Posted on: 23-10-10 00:00:39
You guys have got to be joking. A book should not be included in a university syllabus because it passes judgment on religion or a certain community? What book is not biased? What book does not have a point of view? Should students continue to study only Shakespeare and Chaucer, because the famous people they made fun of are long dead? What is the point of a university education if students are not forced to encounter controversial opinions that they may disagree with?
Freedom of speech is an absolute, non-negotiable, inalienable right. Without it, democracy is meaningless. Should cartoons depicting Muhammad be allowed? Should books with lots of filthy swearing be published? Should MF Husain be allowed to depict Hindu gods and goddesses? Who makes these decisions? Some bureaucrat? Or some slimy politician?
Why not take it one step further. Should a person be allowed to publish nasty, untrue things about my mother? Absolutely, positively, yes! Guess what, it will definitely hurt when I read it. What should I do? Not complain to the government like a crying baby to ban that individual's writings. Not burn effigies of that person. I should man up, and either counter that individual in public (media, books, magazines), or ignore them!
As soon as we accept censorship of speech, we have let someone else do the decision-making for us. We have said, we want to remain like children and want parents to decide what our eyes should see.
This is shameful political pandering of the highest order.
Quote:
Originally posted by hchheda
However, this cannot be true for a university syllabus - where the students are 'required' to refer and follow the syllabus, even though they have their own reservations. IMO, the University made the blunder while including it in the official syllabus and promptly corrected it. It is unfortunate that the goons from SS get the credit and the political mileage out of it.
Hiren
Hiren
As member "puttoo" has pointed out, this book has been in syllabus for couple of years. But the protest came at the same time Thackarey introduced his grandson to politics. So why didn't anybody find it offensive before? And as one knows from his/her experience in university, students do get exposed to more filth through popular media or through interaction with co-students.
Political correctness has ran amok even in Canada, as some books have been library/school due to references to slavery and "n" word. However, in Gujarati literature, they have take one step further and removing all the words that referred to members of lower caste, and replaced them with political correct words.
