Booksellers offering their wares in Old Delhi, India. (Photo: Natalia Antelava) <\/p>\n
Dozens of books have been banned in India because of their themes and topics. The country is trying to get Google and Facebook to devise a means of pre-filtering religiously objectionable content. All this, taken together, has many saying the country's freedom of speech is disappearing. <\/p>\n
Book sellers in Old Delhi spread their goods on the pavement along one the city\u2019s busiest streets every Sunday. <\/p>\n
People push and shove as they scan rows of books laid out on the road. From Tolstoy in Russian to Hitler\u2019s Mein Kampf, it looks as if you could find anything here. But you can\u2019t. <\/p>\n
A bookseller offers an obscure tome on Siberian railroad systems by Salman Rushdie. But ask instead for a copy of India\u2019s most famous author's best known book, \u201cThe Satanic Verses\u201d and the conversation is over. <\/p>\n
The man just grins and looks away. <\/p>\n
Rushdie\u2019s 1988 novel infuriated some Muslims for its portrayal of the Prophet Muhammad. More than 20 years after its publication, the book is still banned in India. <\/p>\n
Last month, Rushdie canceled a visit to India after he was told it was too dangerous for him to take part in a literary festival in Jaipur. He accused the Indian government of fabricating threats and preventing him from coming, just to please Muslim voters ahead of a key regional election. <\/p>\n
Nilanjana Roy, an Indian literary critic, said whether Rushdie\u2019s right, people who are running the world\u2019s biggest democracy are failing to protect free speech. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis entire business about having to cave in because the other side is being violent means you are allowing yourself to be bullied,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is the state\u2019s job to stand up and say we will not allow that to happen.\u201d <\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just the Satanic Verses. Dozens of books and films are banned in India, often because of what\u2019s deemed offensive religious content, though one of the Indiana Jones movies is banned for its so-called imperialistic tendencies and racist portrayal of Indians. Roy said she worries where things are heading. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf everyone is free to claim offense, it will become less and less possible to accuse a politician of corruption, for example,\u201d Roy said. \u201cWe love comparing ourselves to China in terms of how free we are, but if you look closely on it we\u2019ve slid down to 122nd place in the list of countries when it comes to media freedom, to Internet freedom. That isn\u2019t a happy ranking.\u201d <\/p>\n
Comparisons with China are growing increasingly common in India. Last year the country\u2019s communications minister asked social networking sites to devise a system to filter and block \u201cobjectionable\u201d comments. And the Delhi High Court is currently reviewing a case filed against 20 companies, including Google and Facebook, demanding that they pre-screen religiously \u201coffensive\u201d comments. <\/p>\n
Vinay Rai, editor of Akbari magazine, who filed the criminal lawsuit, said India is a country that needs some censorship. <\/p>\n
\u201cPosting offensive content in a socially conservative country, which has a history of religious violence, presents a real danger to public,\u201d Roy said. <\/p>\n
But even when there\u2019s no obvious danger to the public, the Indian government may still take offense. <\/p>\n
Recently, a joke on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno turned into a diplomatic incident. The Indian government complained to the U.S. State Department after Leno showed a photo of India\u2019s Golden Temple, which is sacred to Sikhs, and described it as Mitt Romney\u2019s summer home. <\/p>\n
The issue of free expression has prompted heated discussion in India. In a debate that was later televised, Shoma Chaudhury, managing editor of the liberal Tehelka magazine, recently took on Justice Markandey Katju, the government-appointed head of India's press council. <\/p>\n
\u201cIndia is different,\u201d Katju said. \u201cFor many in India, freedom is food and security.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cBut how do you change a society unless you push the boundaries?\u201d Chaudhury asked. \u201cHow will the boundaries of the society be pushed unless we question them?\u201d <\/p>\n
But pushing boundaries can be dangerous here. There is a growing list of artists, writers, academics and journalists who have been beaten, harassed and pushed into exile. <\/p>\n
In central Delhi, an artist named Balbir Krishan, a double amputee who is also openly gay, was attacked during a recent exhibition by masked men who pushed him to the ground and kicked him. His most recent work deals with gay themes. <\/p>\n
The men shouted \u201cGet out of the country, you don\u2019t belong here.\u201d It was only after 24 hours of media pressure that the police launched an investigation. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to become more dangerous,\u201d Krishan said. \u201cI am scared.\u201d <\/p>\n
Krishan said his role as an artist is to show people things they don\u2019t want to see, to make people uncomfortable and make them think. <\/p>\n
But he added that unless politicians step in and protect his right to do that, then the voices of those who are against him will become louder and clearer than his. <\/p>\n
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