‘Muslim outfits distracting from real disadvantages’

Noted economist and Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen on Sunday said Muslim outfits are not trying to address the issues plaguing the community and instead diverting from them by organising protests against authors like Salman Rushdie.

"There are a lot of people, who are enormously disadvantaged, have reasons to complain about other things. Here, I'm not only talking about the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes but the fact that even in Bengal, if you look at Muslim groups in terms of the even-handedness of progress, they have not been as privileged. To subvert that issue into a completely different kind, and getting offended about something else is distracting the attention from the real disadvantages they face," Sen said at Kolkata Literary Meet on Sunday.

Sen said by talking about offence, they are distracting from the real issues.

His comments come in the wake of Rushdie's visit to Kolkata being cancelled at the last minute after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee allegedly heeded to Muslim clerics' demand of not allowing the Booker Prize winning author to land in the city.

Sen also criticised the Marxists for not raising the issues like open defecation and instead focussing on gas price hike.

"When I was in Presidency College, I was a staunch supporter of the SFI (CPM's students' wing). But I am upset with various issues which Left parties now raise. I am particularly upset, when Left parties go after the issues of cooking gas (price hike) and other issues. They should also focus on eradicating the menace of open defecation, open toilets from our country," he added.

He said that withdrawal of support from the UPA-I government by the Left parties over the Indo-US nuclear deal was a "tactical mistake, but a minor thing".

Earlier, on several occasions Sen had raised the issues of open defecation and child malnutrition in the country, taking note that Bangladesh had surged ahead of India in curbing open defecation by a large extent.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-muslim-outfits-distracting-from-real-disadvantages-/1068823/0

No entry for Rushdie

Kolkata 'Disinvited' by state govt, Booker Prize winner cancels trip.

With author Salman Rushdie getting "disinvited" by West Bengal government, and film director Deepa Mehta failing to make it, the proposed discussion among the main cast and crew of Midnight's Children, a film based on his award-winning novel of the same name, at the Kolkata International Book Fair on Wednesday evening became a one-on-one with actor Rahul Bose.

Asked about their absence, Bose said, "It's only about 1 per cent of the population who did it for their vested interest. It will not stop me in my fight against cultural intolerance."

Earlier it was planned that Rushdie, Mehta and Bose were to attend two events — a press meet at a city hotel and an interaction titled, Midnight Magic, at the literary meet. At the book fair, author Amitav Ghosh said, "It is unfortunate that he cannot move freely according to his will."

Sources in the book fair said the government did not want Rushdie to attend the literary meet fearing backlash from sections of Muslim community.

Mohd Nurur Rahman Barkati, Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Masjid, said: "I had called up Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to tell her that Rushdie should not be allowed to come to Bengal. It would give rise to a law and order situation. She assured me that it would be taken care of," he said.

But Farooq Ahmed, editor of an Urdu magazine, termed it as "a meek submission before fundamental forces and deep scar on Kolkata's secular credentials."

State Home Secretary Basudev Banerjee said the government came to know of Rushdie's visit on Tuesday evening. "It was not pre-scheduled. We got in touch with Mumbai Police who later told us that he was not coming," he said.

Debashish Darker, distributor of the film, confirmed that the film will be released in the state on February 1. Rushdie's 1988 novel The Satanic Verses had led to a fatwa being issued on his life.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/no-entry-for-rushdie/1067187/0