Jun 12, 2007

Immoral Policing

Click here to read original piece.

Just read this juicy piece on rediff.com about shiv sena activists going on a rampage against cyber cafes in kalyan as a protest against certain anti-shivaji & anti-thackeray forums that have sprung up on the popular site orkut. what is it with these shiv sainiks? despite balasaheb's bravado, the party continues to reel under the defection of royal sena guards like raj thackeray and narayan rane and has also lost its stronghold in traditional areas like the konkan belt. seems it'll go to any extent to stay in the news and like any wounded, aging tiger, assert its existence with the occasional roar.

leila aboulela in her debut novel 'the translator' writes that according to one of the sacred
hadiths "the best jihad is when a person speaks the truth before a tyrant ruler." in an age of rampant fundamentalism there is a special lesson is this for all of us. it is interesting to note that aboulela writes that such liberal hadiths were seldom printed or taught by the islamic clergy. the reasons are obvious.

the tyrant has been the same in all the ages - ignorance, vested interests and the power to suppress the voice of dissent. it is important that we fight all such forces of tyranny who attempt to take away from us our right to feel and express what we believe in.