Letters to the editor

There have hardly been any reactions to the attack on Taslima by the usual brigade of secularists, leftists and academicians...

Sham secularism

8226; THERE have hardly been any reactions to the attack on Taslima by the usual brigade of secularists, leftists and academicians 8216;Lajja, again8217;, IE, August 11. Meanwhile the extremists elements in Hyderabad have openly issued death threats to the writer and openly claimed they are Muslims first and everything else later. It is also a foregone conclusion that, given the clamour for Muslim votes, hardly any case or conviction would take place against these elements. Compare this with the outburst of the secular elements against any action against the paintings of M.F. Husain, which is usually mounted by fringe groups. It is this sham secularism that divides India.

8212; Udita Agrawal
New Delhi

Faith never kills

8226; RATHER than resorting to violence against anyone who writes against Islam or its Prophet, it will be better for the attackers to first practise the teachings of Islam in letter and spirit. If they had been doing this, they would not have indulged in these senseless attacks which Islam does not permit. They should also understand that by resorting to all this they are providing Taslima more publicity 8212; something that she wants. Further, these self-styled writers too should realise that they have to be responsible and mature and not insult the sentiments of an entire community.

8212; Safiya Sameena
Vijayawada

Free to revile?

8226; THE media, the secularists and the modernists talk about freedom of expression. But should freedom of expression be used to insult religious sentiments of people? Even the Constitution has put a check on such freedom of expression. Hindus have the right to object and react angrily when M.F.Husain insults Hindu goddesses. Christians have the right to object when Christ is portrayed a in bad light. In the same way, even Muslims should have the right to object when Prophet Mohammed is insulted. Every religion should be respected and not lampooned in the name of freedom of expression or creativity.

8212; Amjad K. Maruf
Thane

Ignore her

8226; THE attack on Taslima

Nasreen is condemnable. But it was not at all necessary for the media to give the incident saturation coverage. Somehow similar coverage was not accorded to attacks engineered by Hindu rightwing groups like the Shiv Sena and VHP when they go on a spree of vandalism to protest against what they deem as offences against their religious symbols and faith. Moreover, vociferous demands for protecting the freedom of expression were not made at that point. Why does the media always try to portray Islam and its followers in a negative light although such acts are frequently committed by people of other communities too? Finally, such a sub-standard writer who does not know how to respect the sentiments of a community does not deserve any media coverage.

8212; Sandeep Ghiya
Mumbai

Kumble8217;s ton

8226; HATS off to Anil Kumble 8216;Kumble third in bowlers8217; all-time chart8217;, IE, August 13! When none of the hyped cricketers failed to score centuries in this tour, Kumble, who bats lower down the order, got his maiden century after 17 years and over 100 Tests. This is a joyous moment! Known as 8220;Jumbo8221;, Kumble is one of the all-time great Test spinners and has given India more victories than many of our iconic batsmen. Interestingly, he has been dropped many times. But he kept fighting to earn his place back. We salute this cricketer.

8212; Bidyut K. Chatterjee
Faridabad