Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Rising intolerance

The attack has yet again exposed the rising culture of intolerance and extremism. Whether it is with respect to the works of M.F. Husain, Chandramohan or Taslima Nasrin, the moral police are not ready to explore democratic options to voice their opposition. They believe in using muscle power to curb the voice of artists and writers. The strangest thing in Ms. Nasrin’s case is the involvement of MLAs, who are supposed to be the custodians of the Constitution.

Nutan Maurya,
New Delhi

The highly condemnable and barbaric attack by goons masquerading as torch-bearers of the Muslim community needs to be viewed in the light of extreme state inaction on acts by the lunatic fringe of different communities.

Should not organisations such as the MIM and the Bajrang Dal who are a law unto themselves be banned and every such act be severely punished to preserve our democracy?

Kasim Sait,
Chennai The MIM activists and their ilk represent the intolerant sections which do not believe in democracy and secularism. They may be in a minority now but if they go unpunished, the malaise of violence against voices of dissent will spread rapidly.

A. Paramesham,
New Delhi

The perpetrators of such acts call themselves saviours of religion, but their real motive is to gain political mileage. The MLAs’ direct involvement in the attack on Ms. Nasrin, besides being disturbing, throws a big challenge to the efficacy of our legal system and democracy. In all likelihood, they will go scot-free and may even be re-elected.

K.V. Mohan Rao,
Visakhapatnam

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

A fine man for the job
Woman of courage
Sixty years of higher science education
“It is a practical solution that meets all our requirements”
Let private sector set up nuclear power plants
Corrections and clarifications
Shame
Rising intolerance

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu