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Planning to get married in Goa? www.weddingsetcgoa.com Making your 'dream wedding' possible ------------------------------------------------------------------------ A few days back, during the heat of Subodh Kerkar’s “Ganesha” Art Exhibition controversy, the “Sunaparanta Goa Centre For Arts” organized a Panel discussion on the topic of “Freedom of Speech and Expression”. The Panelists, Dr Subodh Kerkar, Venita Coelho, Vidhyadhar Gadgil and Geoffrey Witte voiced their individual opinions on the subject and thereafter indulged in a fruitful interaction with the audience. I was a part of the audience which was reasonably large. Amongst other recognizable faces were Frederick Noronha, Vivek Menezes, Cecil Pinto, Shrikant Barve and Rajiv D’ Silva. While the scope of the discussions generally centered on the topic of “Free Expression”, the discussions for a short moment degenerated into a debate on ‘Secularism’ and ‘Communalism’, courtesy Frederick Noronha. I always thought that Frederick was a rationalist but I found his logic on that day peculiar and highly absurd to say the least. Frederick’s logic was akin to the logic used by ‘Bernard Simoes’ who blamed Darwin for racism, Nazism, Fascism, Communism, genocides and terrorism of the whole World in his article that appeared in the Herald some 3 weeks back. Frederick similarly tried to pin the blame for India's conflicts, rioting, strife and communalism on Jawaharlal Nehru, by making the meaningless claim that Nehru’s policy of promoting science and rationalism were the root causes of all of India’s evils. To make a strong case against atheism, Frederick cherry picked the examples of Jinnah and Advani. To make a strong case in favour of religion, he cherry picked the example of Gandhi ignoring all the other religious fundamentalists who are operating in the Indian space. Fortunately, there were no religious fundamentalists - Hindu, Christian or Muslim - present there on that day. Had they been there, they would surely have garlanded him and declared him a hero. Such were his postures in favour of religion and against the principles of atheism, rationalism and science. I have no personal issues with Frederick Noronha. I am posting the discussions here because I disagree with such thoughts, which I believe are ridiculous and need to be nipped in the bud. The whole concept of Secularism was born when people revolted against the Religious Orders. Until then, we had no rights, freedoms and liberties. Women were burnt on the pyres of their husbands or on the suspicion of being witches. Humans were treated as untouchables because of their caste or skin-colour. Principles of Free Speech and Expression were virtually non-existent. Those who challenged religious concepts were tortured and even killed. Why is Frederick making baseless assertions while ignoring the ugly realities of religion? Can History be ignored, can the truth be suppressed? Is it fair to blame Jawaharlal Nehru, decades after his death, for India’s communal tensions? cheers Sandeep
