Tuesday, February 22, 2005

"Sins": bbc weighs in

February 21st

with the usual BBC disclaimer: "christians are 2% of india's population". they should also add, "christians control about 50% of india's real estate through generous british donations during colonial times, and concerted land-grab afterwards".

where are the proponents of 'freedom of speech'? where is shabana azmi, who made such a fuss about 'fire' and how its pornography needed to be released because it was 'freedom of expression'? how about all the editorial-writers in the english media who thundered about it?

we know, of course, that in the end, 'sins' will be banned, just as 'lajja' was banned, and 'satanic verses' was banned, and the film 'lenin' was banned.

only non-hindu sentiments need be protected. christians, muslims and marxists have very sensitive sentiments that need to be protected at all costs.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Rajeev,

I've been a regular reader of your columns and writing from several years (and am a fan).

If there is one thing I've always admired about your work, it's been the ruthless logic and dignity in it. I saw this blog only recently and I've been disconcerted by it's tone. The writing seems flip, and definitely not in the same tone as "A Case for Pragmatism".

Sure, the mainstream media sucks. Sure, it's an unfair state to conservatives in India today. Jayalalithaa is running amok, Sonia Gandhi's brood is in power today. But that is just no reason to spin all negative news about minorities with utmost contempt. For example, "priest bonks nun in car" ! What kind of a phrase is that?

I know you have the freedom of speech to say anything as you see fit. I know I have the option of not visiting your blog. But I won't stop visiting because there are few enough kindred souls in the world. I just wish you would regain your humor when dealing with news.

This is just a bit of feedback from a fan.. Hope you'll take it as such.

- Kagemusha-in-arms

Anonymous said...

Hi Rajeev,

You've mentioned that Christians control about 50% of India's real estae. I wonder what is the basis of that statement.