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In their campaign against unIslamic shops and activities, Islamists in Gaza have targeted internet cafés. Now Hindu fundamentalists in Mumbai have adopted the same tactic to shut down those who offend their religious sensibilities.
Students from the Hindu extremist Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena (BVS) have sent a letter to Mumbai internet cafes ordering them to block orkut.com, an online community which they believe defamed Chhatrapati Shivaji, a Hindu hero, and Bal Thackeray, head of a Hindu nationalist party, the Shiv Sena (SS).
Last Sunday SS militants stormed two cybercafés in the Mumbai suburb of Kalyan, attacking owners and clients alike. Following the incidents in Kaylan, some cybercafés blocked orkut.com.
. . .
The online community is host to a group calling itself ‘I hate Shiv Sena’.
Instead of protecting café operators by apprehending the attackers, police counsel acquiescence to terrorism.
On Tuesday police called on cybercafés to discourage access to orkut.com.
The BVS is already working on blocking the offending site, not just to cybercafé patrons, but to all Indian internet users.
The BVS said it is also preparing, with the help of its own information technology experts, software that blocks unwanted sites.
This software will be sent to internet service providers so that they can take quick action. The latter however stated that they will have to “check the legal implications of installing such software. A final call in this regard would have to be taken by the Department of Telecommunications.”
Sounds like the ISPs are ready to cave if the government says it’s OK to prevent the free flow of information. Will no one stand up for freedom of speech? Isn’t India supposed to be a democracy?
In other news, Hindus in the US are up in arms over a drawing in the June issue of Stuff magazine, which they claim is “defamatory to their religion”. The illustration depicts two Hindu deities in an unflattering manner.
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“No word yet on whether the complainers plan to storm newsstands selling the magazine.”
Likening a magazine letter-writing campaign to the tactics employed by militant groups like Shiv Sena, while good for a laugh, hardly qualifies as news-worthy, StatGuy.
What were your thoughts when Christians peacefully protested Serrano’s infamous photograph, which incidentally was pro-Christian, though no one bothered to notice?
This, likewise, is a peaceful protest, though in this case the artist did not share Serrano’s reverence for the subject matter.
You’re right, it was a cheap shot. I thought it funny at the time, but I should have known better. I have removed that line from the post.
I agree that most Christians who took a stand on “Piss Christ” objected to the photograph, but it’s not quite true to say “no one bothered to notice” that it could be interpreted in a pro-Christian sense. I recall debates between Christians who had opposing views on that question.
As for whether it was intended as a reverential work, I’m not aware of any statement from Serrano on that. If you know of any, I’d be interested in hearing it. Only he can inform us as to his intentions.
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