[Reader-list] Free expression for a Muslim Traitor-Alien or Hindu betrayers?

[ARNAB CHATTERJEE]

Dear Sarai readers and writers,
                      While I had just started
thinking about Shudha's ethics of treason, Jeebesh
washed me away with his asylums and aliens.So two
short notes on both of them before getting any
further.
Shuddha first ;( though I still need to go through his
post fully).
   A muslim considered traitor by fellow muslims and
thus a hindu considered a betrayer by other hindus
makes interesting case against say Amartya Sen's views
on these ( And why did Shuddha celebrate them
elsewhere?). Consider Amartya's examples on an
intolerant Auurangzeb remaining a Muslim and a
tolerant Akbar also remaining a Muslim. Now, if go by
the ethics of treason( in its rudiments) then who
remains a muslim and who does not will be settled by
whom? They will be settled, as it is well known by
now, by "the structures of recognition" well
incorporatable into the "politics of recognition" as
such.Here how I or we will be recognised is dependent
on others rather than how we decide for ourselves. So,
Amartya's views are media celebrated but vacous to say
the least. Shuddha's insertion opens this debate in
this interesting direction. How to get out of this
dilemma? There is no way out; we are knee deep into
the modern multicultural trap and pursuit.
Theoretically, if we want to know this more, I can
suggest a way. Drawing on hermenetuic phenomenology,
this brilliant Indian guy ( though you will find him
not in any seminars in India)Rajeswara Sunder Rajan (
not the feminist one)I remember talked about something
called "structures of transcendence" by which, I
opine, these structures of recognition by others and
one self, could be attempted-- by you, me and all of
us-- in a braceketed form, so that they could be 
transcended --atleast in a pure form. More on this
latter.

         Jeebesh has struck again and has hit a new
chord. While I temporarily disagree with his no
freedom of speech for aliens etc., I agree that asylum
should be dug for deeper news. 
     Though I think Lawrence Liang( who I guess is
undergoing a long leaning vasectomy operation in
Bangalore) could tell us best about this, I think
denying freedom of speech to aliens or immigrants is a
violation of their huamn rights under international
laws. The rights are not available to enemy aliens or
those booked under preventive detention. They do have
freedom of speech( in the ordinary sense) but are
prone to all 'reasonable restrtictions' and
modifications that the government could subject these
laws and modifications to.But asylum is a different
case; has Taslima sought political asylum in writing?
I don't remember. ( So Pranab Mukherjee's call for
self control( and celebrated in idiotic editorials in
Indian newspapers) from asylum seekers is seriously
misplaced.)No political executive can settle for such
a call; it has to be juridically negotiated. But let
me cite here an American example in refutation of
Jeebesh's first thought.( Though Ashis Nandy speaking
for protection of constitutional rights is an irony in
all theoretical senses.)

In the wake of an arrest of immigrants alleged to have
been participating in subversive activities and thus
the first amendment ( protecting free speech)in the US
conflicting with the rights that could be enjoyed and
pursued by aliens, here is an important piece of
insertion.
      "U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson has ruled in
Los Angeles that when immigrants' First Amendment
rights collide with the Government's right to control
immigration, the First Amendment wins. It's a victory
for free speech and common sense. 
Judge Wilson, a Reagan Administration appointee, now
supports their view, declaring those provisions (of
deportation harmful aliens) unconstitutional. He found
that aliens, once admitted to the United States, have
free-speech rights which generally take precedence
over the Government's right to control immigration.
But that concession does not diminish the Government's
power to deport aliens engaged in harmful activity
unrelated to speech, like terrorism or crime. 

Too often, however, the harmful activity that
Government seeks to control is only speech. As Judge
Wilson noted: ''In this case, the Government is trying
to stifle certain ideas from entering our society from
certain aliens through its immigration power. Our
society, however, was built on the premise that only
through the free flow of ideas can our nation grow and
prosper.'' 

It's a judgment worth cheering. Judge Wilson rightly
recognizes that immigration law ought to control
offensive actions, not offensive views."
(The New York Times, Feb 13, 2008)
Thank you,
arnab
--- Jeebesh Bagchi <jeebesh at sarai.net> wrote:

> dear All,
> 
> In this case the question is not about freedom of
> speech. Taslima is  
> not a citizen of India, so State in India has no
> jurisdiction to have  
> a say on her freedom of speech. The state can
> persecute her  
> publishers or ban the book but her freedom of speech
> is not  
> guaranteed here.
> 
> The question is of "ashraya" (or what is termed as
> asylum). Every  
> culture has developed ways of thinking about
> "ashraya" and very  
> interesting histories can be uncovered here from all
> over the world.  
> It will be interesting how "ashraya" is thought in
> our times.
> 
> warmly
> jeebesh
> 
> 
> On 13-Feb-08, at 12:20 PM, radhikarajen at vsnl.net
> wrote:
> 
> > Sir,
> >
> >  the very statement that freedom of speech and
> expression is  
> > absolute and
> > unfettered is absolutely incorrect in a civilised
> society, as  
> > societal right
> > to be civilised in expression of speech.Rrights do
> have a bearing on
> > societal rights in civilised society with duties
> as the other side  
> > of right.
> > While I fully empathise with Taslima nasreen and
> the political  
> > games being
> > played with this issue by the athiests in the
> society, with views  
> > expressed
> > one may or may not agree. But to say that freedom
> of expression is  
> > absolute
> > is like saying that as free citizen every one has
> right to have  
> > coitus on
> > the median of highway in front of all passing
> vehicular traffic.
> >   No freedom is absolute in a society where it
> impinges on the  
> > rights of
> > others in society. Taslima or Hussain can express
> themselves freely  
> > within
> > the parametres of civil society.Hussain in his
> expression so  
> > creative uses
> > his artistic skills to graphically expose his
> pervert sense of  
> > depravity in
> > showing his motherland in nude. ? Why his creative
> expression looks  
> > at his
> > mother fully clothed. ? All those symbols
> considered sacred and  
> > worshipped
> > as believers like, are his objects of expression
> and crative artistic
> > liberty and right to express in nude. ? Why the
> same creative  
> > expression
> > does not get inspired to portray his parents in
> conjugal bliss on  
> > canvass. ?
> >   In Taslimas expression, sure, she has not
> offended anybody except  
> > the
> > clergies of a faith who think that they are the
> tekedars of the  
> > faith, which
> > again is bad in any faith irrespective of the
> faith, but same is  
> > happening
> > in all faiths.
> >   All faiths are ways of living a good life, in
> material,  
> > intellectual and
> > spiritual spheres of human existence. To believe
> or not to believe  
> > in any
> > faith is free choice. But the clergies of the
> faith ,in any faith,  
> > always
> > try to impose that their faith is the only
> saviour, which is  
> > unfortunate.
> >   Society in free India is divided at the very
> instant of achieving  
> > the
> > freedom of the nation in 1947, by dividing the
> land mass on faith,  
> > then
> > allowing the citizens the option not to go that
> land mass created  
> > for faith.
> > The truth of the matter is even though the
> bangladesh and pakistan  
> > were
> > created for the followers of faith, they are
> failed states in  
> > governance.
> > India, which could have good governance chose to
> be "secular" but in
> > practise, it only created more divisions in the
> land mass with  
> > language,
> > region and castes communes for political gains. to
> cap it left further
> > encouraged the neighbouring nations' citizens to
> have a stay in the  
> > free
> > India with fake ration cards, ids and
> opportunities to live in this  
> > nation,
> > while governance in the federal state was diluted
> to total lack of
> > governance or no governance with fuedal lords of
> individual communes
> > mastering the art of securing "class votes", "
> commune votes"  and  
> > "regional
> > votes" in the election frey. And today election is
> a fight to  
> > secure votes
> > by any fair or foul means to secure power and
> possession of  
> > material wealth,
> > not service to all citizens.In the process, the
> free India is now  
> > islands of
> > communes with every commune trying to corner
> maximun benefits of  
> > democracy
> > to their communes with out fear, depriving the
> common citizen of  
> > all the
> > opportunities to live a dignified life in the
> nation.
> >
> >  Regards.
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Naeem Mohaiemen"
> <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com>
> > To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 10:09 AM
> > Subject: [Reader-list]
> Arundhati/Mahasweta/Ashish/Girish on Taslima  
> > Nasrin
> >
> >
> >> Public Statement by Forum For The Protection of
> Free Speech and  
> >> Expression
> >>
> >> At a time when India is projecting itself on the
> >> world's stage as a modern democracy, while it
> hosts
> >> international literary festivals and book fairs,
> the
> >> Government of India, most mainstream political
> parties
> >> and their armed squads are mounting a concerted
> >> assault on peoples' right to Free Speech.
> >>
> >> It is a matter of abiding shame that even as some
> of
> >> the world's best-known writers were attending the
> >> Jaipur literary festival and prestigious
> publishers
> >> were doing business at the World Book fair in
> Delhi,
> >> the exiled Bengali writer Taslima Nasrin was (and
> is)
> >> being held in custody by the Government of India
> in an
> >> undisclosed location somewhere in or around Delhi
> in
> >> conditions that amount to house arrest. Contrary
> to
> >> misleading press reports stating that her visa
> has
> >> been extended, her visa expires on the 18th of
> >> February, after which she is liable to be
> deported or
> >> remain confined as an illegal alien.
> >>
> >> Taslima Nasrin is only one in a long list of
> >> journalists, writers, scholars and artists who
> have
> >> been persecuted, banned, imprisoned, forced into
> exile
> >> or had their work desecrated in this country. At
> >> different points of time, different governments
> have
> >> either directly or indirectly resorted to these
> >> measures in order to fan the flames of religious,
> >> regional and ethnic obscurantism to gain
> popularity
> >> and expand their 'vote-banks'. Every day the
> threat to
> >> Free Speech and Expression increases.
> >>
> >> In the case of Taslima Nasrin it was the CPI (M)
> and
> >> not any religious or sectarian group who first
> tried
> >> to ban her book Dwikhondito some years ago. The
> ban
> >> was lifted by the Calcutta High Court and the
> book was
> >> in the market and on bestseller lists in West
> Bengal
> >> for several years. During those years Taslima
> Nasrin
> >> lived and worked as a free person in Calcutta
> without
> >> any threat to her person, without being the cause
> of
> >> public disorder, protests or demonstrations.
> >> Ironically, Taslima Nasrin's troubles in India
> began
> >> immediately after the Nandigram uprising when the
> >> people of Nandigram, mostly Dalits and Muslims,
> rose
> >> to resist the West Bengal Government's attempt to
> >> takeover their land, and tens of thousands of
> people
> >> marched in Calcutta to protest the government's
> >> actions. Within days a little known group
> claiming to
> >> speak for the Muslim community asked for a ban on
> >> Dwikhondito and demanded that Taslima Nasrin be
> >> deported. The CPI(M)-led government of West
> Bengal
> >> immediately caved in to the demand, informed her
> that
> >> it could not offer her security, and lost no time
> in
> >> deporting her from West Bengal against her will.
> The
> >> Congress-led UPA Government has condoned this act
> by
> >> holding her in custody in Delhi and refusing,
> thus
> >> far, to extend her visa and relieve her of her
> public
> >> humiliation. They have once again played the
> suicidal
> >> card of pitting minority communalism against
> majority
> >> communalism, a game that can only end in
> disaster.
> >>
> >> Inevitably, hoping to make political capital out
> of
> >> the situation, the BJP is publicly shedding
> crocodile
> >> tears over Taslima Nasrin, going to the extent of
> >> offering her asylum in Gujarat. It seems to
> expect
> >> people to forget that the BJP, VHP and RSS cadres
> have
> >> been at the forefront of harassing, persecuting,
> >> threatening and vandalizing newspaper offices,
> >> television studios, galleries, cinema halls,
> >> filmmakers, artists and writers. Or that they
> have
> >> forced M.F. Husain, one of India's best-known
> >> painters, into exile.
> >>
> >> Meanwhile, in states like Chattisgarh, Andhra
> Pradesh
> >> and Karnataka, away from the public glare of
> press
> >> conferences and television cameras, journalists
> are
> >> being threatened and even imprisoned. Prashant
> Rahi
> >> from Uttarakhand, Praful Jha from Chattisgarh,
> >> Srisailum from Andhra Pradesh, P. Govind Kutty
> from
> >> Kerala are a few examples. As we speak Govind
> Kutty,
> >> who is on a hunger strike in prison is being
> >> force-fed, bound hand and foot. Scores of
> ordinary
> >> people, including people like Binayak Sen have
> been
> >> arrested and held illegally under false charges.
> >>
> >> We the undersigned do not necessarily agree with,
> >> endorse or admire the views or the work of those
> whose
> >> rights we seek to defend. Many of us have serious
> >> differences with them. We agree that many of them
> do
> >> offend our (or someone else's) religious,
> political
> >> and ideological sensibilities. However, we
> believe
> >> that instead of making them simultaneously into
> both
> >> victims and heroes, their work should be viewed,
> read,
> >> criticized and vigorously debated. We believe
> that the
> >> Freedom of Speech and Expression is an Absolute
> and
> >> Inalienable Right, and is the keystone of a
> modern
> >> democracy.
> >>
> >> If the Indian Government deports Taslima Nasrin,
> or
> >> holds her as an illegal alien, it will shame and
> >> diminish all of us. We demand that she be given a
> >> Resident's Permit or, if she has applied for it,
> >> Indian citizenship, and that she be allowed to
> live
> >> and work freely in India. We demand that the
> spurious
> >> cases filed against M.F. Husain be dropped and
> that he
> >> be allowed to return to a normal life in India.
> We
> >> demand that the journalists who are being
> illegally
> >> detained in prison against all principles of
> natural
> >> justice be released immediately.
> >>
> >> Signed:
> >>
> >> Mahashweta Devi, Arundhati Roy, Ashish Nandy,
> Girish
> >> Karnad
> >> _________________________________________
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> >
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