On Friday 29 Feb 2008 7:24:03 am Charles Haynes wrote: > Hm. I'm probably guilty of either cultural insensitivity, or at least > ignorance, but as a free speech absolutist I'm not sure that (1) is > actually an issue. I don't care how offensive the book is, how can > violence, assault, and destruction of property be legitimate ways to > show your displeasure? Is book burning ever appropriate in a nominally > free, pluralistic, secular democracy?
Here is my take on this: Let me give you a primer on Hindu dharma. The people of India (and that includes most Muslims along with Hindus, Sikhs, Christians and Jains) , actually live by a code of conduct that is considered essential for a society to live by. This code is called "dharma". Dharma is derived from the Sanskrit root "dhr" which means to "hold" or "preserve" and dharma is designed as a code to preserve society. Indian psyche thinks in terms of "society" - i.e collective thought and not in terms of individual liberty in th American sense. However individual liberty for a Hindu (or even a non Hindu Indian) is allowed by looking inwards - i.e getting spiritual release. In short individual liberty does not take precedence over the needs of stability in society. The individual is free to achieve moksha or nirvana inside his head as long has he remains dharmic within society. The basic rules of dharma are simple enough and easily understood. Always tell the truth. Respect your parents, teachers and elders, Do not be overly proud or arrogant (because pride will have a fall you dodo), do not do an excess of anything - good or bad- always balance it out, the way nature balances good and bad, Live you life as it is supposed to be lived i.e follow the rules to be a god student when you are in the Brahmacharya stage of life. Later you must marry, have children and your prime duty is to your family and children etc. The ideal dharmic society is supposedly a "just" society. The Ramayana is a story that glorifies Ram (or Rama, or Lord Ram(a)) as the ideal dharmic individual who does everything that is needed to be dharmic. In addition Rama is said to be a human incarnation of Lord Vishnu - who is prominent on the board of directors of Hindu Gods - he is one of the three CEOs. ( Hindu Gods are not necessarily anthropomorphic beings, but are anthropomorphic representations of powers and desirable traits - multi-armed could mean multiple powers) So the Ramayana is thought of as the life story of a person who is the "ideal good man" - although from a modernist perspective ideal and non ideal could be disputed. If the Ramayana (Ramayan to North Indians) describes all that is good (dharmic), changing it in any way without widespread validation automatically makes the act "adharmic" or non dharmic. That which is not dharmic must be opposed, and violence must be used where necessary. Does Hindu literature justify violence under any circumstances? Yes it does. The entire Bhagvad Gita is a treatise on how a warrior, Arjuna (Arjun in North India) , baulks at the thought of having to kill his step brothers in battle. Arjuna's charioteer is Krishna (who is also an earthy incarnation of Vishnu - as Rama was in the Ramayana). Krishna tells Arjuna why it is necessary to fight and kill his step brothers. In this case the step brothers have been "adharmic" - they are flouting dharma and are a menace to society and must be eliminated. This "fabric of society" business is important to Indians. One of the reasons why India has survived as one nation is that people genuinely believe in this "maintaining the fabric of society" business, even if it means trampling of individual rights and freedom of expression. Individual rights and freedom of expression are OK as long as they do not disrupt popular sentiment. One primary reason that makes the "right wing Hindu" laugh and mock Pakistan is that the Pakistanis discarded dharma which is secular, and chose pure Islam instead of continuing with the societal rules that have existed for millennia. To them, Pakistan today is a consequence of flouting dharma - the rules for "stabilizing and preserving society" shiv
