Ram-da,
I do not have the freedom of _expression_ here on the Net to express my whole hearted comments on what I would have liked to do to the image of the poet's mother - when she was young -- or to his young daughter now -- just to prove that making comments about images or people whom someone else holds dear is NOT in good taste.
I wonder how he - a declared atheist - feels about Mother Teresa or Sonia Gandhi - or young Mother Mary. I make this comment becos the so-called secularists in Bengal -like him -- find solace in ridiculing Indian (Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh) religions and defining their secularism by identifying themsleves with the Western ideals.
Umesh
Ram Sarangapani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
This case brings us back into the question of freedom of _expression_.
Has the poet
(Sunil Gangopadhyay), overused his liberties?
It will be interesting to hear what netters have to say regarding this
case, and in the the larger context if India's democracy is headed in
the right direction?
__________________________________________________________________
Trial of poet for 'defiling idol'
By Subir Bhaumik
BBC News, Calcutta
An Indian court has ordered a leading Bengali poet to stand trial on
charges of defiling a Hindu goddess.
The court in India's West Bengal state was ruling on a lawsuit filed
against Sunil Gangopadhyay by an ex-policeman.
In an article in Bengal's biggest newspaper this year, Mr Gangopadhyay
was quoted as saying he was "sexually aroused" by an idol of
Saraswati.
Retired policeman Bhibhuti Bhusan Nandy filed a lawsuit saying the
comments had hurt his religious sentiments.
Additional chief judicial magistrate in Calcutta's Alipore court,
Manjit Singh, ordered Mr Gangopadhyay to appear in court on 3
December.
The court also ordered legal proceedings against three others - Aveek
Kumar Sarkar, editor of the Anandabazar Patrika newspaper, its
publisher Bijit Kumar Basu, and chief executive Subir Mitra.
'Zealots'
Mr Gangopadhyay, 71, was quoted in Anandabazar as saying he had kissed
an idol of Saraswati, the Hindu goddess of learning, to satisfy his
desire.
Mr Nandy, who has retired as the chief of the paramilitary
Indo-Tibetan Border Police, filed a formal complaint with the police
against the author.
"I am delighted the court has started appropriate legal proceedings,"
Mr Nandy said.
Mr Gangopadhyay told the BBC on Monday that he was not taking the case
seriously.
"Some religious zealots are playing this up - mine was a light-hearted
remark on Goddess Saraswati. Her idol did not evoke devotion in me
when I was young. I found her very attractive and that is what I
said," said Mr Gangopadhyay.
"In Bengal, Hindus are known to crack jokes at the expense of their
gods and goddesses and that's what I did," he said.
"I have done no wrong but the zealots are trying to attack me because
I am so critical of them. I am not afraid of them - as a writer I have
the freedom to say such things and I and my publisher will fight it
out in court."
Controversy Mr Gangopadhyay is West Bengal's best known living poet
and novelist with more than 250 books to his name.
But he is no stranger to controversy.
Two years ago, there were protests outside a newspaper office in
Calcutta after he wrote about the sex life of Indian spiritual leader,
Ramakrishna Paramhansa.
He also described Kali, the Hindu goddess of power, as a "tribal
whore", triggering protests by Santhal tribes people and Hindus.
Last year, the Bangladesh government banned an issue of an Indian
magazine which carried a story by Mr Gangopadhyay in which he wrote
about the sex life of the Prophet Mohammad.
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