02-24-2008, 06:39 PM
<b>Indiaâs litany of protests seen as much ado about nothing</b>
* Supreme Court is beginning to worry that legal complaints are adding to a massive backlog for overburdened courts
NEW DELHI: Lawyer Raj Kumar Pandey says he has filed at least 200 court cases in the past 10 years accusing people of disrespecting the national flag - a crime in India.
Pandey is always on the watch for infractions and his latest target is top Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, whose feet were shown on a table near the flag at the Australian Open. The lawyer said this âinsulted national honour.â But Mirza is not the only one facing legal headaches, as an increasing amount of litigation and street protests have led to a flurry of bans on films and books and court cases against celebrities. âThere is increasing evidence that the pluralist foundations of this country ... are being subverted by narrow-minded, sectarian zealots,â journalist Jug Suraiya wrote in a column for The Times of India. For Mirza, who has been criticised for wearing short tennis skirts, shooting a TV commercial in a mosque and for remarks seen as endorsing premarital sex, the flag row was the last straw. She responded by refusing to play in India. âThe controversies have been going on for a long time. It is not easy to deal with such stuff,â she said, announcing her decision this month. On the cultural front, a mega Bollywood production was banned in central Madhya Pradesh state this week after protesters said the historical romance between a Hindu princess and a Mughal king showed their women in a poor light. Last week, Indiaâs most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, banned the book âRaniâ (Queen) after protesters objected to a fictionalised romance between the heroine who fought against British rule and a British official. They said the tale besmirched her memory.
Legal complaints: Indiaâs Supreme Court is also beginning to worry that legal complaints - which anyone in India has the right to file - are adding to a massive backlog for the countryâs overburdened courts. There are 30 million cases pending.
âWe are engaged in doing frivolous work. We are unable to do regular work,â Justice Markandey Katju said this month in the Supreme Court, expressing frustration at the growing number of such complaints. For instance, a court in Bhopal in central India is hearing 76 cases, all filed by Mirzaâs accuser Pandey, involving alleged violations of Indiaâs Flag Code which forbids, for instance, hoisting a grubby flag or using it in ads. But Pandey, who has also filed a case against cricket ace Sachin Tendulkar for cutting a cake with the flagâs saffron-white-and-green colours, said he will continue his crusade to protect the flagâs sanctity even if it overloads the courts.
âI salute the flag every time I see it. I stand up every time I hear the national anthem. I feel very strongly about it,â Pandey said. Meanwhile, Hollywood star Richard Gere is still battling to clear his name on charges of obscenity after he kissed actress Shilpa Shetty on the cheek at an AIDS fundraising event. âMost of these protests are not really necessary,â said Delhi University sociologist Patricia Oberoi. âBut there seems to be anxiety about Westernisation and changing lifestylesâ as Indiaâs economy booms. In addition, the countryâs most celebrated artist, MF Husain, has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London for two years following protests by hardline Hindu groups opposed to his paintings of nude goddesses. In 2006, one extremist Hindu group offered an 11.5-million-dollar reward for the assassination of the 93-year-old painter.
And Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has been in hiding in New Delhi since last November after radical Muslims in Kolkata, where she had been living, protested against âanti-Islamicâ passages in her works. In many cases, commentators believe people are seeking electoral mileage. âPoliticians gain by playing one group against another,â said Dipankar Gupta, a sociology professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, adding the âlaw needs to come down hard on these protests.â afp
* Supreme Court is beginning to worry that legal complaints are adding to a massive backlog for overburdened courts
NEW DELHI: Lawyer Raj Kumar Pandey says he has filed at least 200 court cases in the past 10 years accusing people of disrespecting the national flag - a crime in India.
Pandey is always on the watch for infractions and his latest target is top Indian tennis star Sania Mirza, whose feet were shown on a table near the flag at the Australian Open. The lawyer said this âinsulted national honour.â But Mirza is not the only one facing legal headaches, as an increasing amount of litigation and street protests have led to a flurry of bans on films and books and court cases against celebrities. âThere is increasing evidence that the pluralist foundations of this country ... are being subverted by narrow-minded, sectarian zealots,â journalist Jug Suraiya wrote in a column for The Times of India. For Mirza, who has been criticised for wearing short tennis skirts, shooting a TV commercial in a mosque and for remarks seen as endorsing premarital sex, the flag row was the last straw. She responded by refusing to play in India. âThe controversies have been going on for a long time. It is not easy to deal with such stuff,â she said, announcing her decision this month. On the cultural front, a mega Bollywood production was banned in central Madhya Pradesh state this week after protesters said the historical romance between a Hindu princess and a Mughal king showed their women in a poor light. Last week, Indiaâs most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, banned the book âRaniâ (Queen) after protesters objected to a fictionalised romance between the heroine who fought against British rule and a British official. They said the tale besmirched her memory.
Legal complaints: Indiaâs Supreme Court is also beginning to worry that legal complaints - which anyone in India has the right to file - are adding to a massive backlog for the countryâs overburdened courts. There are 30 million cases pending.
âWe are engaged in doing frivolous work. We are unable to do regular work,â Justice Markandey Katju said this month in the Supreme Court, expressing frustration at the growing number of such complaints. For instance, a court in Bhopal in central India is hearing 76 cases, all filed by Mirzaâs accuser Pandey, involving alleged violations of Indiaâs Flag Code which forbids, for instance, hoisting a grubby flag or using it in ads. But Pandey, who has also filed a case against cricket ace Sachin Tendulkar for cutting a cake with the flagâs saffron-white-and-green colours, said he will continue his crusade to protect the flagâs sanctity even if it overloads the courts.
âI salute the flag every time I see it. I stand up every time I hear the national anthem. I feel very strongly about it,â Pandey said. Meanwhile, Hollywood star Richard Gere is still battling to clear his name on charges of obscenity after he kissed actress Shilpa Shetty on the cheek at an AIDS fundraising event. âMost of these protests are not really necessary,â said Delhi University sociologist Patricia Oberoi. âBut there seems to be anxiety about Westernisation and changing lifestylesâ as Indiaâs economy booms. In addition, the countryâs most celebrated artist, MF Husain, has been in self-imposed exile in Dubai and London for two years following protests by hardline Hindu groups opposed to his paintings of nude goddesses. In 2006, one extremist Hindu group offered an 11.5-million-dollar reward for the assassination of the 93-year-old painter.
And Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has been in hiding in New Delhi since last November after radical Muslims in Kolkata, where she had been living, protested against âanti-Islamicâ passages in her works. In many cases, commentators believe people are seeking electoral mileage. âPoliticians gain by playing one group against another,â said Dipankar Gupta, a sociology professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University, adding the âlaw needs to come down hard on these protests.â afp