One man's freedom fighter can be another man's terrorist, says a leading literary figure who is not apologising for saying that Hindu monkey god Hanuman may have been a terrorist for demon king Ravana.
Hindi litterateur Rajendra Yadav Thursday stood by his controversial editorial in the celebrated "Hans" magazine, observing that many historical and mythological figures could well be dubbed "terrorists" by their critics.
"In demon-king Ravana's kingdom, Hanuman would be a terrorist for setting Lanka afire. And so would Hindu leader Shivaji in Aurangzeb's court," Yadav told IANS.
According to the Hindu epic Ramayana, Hanuman flew to Ravana's kingdom Lanka to meet Sita, the abducted wife of Lord Rama. Ravana's soldiers caught hold of Hanuman and set fire to his tail. In an act of fury, the monkey god set fire to the kingdom, heralding a string of events that culminated in Ravana's death.
Yadav stoutly defended his editorial slammed by influential Hindu groups linked to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal, whose activists burnt copies of "Hans" to register their protest.
Vinay Katiyar, a BJP MP and a Bajrang Dal leader, has threatened to file a case of defamation against Yadav for allegedly denigrating lord Hanuman.
The 73-year-old writer has also raised hackles by suggesting that even freedom fighters such as Bhagat Singh and Chandrashekhar Azad would be termed terrorists by the British colonial regime that ruled India till its independence in 1947.
"My main contention is that Islamic jehad fighters cannot all be labeled terrorists for their actions may be justified (in the eyes of some)," Yadav said.
Referring to the September 11 terror attacks in the U.S. that shocked the world, the writer said: "Acts like this should be condemned, but it is a lesson for the U.S. It is the U.S. foreign policy of the past 40 years that has boomeranged on it. America's role in Yugoslavia, in Iraq and elsewhere has rendered thousands homeless and many more have died."
This was the basic argument of his editorial in "Hans" magazine, he added. Premchand, one of India's greatest Hindi writers, founded the magazine in 1930. Mahatma Gandhi was also associated with its editorial board for two years.
Yadav took over from August 1986. "In the current atmosphere, it was only pertinent that I write this article. I did not do it merely to cause a sensation."
He commented that fundamentalists of any religion had two main victims -freedom of expression and speech, and women. "They also stopped Mira Nair from making a film on atrocities against Hindu widows, as they brook no differing opinion."
The editorial also goes on to suggest that people belonging to the so-called backward castes among Hindus may have been greatly relieved when Hindu kingdoms were overrun by Mughals.
The writer remarked: "Everything cannot be seen with respect to law and order - we have to go into reasons for all actions. The genesis of terrorism should be examined. On one hand we have farmers committing suicide and on the other we have Naxalite rebels," he said, referring to Maoist guerrillas popularly known as Naxalites.
"When people are pushed beyond a certain point, they can either kill you or kill themselves."
Yadav says his next editorial is about how the issue is being exploited by political groups with an eye on the forthcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state where communal issues have a bearing on votes.
Yadav said he had received telephonic threats but had declined a security cover. "I will not mince words or be cowed down by threats. In the highest tradition of literature, you have to take sides."
VHP vice president Giriraj Kishore
told IANS: "Hanuman's act was that of self-defence. It was the person
who set his tail on fire who was a terrorist."