What about Bhopal?

Arun Jaitley argues in his op-ed piece on the Vadodara controversy 8216;Anyone for blasphemy?8217;, IE, May 19 the way he usually does, as a defence lawyer. That is his right and his style, but it is also a pity. Because by highlighting the points in favour of his constituency 8212; the Sangh Parivar 8212; he is completely silent on those issues which may weaken his client. Fair enough. But it is sad, because an honest exposition of the complex issue could have triggered a wider public debate, and helped each side appreciate, if not accept, the perspective of the other.

Jaitley rightly says that there are legal limits to the expression of one8217;s free speech, especially where it touches on religious symbols and sexual matters. But he conveniently glosses over the condition for hurting the religious or moral feelings of a citizen, which is that such an 8220;insult8221; has to take place in the public space. And as we all know, Chandramohan8217;s paintings were not meant for public viewing, but were part of an internal examination by the Fine Arts Faculty. If someone wishes to give a free hand to his fantasies within his own home or in a space where access is denied to the public, how can he or she hurt the religious feelings of a community? Where does the community have an occasion to get hold of the hurtful object?

Even if Chandramohan8217;s exhibits had been in the public space, does that give the right to anyone to storm into the Academy, destroy the property of others and kidnap a person? Even assuming that they came with a police party, did the policemen have a warrant? Did they give attention to due process? For example, did they inform the Dean of the Faculty beforehand?

The same silence that he refers to in the Vadodara incident covers the 8220;counter-exhibition8221; in Bhopal. Why does Jaitley not mention that display of communal hatred? While Chandramohan can at least argue that his paintings were apart from being in-house exam show an artistic experiment with religious content, the same cannot be said of the Bharat Bhavan display. That show was openly set up to vilify one particular community. And by the way, why did the Bhopal police not act on the same IPC paragraphs which Jaitley brandishes?