HVK Archives: Sacrilege !
Sacrilege ! - The Pioneer
Editorial
()
28 January 1997
Title : Sacrilege !
Author : Editorial
Publication : The Pioneer
Date : January 28, 1997
>From Robert Clive and Thomas Babington Macaulay to Louis Malle,
Steven Spielberg and Stanley Wolpert, India has been fair game as
far as perceptionally disadvantaged sections of the Western mind
are concerned. Whether in pursuit of the fabled wealth of the
Nabobs or the "civilising mission" that was seen as the white man's
burden in the Orient, the Westerner has trod on Indian
sensibilities with callous disdain. To that extent, the latest
sacrilege perpetrated by historian Stanley Wolpert can only
reinforce a feeling of deja vu. Although he continues to hold a
professorship in the University of California in Los Angeles, Mr
Wolpert is hardly regarded as a distinguished historian in academic
circles. He can, in fact, be compared to a film magazine scribe,
looking out for salacious details of private lives of towering
figures from the Indian subcontinent. Mr Wolpert's biography of
Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah had caused an outrage in
that country resulting in the book being proscribed.
This is not the place to go into the veracity of Mr Wolpert's
assertions about Pandit Nehru's alleged sexual proclivities. But a
perusal of the biography establishes beyond reasonable doubt that
Mr Wolpert has not even the thinnest evidence to buttress his
scandalous conclusions. Clearly, the dictates of commerce have
prompted Mr Wolpert to concoct "evidence" which he has further
highlighted in the book jacket in order to make this sordid
"disclosure" his selling point. The biography is patently the work
of a perverted mind, a mind that believes in scandalising for its
own sake with an eye to bolstering a bank balance. This is not to
argue against genuine debate on the achievements and failures of
icons, including Nehru. Indeed, in the 50th year of India's
Independence such debate must not only be permitted but also
actively encouraged as the country charts its course for the next
millennium. But blasphemy cannot be part of legitimate discourse;
scandalisation cannot be the route to dialogue.
No mind which regards itself as liberal can be comfortable with the
idea of proscribing a book, film or any creative endeavour. This
newspaper has, in fact, argued consistently against knee-jerk
reactions even to the vilification of idols and icons. But freedom
must not be interpreted as licence; there has to be a Lakshmanrekha
that is accepted as sacrosanct and not crossed, at least without
sufficient provocation. Mr Wolpert's biography crosses that
borderline and does so defiantly. The Government cannot remain a
mute spectator to such wilful sacrilege. A relatively innocuous
diatribe against the Prime Minister by a maverick former MP has
invited the Government's wrath to such an extent that the
Government (and not Mr HD Deve Gowda) has sued its author. If the
same Government stays silent on this indecent assault on India's
legendary first Prime Minister, it would amount to endorsement of
the blasphemy committed by Mr Wolpert.
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