cent From Year Ago, Board Says

    Sania Mirza Demands To Be Chief Guest Include Chartered Plane, Expensive Make-up Kit

    If Sania Mirza was not present as the chief guest of Madhya Pradesh government’s annual sports awards, blame it on her make-up kit worth Rs 75,000 and a chartered plane, neither of which was provided to her.

    Sania Mirza Demands To Be Chief Guest Include Chartered Plane, Expensive Make-up Kit

    Rains, Floods Devastate Chennai; Rs.15,000 Crore Loss Estimated

    Rains, Floods Devastate Chennai; Rs.15,000 Crore Loss Estimated
    The financial loss may exceed Rs.15,000 crore, an industry lobby body said, as weather forecasting agencies predicted heavy rain to continue for at least the next two days.

    Rains, Floods Devastate Chennai; Rs.15,000 Crore Loss Estimated

    Centre Should Come Clean On 'Secret' Meet With Sharif: Congress

    Centre Should Come Clean On 'Secret' Meet With Sharif: Congress
    The Congress also wanted to know from the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government if issues of concern had been raised by him. 

    Centre Should Come Clean On 'Secret' Meet With Sharif: Congress

    Spurned Suitor Held For Raping Girl, Killing Her Cousin In Delhi

    Spurned Suitor Held For Raping Girl, Killing Her Cousin In Delhi
    Raj Kumar, a resident of Bihar, was arrested on Friday from a cement godown in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur city where he fled after committing the crime and started working.

    Spurned Suitor Held For Raping Girl, Killing Her Cousin In Delhi