‘Muslims can demolish Rushdie intellectually’

February 7, 2012

udit_raj_FebTHERE WAS a flashpoint in 1997 when sections of Arun Shourie’s Worshipping False Gods called Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar a British stooge. Instead of unleashing violent mobs on the street, the Dalit community reacted in a surprising way. The offending book was countered by a few 100 written works big and small. Dalit leader Udit Raj, 54, tells Karuna John how a volatile controversy was successfully doused by debate.

EDITED EXCERPTS FROM AN INTERVIEW

Why are we always easily offended?

There are a number of factors. We aren’t mature enough to appreciate different thoughts and ideas. Second, there is too much competition for power, name and respect. Sometimes, by opposing even a right cause, a person gets an identity. The media too gives importance to anything that seems controversial or spicy. The Dalit community is sensitive too as there is an identity crisis. For instance, once someone said Dr Ambedkar loved dogs. Even that was opposed by Dalit groups.

Dalits too want caste names to be banned…

If a Brahmin is not offended by being called a Brahmin, then why should a Khatik or Chamar be offended if they are addressed so? There is intolerance among Dalits. Some feel offended by the surnames they are given. They have found alternatives to those caste names. Call them Dhobi and they are offended. Historically, these terms connoted that they are lower castes. These words are banned, only if they are used to humiliate or lower the position of a person. Not so if these are used to describe someone, say in a play or poetry.

Does banning the use of a word or name change anything?

No. The scavenging community prefers to be known as the Balmiki community now but their position in society remains the same. Call them Bhangi and they’ll retaliate, call them Balmiki and they won’t mind. It reminds them of the roots that they want to forget.

There are self-appointed leaders who claim offence on behalf of the entire community.

It’s not necessary that only an elected person has a right to react. Mayawati rose to great heights when she opposed the word Harijan. She said, “Agar hum Harijanki aulad hain, to Gandhi kya shaitan ki aulad the (if we are the children of Harijans, was Gandhi the devil’s child?)” Till the 1980s, Dalits were happy to be called Harijan but later on the same word became derogatory. It was a word that stood for illegitimate children of Hindu priests living in temples.

Who had called for the ban on community names?

The communities themselves. The Balmikis did not want to be called Bhangis, same with Chamars, Pasi, Dhobi and Khatiks. We have not called for a ban. Tulsidas’Ramayan puts Dalit women in the same category as animals and idiots. People don’t like it but we can’t say that it’s not tolerated.

No one demanded a ‘ban’?

The issue has been raised. I think Muslims should answer Rushdie in the same way. They should write [books explaining] how he is wrong. There have been half-a-dozen movies on Jesus Christ showing him in different ways, including his sexuality, but Christians have not asked for a ban. They have written back saying it’s wrong. Even if Rushdie has written a wrong thing, the intellectual Muslims should write back and disprove him. Then Islam will be respected even more.

The Dalit community has had to face defamatory writing too?

Yes, Arun Shourie wrote a book, Worshipping False Gods, in which he said Dr Ambedkar was a stooge of the British, a sycophant who was also corrupt. We fought Shourie back in the same style and wrote that this is wrong. Muslims should react in the same way.

Was that seen as a sign of weakness?

No. We replied intellectually. Writings should be replied by writing. Shourie lost respect and was boycotted. I told the BJP leaders that if Dalits went away from the party, it was largely because of his book. Yet we did not ask for a ban. It was an occasion to react for us. It was a great contribution to the Dalit community as more and more Dalits began reading about Ambedkar’s life. Similarly, the Muslims should say that it is Rushdie who is the Satan. Banning results in curiosity, not just in Muslims but in other communities as well. If he was countered by intellectual writing then Rushdie would not have found a place anywhere in the world. They should demolish him intellectually, demolish his theory.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Mumbai, Jan 15: A relative of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was killed and three others injured when their car met with an accident on Mumbai-Nashik highway, police said on Wednesday.

The mishap took place at Sinnar in Nashik on Tuesday night when the CM's sister-in-law Vina Karande and six other relatives were returning from Shirdi in a sports utility vehicle (SUV), Nashik (Rural) Superintendent of Police Aarti Singh said.

The car driver apparently lost control over the wheels, following which the vehicle overturned on a roadside while passing through a narrow bridge, located around 190 km from here, the official said.

They were rushed to a hospital in Nashik where Ajay Karande, husband of Vina Karande, died during treatment, the official said.

The three others were undergoing treatment at the hospital, the police said, adding that their condition was reported to be out of danger.

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Agencies
June 4,2020

New Delhi, Jun 4: CSIR Director-General Shekhar Mande said on Thursday that the World Health Organisation's (WHO) decision to halt hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) drug trial was taken in haste and the global body should have actually analysed the data before making the decision.

"I firmly believe that WHO decision was taken in haste it was a kind of knee jerk reaction they should have actually analyse the data on their own before temporarily suspend the trials that is my personal opinion," Mande said.

India's nodal government agency ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) overseeing the country's response to the coronavirus pandemic last month wrote to the WHO citing differences in dosage standards between Indian and international trials that could explain the efficacy issues of HCQ in treating COVID-19 patients.

In addition, Dr Sheela Godbole, National Coordinator of the WHO-India Solidarity Trial and Head of the Division of Epidemiology, ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute also wrote a letter via an email to Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Chief Scientist at World Health Organisation.

In a letter, Dr Godbole stated: "There was no reason to suspend the trial for safety concern," attributing it to the current RECOVERY data which differs significantly from the non-randomised assessment by Mehra et al, a scientific paper.

Referring to the letter, the CSIR head said, "We don't know what actually happened behind the scenes but the hypothesis is that because of the paper published in Lancet. It is a very well known journal and if Lancet has done due vigilance in publishing the paper. 

Therefore, the WHO thought the paper's findings are right that's why WHO hold based on what is published on Lancet. The WHO shouldn't have accepted it immediately this should have taken their own due vigilance to find out that study is right or not."

DG CSIR said because there is a global outcry it must have put pressure on both Lancet as well as WHO and both of them now retracted from their original position. "WHO has started a trial again and Lancet has put an expression of concern on their website both of these are very welcome development for science," he said.

"So I am pretty sure that Lancet would have published the reports only after seeing somewhere the drug failed to work," Mande said.

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News Network
June 27,2020

New Delhi, Jun 27: India on Saturday crossed 5 lakh-mark with record highest spike of 18,552 cases of coronavirus reported in the country in the past 24 hours.

India has added more than 3.18 lakh COVID-19 cases since June 1.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, this was the highest single-day spike of COVID-19 positive cases. Also, with 384 fatalities in the past 24 hours, the total deaths inched closer to the 16000 mark.

With this, the total number of active cases are 1,97,387 while a total of 2,95,880 people have been cured or discharged from hospitals. The death toll stands at 15685 with one person migrated outside India, according to the health ministry update at 8 am today.

Maharashtra continues to top the countrywide list with a total number of COVID-19 positive cases at 1,52,765.

Delhi has so far reported 77,240 confirmed cases while Tamil Nadu has reported 74622 cases till now, as per the MoHFW. Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai are the worst-hit cities in the country

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the total number of samples tested up to June 26 is 79,96,707; the number of samples tested on June 26, Friday stands at 2,20,479.

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