Kamal and Rushdie pay as TN, Bengal side with culture bullies
Cultural intolerance stalked the world's largest democracy on Wednesday. The ban on Kamal Haasan's new movie was upheld and Salman Rushdie was stopped from attending Asia's largest book fair in Kolkata. HT reports.Need a secular place: Kamal Haasan
Cultural intolerance stalked the world's largest democracy on Wednesday. The ban on Kamal Haasan's new movie was upheld, prompting him to consider moving to another country, and internationally acclaimed writer Salman Rushdie was stopped from attending Asia's largest book fair in Kolkata.
J Jayalalithaa's Tamil Nadu government was quick to ban the screening of Haasan's new movie Vishwaroopam after certain Muslim groups thought it was religiously offensive.
Mamata Banerjee's West Bengal government pressured the book fair organisers not to have Rushdie over, fearing that the presence of The Satanic Verses author would offend the minorities.
It was clear that politicians still looked at India's many castes and communities purely as votebanks, and were willing to be bullied by even the smallest and most violently intolerant groups.
The dejected but combative Haasan plans to move the Supreme Court after a division bench of the Madras high court set aside a single-judge order that allowed the film to be shown in Tamil Nadu.
"I would go to any other secular state in India, anywhere from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. I don't find it here, I am willing to settle outside in a secular country," Haasan told a crowded press conference early Wednesday.
