Of Paintings and Beatings

The latest thing to grab the country's attention is a row over the roughing up of an arts student by Modi's goons in Gujarat. Usually it doesnt take a justice of the Supreme Court to decide who is right and who is wrong in such matters. But this time it is a little different. Here the kid in question actually deserved a beating. By painting sleazy pictures of godesses and messiahs, he had done the equivalent of pinching an ass's bottom. It came as no surprise that he was kicked in the groin for his trouble. Justice served one might say. Not quite.

The self-proclaimed intellectuals claim that the self-proclaimed moral police have no right to take matters into their own hands. Being a free country, people are allowed to express themselves in any manner they see fit, they say. The ruffians involved in the acts of vandalism were not qualified to judge the pieces of art is another argument that has been put forth.

Modi's goons on the other hand allege that the pictures put on display grossly violated their sensibilities. Also they wonder where the intelligentsia was when there was a similar row over some cartoons that made light of the life of Mohammed the Prophet. Being men of action they desisted from further debate on the matter but assured the public of such interventions in future too if the need arises.

It is difficult to disagree with either partiy. One cannot agree with them either. Freedom of expression is no excuse to hurt another's feelings and you certainly dont need a degree in art to judge a painting. On the other hand violence cannot be justified and simply should not be condoned. Appropriate channels must be used when there is an infringement of one's rights or sensibilities.

So who is to blame? In an ideal situation, the courts or the police should have taken cogniscence of the paintings and dealt with it accordingly. But in a country that takes a decade to pronounce a person guilty of killing another in front of a hundred people, it would be foolhardy to expect any action in issues such as these. The consitution, rights and duties are today nothing but mere words that can be used to justify any action.

But before anything lofty can be achieved, people must be made to understand that laws are laws, not guidelines. Until such a time, it is either the Shariat or the Manusmriti from which the penal code derives from.