<p style="font-weight: 400;">In an essay, the famous Hindi satirist Hari Shankar Parsai expressed wonderment when he saw that there were many women among the opponents of Hindu Code Bills. The proposed laws in the 1950s were aimed at women emancipation; they would criminalize polygamy, give equal right to females in Hindu society, and so on. A disgraceful article by E.P. Unny, the <em>Indian Express</em> cartoonist, would have shocked Parsai, for Unny tends to almost condone, if not justify, the murders perpetrated by jihadists in response to the blasphemous cartoons in Charlie Hebdo.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Here is a cartoonist working in the mainstream media who is not incensed by the slaughter of his fellow cartoonists, and others, in Paris. Instead he comes up with typical Left-liberal subterfuge: we condemn the September 11 attacks but…; we denounce the mass-slaughter during 26/11 in Mumbai but… In intellectuals’ phraseology, ‘but’ always butts in.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Unny goes a step farther: he blames the victims. “The Hebdo cartoon was a ready excuse, a trigger for the killings, not the cause. Provocation could have come from cinema, writing, music, fashion or food. Organized terror waits for a context and the cartoon could easily provide it because it is the cartoonist’s job to provoke, <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/charlie-hebdo-cartoons-france-killings-6915430/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ridicule and offend</a>”. So, you see, the French cartoonists asked for it; they provided “a ready excuse, a trigger for the killings.”</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Those who supported the French cartoonists, like the Paris teacher Samuel Paty who was beheaded last month, also asked for it. Radical Islam is not the culprit; New Left doctrines supporting Islamism are not guilty; the French cartoonists, free speech champions like Paty are guilty. Presumably, the handful of major leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron who stand from freedom of expression, are also guilty.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“The French weekly that sees itself as politically left should have nothing against immigrants, but it has hurt them with the cartoon as a blunt instrument,” Unny wrote. So, the Left is also in the wrong; the Right, of course, is more so because of its racism, Islamophobia, etc. Everybody is culpable except those who carry out murders.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">“France has a significant Muslim population, most of them immigrants. A good many are believers and new to the host culture, which is used to handling such excesses in a cartoon with a shrug of the shoulder, a pungent letter to the editor or a searing counter-cartoon. The settlers would take a while to acquire such skills,” Unny wrote.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Did the Hindus take a while to become tolerant? Or the Sikhs, Buddhists, and others? There have been instances when Hindus in the West have felt offended by certain advertisements, statements, etc., most which are made inadvertently; they expressed their displeasure and in most cases their demands were met. But there is no instance of a Hindu or a Buddhist killing people in France, Germany, the UK, etc.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Intellectuals are unnecessarily and dangerously respectful to the sensibilities of Muslims; this makes many Muslims think that they have the right to muzzle free speech—using force if need be, even guns and butcher knives if necessary.</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">This has also encouraged the touchy and the sanctimonious in other communities. Recently, a police complaint was filed against Amitabh Bachchan and the makers of KBC for the ‘crime’ of asking a question on burning of Manusmriti. There are a zillion instances of politicians, activists, and publicity seekers calling for ban on movies, books, songs, etc., on the grounds of ‘hurt sentiments.’</p>
<p style="font-weight: 400;">Intellectuals like Unny, who should be unequivocally and unambiguously upholding liberty, are slavishly trying to placate the Islamists. This is having a chilling effect on free speech not just in cases related to Islam but also elsewhere. Like the police complaint against Bachchan.</p>.