In 1970 the Government of Uttar Pradesh passed an order, under Section 99-A of the Cr.P.C, forfeiting the book “Ramayana: A True Reading” (and its Hindi translation) authored by EVR, the legendary rationalist thinker and social activist from Tamil Nadu. The High Court of Allahabad quashed the Government Order. The Government of Uttar Pradesh filed…
Ram Puniyani We are going through strange times. While the science, technology and rationalism has given us physical and intellectual tools to better the lot of humanity, we are witnessing the production of provocative material, literature and films in particular, which demonize the particular religion, Islam to be precise, and the prophet of Islam. On…
Ram Puniyani Parliament was rocked (May 2012) with the discussion on the alleged insult of Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar in the cartoon in NCERT text book for standard XI. The MHRD Minister immediately declared the withdrawal of the book and asked for review of all books for which a committee has been appointed. This is…
Narendra Nayak Section 295A. Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs [295A. Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.— Whoever, with deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of…
Ram Puniyani The whole fiasco of Salman Rushdie not coming to Jaipur Literary Festival, JLF, (Jan 2012) has been a great shame on Indian democracy. With the news that Salman Rushdie will be coming to JLF, Deoband seminary issued a protest against Rushdie’s coming to India to attend the same. This was due to the…
Narendra Nayak As we progress in material terms and with the rise of technology one would expect the society to become more tolerant, liberated and open to all points of view however much they differ from what we hold. But, we see that the opposite is happening. The success of a democracy is measured by…
Pervez Hoodbhoy We reproduce an essay written by Dr Pervez Hodbhy, who teaches Nuclear Physics at Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan. This essay, slightly different versions of which appeared in The Express Tribune (January 2, 2012) of Pakistan and The Hindu (January 4, 2012), narrates the hellish life that the people of Pakistan experience…
Carvaka “Love is stronger than hate” says the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in its latest issue – of course, in their own inimitable acerbic style. The magazine was firebombed on November 2, 2011 for satirizing radical Islamists. The cartoon on the cover page of the magazine had depicted Muhammad promising “100 lashes if you don’t die from laughter.” After…
Under protest from Hindutva fanatics, the top academic body of the Delhi University has decided to withdraw an essay by eminent scholar A K Ramanujan on the Ramayana. We reproduce two news reports on this retrograde steps of the university. Deccan Herald (October 15, 2011) Delhi University’s top academic body has decided to withdraw from…
Founded in 2009 by the Center for Inquiry, International Blasphemy Rights Day seeks to establish September 30 as an International Day to promote the right to criticize (lampooning not excluded!) religion without inviting reprisals from religious bigots and governments. Blasphemy laws the world over (that is, wherever the laws exist) have been used to suppress…