Taslima attack: Should art respect religion?

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Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen was attacked in Hyderabad by MLAs of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) when she was attending the book release of the Telugu translation of her latest novel Shodh.

The political party involved in the attack is completely unrepentant. It has in fact said that the MLAs should have rather killed her.

A Muslim daily has also wondered openly in an editorial, as to why the activists did not put Taslima to death.

Should this be seen as religious fanaticism or an effort to gain political mileage out of Taslima’s controversial writing? The incident is not an isolated one, nor is it the first of its kind.

Earlier this year Hindu activists disrupted an art exhibition at the Maharaja Sayajirao University (MS) University in Baroda for permitting a ‘nude’ painting be exhibited in the university. The Dean faced suspension and the artist who painted it was arrested.

And for that matter, fatwas against renowned artist M F Hussain who now lives in exile outside India due to the numerous death threats and cases against him for apparently insulting Hindu Goddesses should not go unmentioned.

All this paves way for only one question: Should art respect religion?

CNN-IBN show Face The Nation discussed the question with renowned author Amit Chaudhuri, chairperson, Dukhtaran-e-Millat, Asiya Andrabi and artist Vivan Sundaram tackling the debate.