Salman Rushdie12:07 AM - 27 Apr 2015
.@JohnTheLeftist @NickCohen4 ''The award will be given. PEN is holding firm. Just 6 pussies. Six Authors in Search of a bit of Character.''
January, 2015 while visiting Dhaka, my 11 year old son Mattis-Joti mailed From France:
''Hey Choy, how are you doing? Here in France it's quite sad : the 5 best caricaturist of France are dead. Me and Paty are going to a rally this afternoon...In college we did a minute of silence. College is going quite fine. Mattis''
Does the above sound anywhere near 'disempowerment' as suggested by Peter Carey, who joined Michael Ondaatje to stay away from the PEN gala honouring Charlie Hebdo with ''Freedom of Expression Courage Award'', saying, ''All this is complicated by PEN’s seeming blindness to the cultural arrogance of the French nation, which does not recognize its moral obligation to a large and disempowered segment of their population.”
While I was still in Bangladesh in February, March busy with establishing a library and publishing 2 of my new books, Bloggers Dr Avijit Roy and Washiqur Rahman were hacked to death by the Islamists within a short span of time. How would Avijit, Washiqur and the slain staff of Charlie Hebdo react knowing their work has stirred Carey and co to cause a devide in PEN, an association which 'Defend free expression, support persecuted writers, and promote literary culture.' Or for that where would Algerian novelist Kamel Daoud look for solidarity while forced into seclusion after having a fatwa on his head?It's sad and shameful how liberal left back step to hoodwink us into disbelieving that demanding exclusive sensitivity for organised religion actually in turn is the first step toward theocratic, orthodox society!
It got to be seen that whether the 6 novelists Peter Carey, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner and Taiye Selasi who have withdrawn from the PEN gala endorsed ortohdox morality or simply misinterpreted Charlie Hebdo Cartoons self rightieously!There are all sorts of cultural symbols in those cartoons that if missed or lost in translations could lead to serious misinterpretations; writer or no-writer if someone is a self percieved member of a minority group they can project their heightened sensitivity around those cartoons!We wouldn't know for sure whether all these 6 writers or any one of them suffering from the self percieved minority complex!
Charlie Hebdo's mission was and still is to mock crudly the highbrow type PEN desserters along with governments and organised religion!Murders couldn't mute their mission!Brave indeed!Easier saying 'Je suis Charlie...' than done!Pointing fingers at the double standards of the liberal intelectuals David Brooks summed it up succintly in 'The New York Times' right after the killings with the title, 'I Am Not Charlie Hebdo', ''The massacre at Charlie Hebdo should be an occasion to end speech codes. And it should remind us to be legally tolerant toward offensive voices, even as we are socially discriminating.''
Does the above sound anywhere near 'disempowerment' as suggested by Peter Carey, who joined Michael Ondaatje to stay away from the PEN gala honouring Charlie Hebdo with ''Freedom of Expression Courage Award'', saying, ''All this is complicated by PEN’s seeming blindness to the cultural arrogance of the French nation, which does not recognize its moral obligation to a large and disempowered segment of their population.”
While I was still in Bangladesh in February, March busy with establishing a library and publishing 2 of my new books, Bloggers Dr Avijit Roy and Washiqur Rahman were hacked to death by the Islamists within a short span of time. How would Avijit, Washiqur and the slain staff of Charlie Hebdo react knowing their work has stirred Carey and co to cause a devide in PEN, an association which 'Defend free expression, support persecuted writers, and promote literary culture.' Or for that where would Algerian novelist Kamel Daoud look for solidarity while forced into seclusion after having a fatwa on his head?It's sad and shameful how liberal left back step to hoodwink us into disbelieving that demanding exclusive sensitivity for organised religion actually in turn is the first step toward theocratic, orthodox society!
It got to be seen that whether the 6 novelists Peter Carey, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner and Taiye Selasi who have withdrawn from the PEN gala endorsed ortohdox morality or simply misinterpreted Charlie Hebdo Cartoons self rightieously!There are all sorts of cultural symbols in those cartoons that if missed or lost in translations could lead to serious misinterpretations; writer or no-writer if someone is a self percieved member of a minority group they can project their heightened sensitivity around those cartoons!We wouldn't know for sure whether all these 6 writers or any one of them suffering from the self percieved minority complex!
Charlie Hebdo's mission was and still is to mock crudly the highbrow type PEN desserters along with governments and organised religion!Murders couldn't mute their mission!Brave indeed!Easier saying 'Je suis Charlie...' than done!Pointing fingers at the double standards of the liberal intelectuals David Brooks summed it up succintly in 'The New York Times' right after the killings with the title, 'I Am Not Charlie Hebdo', ''The massacre at Charlie Hebdo should be an occasion to end speech codes. And it should remind us to be legally tolerant toward offensive voices, even as we are socially discriminating.''
In an email to PEN’s leadership, Ms. Kushner said she was withdrawing out of discomfort with what she called the magazine’s “cultural intolerance” and promotion of “a kind of forced secular view,” opinions echoed by other writers who pulled out. Jack Craver in 'The Progressive' would argue ''Muslim population in France is largely secular as well, with only 41 percent of Muslims in France described as “practicing” in a 2011 poll''.
In small French town Dieppe, strolling among the Kebab shop owners who happened to be mostly from the Muslim background Jack Craver recieved mixed messages:
“We’re not for the attacks, but we’re not for Charlie either,” explained Sirouan, a proprietor of one of Dieppe’s many Kebab shops .
Sirouan, an Iraqi Kurd, moved to France eight years ago as a young man and speaks fluent French, with only a slight accent. A fellow employee, Khoshnau, also a Kurdish immigrant, came to France recently via Britain. Although both described themselves as “believers,” neither is particularly devout.
“I mean, I drink,” volunteered Khoshnau. He also described losing family members to religious extremists in Iraq.“That’s not Islam,” he said, describing ISIS and other radical Islamic movements. “Those are terrorists.”....
Why would two mostly secular men adamantly opposed to religious violence describe themselves as “not Charlie”?
“When you insult our prophet like that, it hurts,” said Sirouan. “There’s liberty of expression but leave religions alone.”
“I have no link with Islam,” said Alish, a shop owner of Kurdish descent who was raised in France. “So the cartoons [of Muhammad] never bothered me.” In fact, Jean-Pierre Hadjab, a middle school English teacher of Algerian descent with whom I work, grew up reading Charlie Hebdo, whose depictions of Muhammad never struck him as an attack on Arabs.
Favouring the honour to Charlie Hebdo, one of the most robust arguement came from Karthick Ram Manoharan, a PHD student and graduate asst teacher at UK's Essex University:
''Europeans should not be guilty about the claims of discrimination that Islamists and their apologists frequently shell out as an excuse for Muslim extremism. We must be bold enough to recognize that Islamism is not a legitimate reaction of an oppressed group, but a powerful world movement funded by petrodollars, arms trade, drug trafficking and sex slavery. If there is anything writers in the West should be guilty about, it is the sordid history of how the Western powers funded these movements in the past to counter secular and socialist movements in the Middle-East and in the countries of the former Soviet bloc....
But to further contemplate on Kushner's comment that Charlie Hebdo promoted "cultural intolerance" - should we tolerate primordial savagery that is anathema to all forms of civilization? Can the French Partisans in World War II also be accused of "cultural intolerance" towards Nazism?''
Lets now dig into Luigi Pirandello and his play 'Six Characters in Search of an Author' which Rushdie circustically altered into 'Six Authors in Search of a bit of Character.'
'Six Characters in Search of an Author': The Plot
An acting company prepares to rehearse the play The Rules of the Game by Luigi Pirandello. As the rehearsal is about to begin, they are unexpectedly interrupted by the arrival of six strange people. The Director of the play, furious at the interruption, demands an explanation. The Father explains that they are unfinished characters in search of an author to finish their story. The Director initially believes them to be mad, but as they begin to argue amongst themselves and reveal details of their story he begins to listen. The Father and The Mother had one child together, but they have separated and Mother has had three children by another man. The Father attempted to buy sex from the Stepdaughter claiming he did not recognize her after so many years, but the Stepdaughter is convinced he knew who she was the entire time. The Mother walked in on The Father and The Stepdaughter shortly after The Father's proposal and informs The Stepdaughter that he is her ex-husband; they both express their disgust and outrage. While The Director is not an author, he agrees to stage their story despite disbelief amongst the jeering actors.
He expressed publicly apolitical belief, saying "I'm apolitical, I'm only a man in the world..." He had continuous conflicts with famous fascist leaders. In 1927 he tore his fascist membership card in pieces in front of the dazed secretary-general of the Fascist Party. For the remainder of his life, Pirandello was always under close surveillance by the secret fascist police OVRA.
Deservingly PEN citation says : “in paying the ultimate price for the exercise of their freedom, and then soldiering on amid devastating loss, Charlie Hebdo deserves to be recognized for its dauntlessness in the face of one of the most noxious assaults on expression in recent memory.”
Choyon Khairul Habib
29/04/15
Brittany France
In small French town Dieppe, strolling among the Kebab shop owners who happened to be mostly from the Muslim background Jack Craver recieved mixed messages:
“We’re not for the attacks, but we’re not for Charlie either,” explained Sirouan, a proprietor of one of Dieppe’s many Kebab shops .
Sirouan, an Iraqi Kurd, moved to France eight years ago as a young man and speaks fluent French, with only a slight accent. A fellow employee, Khoshnau, also a Kurdish immigrant, came to France recently via Britain. Although both described themselves as “believers,” neither is particularly devout.
“I mean, I drink,” volunteered Khoshnau. He also described losing family members to religious extremists in Iraq.“That’s not Islam,” he said, describing ISIS and other radical Islamic movements. “Those are terrorists.”....
Why would two mostly secular men adamantly opposed to religious violence describe themselves as “not Charlie”?
“When you insult our prophet like that, it hurts,” said Sirouan. “There’s liberty of expression but leave religions alone.”
“I have no link with Islam,” said Alish, a shop owner of Kurdish descent who was raised in France. “So the cartoons [of Muhammad] never bothered me.” In fact, Jean-Pierre Hadjab, a middle school English teacher of Algerian descent with whom I work, grew up reading Charlie Hebdo, whose depictions of Muhammad never struck him as an attack on Arabs.
Favouring the honour to Charlie Hebdo, one of the most robust arguement came from Karthick Ram Manoharan, a PHD student and graduate asst teacher at UK's Essex University:
''Europeans should not be guilty about the claims of discrimination that Islamists and their apologists frequently shell out as an excuse for Muslim extremism. We must be bold enough to recognize that Islamism is not a legitimate reaction of an oppressed group, but a powerful world movement funded by petrodollars, arms trade, drug trafficking and sex slavery. If there is anything writers in the West should be guilty about, it is the sordid history of how the Western powers funded these movements in the past to counter secular and socialist movements in the Middle-East and in the countries of the former Soviet bloc....
But to further contemplate on Kushner's comment that Charlie Hebdo promoted "cultural intolerance" - should we tolerate primordial savagery that is anathema to all forms of civilization? Can the French Partisans in World War II also be accused of "cultural intolerance" towards Nazism?''
Lets now dig into Luigi Pirandello and his play 'Six Characters in Search of an Author' which Rushdie circustically altered into 'Six Authors in Search of a bit of Character.'
'Six Characters in Search of an Author': The Plot
An acting company prepares to rehearse the play The Rules of the Game by Luigi Pirandello. As the rehearsal is about to begin, they are unexpectedly interrupted by the arrival of six strange people. The Director of the play, furious at the interruption, demands an explanation. The Father explains that they are unfinished characters in search of an author to finish their story. The Director initially believes them to be mad, but as they begin to argue amongst themselves and reveal details of their story he begins to listen. The Father and The Mother had one child together, but they have separated and Mother has had three children by another man. The Father attempted to buy sex from the Stepdaughter claiming he did not recognize her after so many years, but the Stepdaughter is convinced he knew who she was the entire time. The Mother walked in on The Father and The Stepdaughter shortly after The Father's proposal and informs The Stepdaughter that he is her ex-husband; they both express their disgust and outrage. While The Director is not an author, he agrees to stage their story despite disbelief amongst the jeering actors.
Pirandello And The Fascists
In 1925, Pirandello, with the help of Mussolini, assumed the artistic direction and ownership of the Teatro d'Arte di Roma. He described himself as "a Fascist because I am Italian." For his devotion to Mussolini, the satirical magazine Il Becco Giallo used to call him P. Randello (randello in Italian means club).
His play, The Giants of the Mountain, has been interpreted as evidence of his realization that the fascists were hostile to culture; yet, during a later appearance in New York, Pirandello distributed a statement announcing his support of Italy's annexation of Abyssinia. He gave his Nobel Prize medal to the Fascist government to be melted down for the Abyssinia Campaign.He expressed publicly apolitical belief, saying "I'm apolitical, I'm only a man in the world..." He had continuous conflicts with famous fascist leaders. In 1927 he tore his fascist membership card in pieces in front of the dazed secretary-general of the Fascist Party. For the remainder of his life, Pirandello was always under close surveillance by the secret fascist police OVRA.
Deservingly PEN citation says : “in paying the ultimate price for the exercise of their freedom, and then soldiering on amid devastating loss, Charlie Hebdo deserves to be recognized for its dauntlessness in the face of one of the most noxious assaults on expression in recent memory.”
Choyon Khairul Habib
29/04/15
Brittany France
