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Journalism of Courage
No vandalisation of cinema halls. No fatwa against the filmmaker. No bomb threats. Is this any way to protest a film that attacks your religion? The manner in which Christian organisations in India have reacted to the screening of The Da Vinci Code has 8212; apart from a few exceptions 8212; been so very different from how some other communities and political outfits have chosen to register their protests.
If Parivar outfits have problems with a film on the plight of widows in Varanasi, they just attack the film crew and damage the sets. If a cartoon in a Danish newspaper hurts his religious sentiments, an Uttar Pradesh minister issues a fatwa against the cartoonist and tops that up with the announcement of a handsome bounty for his head. And it is not just religion. If the Shiv Sena does not like the portrayal of a lesbian relationship in another film, its activists attack the cinema halls screening it. If they do not want Pakistan to play in India, they just go and dig up a cricket pitch.
In doing so, the community has displayed extraordinary discipline and respect for the law. That is something in short supply in India. Nobody has the right to denigrate a religion. But nobody has the right to take the law into their hands, either. The satyagraha against The Da Vinci Code is a lesson for other communities and the rabble-rousers who claim to be their leaders.
