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Vibha Tailang 29 Mar 2020 Reading Time 4 minutes Courtesy --THE ASIAN AGE (newspaper) (BY ARRANGEMENT WITH THE SPECTATOR) I AM NO FAN OF STEVE BELL,THE GUARDIAN CARTOONIST I CAN’T SAY I’VE EVER LAUGHED AT ONE OF HIS SQUIBS,WHICH ARE WITLESS AND CRUDE.SOME WOULD CALL HIM “FEARLESS”,BUT HE JUST SEEMS CRUEL AND OVER THE TOP TO ME.WHEN THE GUARDIAN FINALLY PUTS HIM OUT TO GRASS,WHICH SURELY WON’T BE LONG,BE WILL DISAPPEAR INTO THE INKWELL OF HISTORY.BUT HAVING SAID ALL THAT,I WOULD DEFEND TO THE DEATH HIS I WOULD DEFEND TO THE DEATH HIS RIGHT TO PRODUCE HIS TASTELESS CARTOONS,AS WELL AS THE RIGHT OF HIS NEWSPAPER TO PUBLISH THEM. LAST WEEK,THE GUARDIAN PRINTED A STEVE BELL CARICATURE OF PRITI PATEL SITTING NEXT TO BORIS IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS THAT WAS WIDELY CONDEMNED AS “RACIST”.THE REASON?HE DEPICTED HER WITH HORNS ON HER HEAD AND A RING THROUGH HER NOSE,WHICH MANY SAW AS A DEROGATORY REFERENCE TO HER INDIAN HERITAGE, “THIS CARTOON IS OFFENSIVE ON EVERY LEVEL,”TWEETED THE BRITISH TAMIL CONSERVATIVES.”IT’S ANTI HINDU.IT POTRAYS THE HOME SECRETARY,OF HINDU ORIGIN,AS A COW.A SACRED SYMBOL FOR HINDUS.IT’S A RACIST AND MISOGYNIST.IT’S PLAINLY UNACCEPTABLE! IT MAY CONSTITUTE A HATE CRIME.” THAT’S COMPLETE NONSENSE,I’M AFRAID.THE TAMILS,ALONG WITH THOUSANDS OF OTHER CONSERVATIVES WHO CLAIMED TO BE OUTRAGED BY BELL’S CARTOON,ARE DOING EXACTLY WHAT THE LEFT HAS BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST 25 YEARS,NAMELY INTERPRETING SOMETHING IN THE WORST POSSIBLE LIGHT SO THEY CAN PRETEND TO BE OFFENDED. THE FACT IS,BELL IS NOT PORTRAYING PRITI PATEL AS A COW,LET ALONE A SACRED ONEE,BUT AS A BULL.AFTER ALL,BULLS HAVE RINGS THROUGH THEIR NOSES,COWS DO NOT.IF YOU’RE IN ANY DOUBT,GOOGLE “SACRED COWS”,ADMITTEDLY,THERE ARE SUCH THINGS AS SACRED BULLS IN HINDU CULTURE,BUT WAS THAT REALLY BELL’S INTENDED REFERENCE? DRAWING THE HOME SECRETARY AS A BULL MAKES SENSE,GIVEN THE ALLGATIONS MADE AGAINST HER BY MEMBERS OF THE CIVIL SERVICE,MOST OF WHICH BOIL DOWN TO SAYING SHE’S AGGRESIVE AND CONFRONTATIONAL.INCEDENTALLY,I DON’T THINK SHE SHOULD BE REMOTELY ASHAMED OF THAT.IF I WERE HER I’D BUY THE CARTOON AND GIVE IT PRIDE OF PLACE IN MY DOWNSTAIRS LOO. BUT LET’S SUPPOSE BELL’S CRITICS ARE RIGHT AND HE IS TRYING TO DEPICT,PATEL AS A SACRED COW,SO WHAT? YES,MANY HINDUS WOULD FIND THAT OFFENSIVE,BUT THAT’S THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR LIVING IN A FREE,SOCIETY.I’M PAY FOR LIVING IN A FREE,SOCIETY.I’M SURE TENS OF MILLIONS OF CHRISTIANS FOUND LIFE OF BRIAN OFFENSIVE,BUT THAT’S NOT A REASON TO PILLORY ITS CREATORS OR DISTRIBUTORS.EFFECTIVE SATIRE IS OFTEN EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE,INDEED,IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE A TRULY MEMORABLE PIECE OF SATIRE THAT ISN’T.AS JOHN CLEESE ONCE SAID: “NO ONE HAS THE RIGHT NOT TO BE OFFENDED”. SOME OF THOSE EXPRESSING DISGUST AT BELL’S CARTOON HAVE POINTED OUT THAT THE TRIBUNES OF THE PROGRESSIVE LEFT WOULD BE ABSOLUTELY UP IN ARMS.IF A CARTOONIST FOR A RIGHT-OF-CENTRE PAPER DEPICTED DIANE ABBOTT OR DAWN BUTLER IN AN EQUALLY UNFLATTERING WAY,INCLUDING THE GUARDIAN.NO DOUBT THAT’S TRUE,BUT THE CORRECT RESPONSE IN THE FACE OF SUCH FAUX OUTRAGE IS TO REJECT IT OUT OF HAND,NOT TO EMBRACE THIS CENSORIOUS APPROACH AND APPLY IT TO OUR POLITICAL OPPONENTS. IF WE ACCEPT THAT SOME JOKES OR CARTOONS SHOULD BE RULED OUT OF BOUNDS BECAUSE SOMEONE,SOME WHERE MIGHT FIND THEM OFFENSIVE,THEN THE OTHER SIDE HAS WON.WHEN FACED WITH AN “UNACCEPTABLE” CARICATURE OF ONE OF THEIR OWN,CONSERVATIVES SHOULD DEFEND THE CARTOONIST’S RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH AND TELL ANYONE ON THEIR SIDE WHO CLAIMS TO BE UPSET BY IT TO GROW A THICKER SKIN.STEVE BELL’S CARTOON IS NO MORE A “HATE CRIME” THAT AMBER RUDD’S SPEECH ON IMMIGRATION WAS AT THE 2017 TORY PARTY CONFERENCE. NO,THE POINT WORTH MAKING IS THE OPPOSITE ONE: TO ATTACK THE GUARDIAN FOR NOT STANDING UP FOR FREE SPEECH.IN THE WEEK FOLLOWING THE LAUNCH OF THE FREE SPEECH UNION --THE MEMBERSHIP ORGANISATION I’VE HELPED SET UP TO DEFEND FREE SPEECH---THE GUARDIAN PUBLISHED A PIECE ATTACKING IT(AND ME) EVERY DAY.ACCORDING TO THEIR COLUMNISTS,IT’S A POLITICAL CAUSE THAT ONLY BENEFITS MALE,PALE AND STALE CONSERVATIVES AND THEREFORE ISN’T WORTH DEFENDING. TURNS OUT,THE SPEECH RIGHTS OF MALE,PALE,AND STALE SOCIALISTS ARE ALSO AT RISK.WE DON’T GENERALLY DO CORPORATE MEMBERSHIPS AT THE FSU,BUT I’M WILLING TO MAKE AN EXECPTION FOR THE GUARDIAN.I’VE A FEELING ITS JOURNALISTS ARE GOING TO NEED OUR PROTECTION AS THE LEFT TURNS ON ITSELF AND BEGINS TO PURGE THE IDEOLOGICALLY IMPURE. BY ARRANGEMENT WITH THE SPECTATOR FROM THE ASIAN AGE NEWSPAPER. PRESENTATION VIBHA TAILANG..(19/3/20)

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Bennett Rebello murder case: Accused daughter turns out to be minor

New revelations have come to light in the murder case of musician Bennett Rebello. The victim's daughter, one of the accused in the murder, has turned out to be a minor. According to the birth certificate produced by her family the daughter was born in 2002. According to sources, the daughter's actual name was also different as she was living with Rebello using a fake identity. The minor accused has been sent to a juvenile home. The girl along with her 16-year-old boyfriend allegedly killed Bennett Rebello on November 27 at his house at Dwarka Kunj, in Mumbai's Vakola with a knife and bamboo stick. On December 7, the police arrested the two for killing Rebello. They had disposed off body parts, chopped and stuffed in three suitcases, in Mithi river, Mumbai. The victim's leg, a hand, and mutilated private part were found in a suitcase in Mumbai.

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Treated like criminals by cops: Jamia students

Students of Jamia Millia Islamia University, where the police entered after a protest against the amended Citizenship Act nearby spiralled out of control on Sunday evening, alleged that they were "treated like criminals" by police. They also claimed that police personnel pushed female students and no women officials were present. Forty people, including students, policemen and firemen were injured as violence erupted during a protest by Jamia students against the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act. Protesters torched four buses and two police vehicles as they clashed with police in south Delhi New Friends' Colony. Police baton charged the protesters and used tear gas shells to disperse the violent mob before entering the varsity campus, detaining several persons allegedly involved in the violence. "We were asked to vacate the campus and come out with our hands up. We were not even present at the protest site and were inside the campus. We were treated like criminals by police," a female student said on condition of anonymity.

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Opposition vows to challenge Citizenship Act in SC

New Delhi: Twelve opposition parties, including the Congress, the TMC and the Left, held a meeting on Thursday and decided on an eight-point agenda to counter the BJP on the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill likely to be tabled in Parliament next week, sources said. The meeting of senior Rajya Sabha members of opposition parties such as the Congress, Trinamool Congress, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party, CPI and CPI(M), was held in Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad's chamber. The leaders met twice during the day to firm up the opposition strategy on the bill, they said. The eight-point agenda, which the opposition parties will put before the people in the next five days, states that the bill is against everything the country's founding fathers envisioned and it lays down multiple grounds for citizenship for one country, sources said.

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Riots break out against Citizenship Act in India

Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found here. https://www.ft.com/content/eb1a99a2-1d7d-11ea-97df-cc63de1d73f4 Riots have erupted across north-eastern India in protest against a contentious citizenship law that locals say threatens the region’s distinct identities. At least two people have been killed by security forces in the state of Assam, where authorities have imposed an internet blackout and an unsuccessful curfew. The protests, which locals said were the worst in decades, reopened festering historical wounds and caught Narendra Modi’s government off-guard. Parliament this week passed a bill championed by the prime minister’s Bharatiya Janata party that gave Hindus and other non-Muslim migrants from neighbouring Muslim-majority countries a fast-track to Indian citizenship. The bill provoked an outcry from critics who said it discriminated against Muslims. The fury in north-eastern states such as Assam, however, has been fuelled by the fear that it would allow suspected illegal migrants, namely Hindus from neighbouring Bangladesh, to settle permanently in the region.

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