December 6 !

Every year the news channels go into a frenzy and security agencies into high alert mode when this date approaches.On 6th december 1992,a sordid chapter in hindu-muslim relations was enacted when the disputed structure in Ayodhya was brought down by the kar-sevaks with tacit support from the ruling dispensation in Uttar Pradesh.But the seeds of this confrontation were laid by the previous Congress governments which had always tried to balance appeasement of minorities by feeding majority communalism.The politicians of all hues have been guilty of paying lip service to minority related issues.In fact their misguided steps ,for instance the religion based reservations being considered by various state governments will further alienate the minorities from the mainstream.If having a separate identity brings you benefits ,why in the world would anyone want to assimilate.
Then there is the question of freedom of expression,which is a cause dear to the so called liberals and intellectuals but only when hinduism is at the receiving end.The way Taslima Nasreen was hounded out of Kolkata and made to remove certain portions from her book "Dwikhandita" by the religious fundamentalists with tacit support from the marxists .What M.F.Hussain did in the name of art was to paint hindu deities in the nude and it can be in no way compared to what Taslima Nasreen has written as her writings have only exposed how minorities have been persecuted in Bangladesh over the years.M.F.Hussain has every right to paint nudes ,if he wants but why have as his subject hindu deities.There should be equality before law and the religion of the artist and the religion at the receiving end should make no difference to the application of the law.If this is not done ,it will only provide reinforcement to religious fundamentalists.