Author: Radha Rajan
Publication:
Date: November 4, 2012

If Karnad sounded like Salman Khurshid (which if Sonia Gandhi has taken note of him, augers well for Karnad) and unabashedly playing intellectual terrorist, the Director of Mumbai's LitFest, Anil Dharkar's outraged response to Karnad's hysteria borders on the imbecilic. Karnad accused Naipaul of being anti-Muslim and the Director of LitFest who gave an anti-Muslim the lifetime award of not being secular.

Anil Dharkar's response -

Naipaul is not anti-Muslim; he is married to a Muslim and his Muslim wife is raising her two children as Muslims. But isnt that typical of the two Abrahamic cults - that no matter who they marry and no matter which religion their spouses practice Christians and Muslims will either convert their spouses to the Abrahamic faith and/or raise their children as Muslims and Christians.

Subbulakshmi who married Amjad Ali Khan, Sharmila Tagore who married a Nawab, Aamir Khan's first wife, Gauri who married Shah rukh Khan, Sangeeta Bijlani who married Azharuddin....need I say more?

The only question here is are these two children fathered by Naipaul or from a previous marriage? And the fact that she is raising her children as Muslims is defence of Naipaul's writings?

And Dharkar offers this defence of his not being secualr. Of course he is secular; he says he is a part of Teesta setalvad's mission against Narendr Modi.