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My friend @dhume analogizes social media outrage over a racy depiction of the Goddess Kali with the beheading in France. Raises the Enlightenment. I agree that Hindu anger on social media is often crass/crude (experienced it!), but sharing some quick thoughts (thread) https://twitter.com/dhume/status/1320051501981749250">https://twitter.com/dhume/sta...
Comparing inchoate tweets to a beheading in France or an attack on a politician in Bangalore over a FB post fails as an equivalence in my eyes. @dhume may be right in Hindu outrage seeming new when deities are defiled, but there& #39;s a reason certain speech was outlawed in India.
Muslim demands that certain speech be made off-limits led to hate speech laws in the Indian Constitution. Hindus reciprocating utilizing those extant laws is more a response to what they see as Muslim success in rendering speech that& #39;s intended to outrage or insulting as criminal
Galileo was jailed for arguing that Earth revolved around the sun. So France& #39;s hard secularism that @dhume seems to admire is rooted in a hard break between the Dark Ages and the European Enlightenment. India& #39;s historical trajectory is different & secularism defined differently.
Indian/Hindu civilization is predicated on a pluralistic worldview -- Ekam Sat -- accepts existence of more than one path to Truth/God/Guy in the Sky, does not proselytize, and has no conflict with physics, astronomy, evolution, etc. Social evils, retrograde thoughts? Of course.
But India doesn& #39;t need a Judeo-Christian Enlightenment. Solution to problems, prejudices, patriarchy, etc. is right there in Vedanta, Upanishads, Gita. Vishesha-dharma requires fighting adharma. Time and place matter. So how do we go about it? With truth, restraint & compassion.
May I offer my approach to Meena Harris& #39; depiction of Durga as an example. Don& #39;t take the bait. Don& #39;t pile on. Explain, contextualize, educate. If you champion free speech, use your voice to argue and convince. https://twitter.com/SuhagAShukla/status/1317915322654117888?s=20">https://twitter.com/SuhagAShu...
