The Jaipur Literature Festival 2012 reached an abysmal ending today. Once again we have given in to the zealots who threatened the people at the fest and the literary figures who were there to witness the discussion on “Midnight’s Children”, the book honoured with the Booker of Bookers. The entire episode left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth except for the bigots present there who threatened violence and the entire edifice of the JLF 2012 if Rushdie were to appear on the screen. The mere sight of the great man was so abhorrent to them.
It makes me wonder if India actually is the country which espouses secularism, which considers all faiths as equal. After all atheism is also a faith. It is a blot on the face of freedom of expression. And to answer what Mr. Chetan Bhagat said at one of his sessions, we are not making heroes out of those who have hurt the sentiments of others. We have made heroes out of those who have come out as winners in the face of extreme adversity, and have the courage, determination and obviously the talent to present their side of the story in such enchanting words. We were there to celebrate the brilliance of their writing with which they have entertained the literary world. And last but not the least we were there to celebrate all those who have supported him (including ourselves) and we are going to continue to support him since “absence only makes the heart grow fonder”.
What truly concerns me is the image our country has put forth to the foreign delegates and nationals who visited this year to be a part of the fest. These unfortunate events can easily sully the reputation of our country and make them believe that India may be a soft state.
But it really makes me question India and the double game our polity plays. On one hand they are the first ones to criticize China when they refuse the Visa to some military units of the state of J&K and on the other hand they do nothing to control the untoward elements in our society, the neanderthals who believe that violence is the solution to everything. It is either vote bank politics or a truly spineless government we are represented by. Now I do believe, freedom is as far as freedom goes.
