Leapfrogging Back To The Times Of Religious Obscurantism

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 13 January 2024 Religiously Intolerant People Are Often Those Ignorant Fools Who Know Nothing About Their Religions And Concomitant Traditions And Rituals. We've A Plethora Of Such Mutton-Headed, Sorry, Cauliflower-Headed (Because Analogy Should Also Be Veg For Sanatanis!) Fanatics ------ Tamil-language film “Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food,” headlined by “Jawan” actor Nayanthara, has been pulled from Netflix after attracting multiple complaints from Hindu groups. The film follows a girl from an orthodox Hindu family, who aspires to become India’s best chef. It released theatrically on Dec. 1 and began streaming on Netflix from Dec. 29. It soon attracted the ire of Hindu groups from across India, who filed police complaints on the grounds that it offended Hindu religious sentiments. In the movie, Nayanthara, who plays a Hindu priest’s daughter, offers a Muslim prayer wearing a Muslim headdress. Extra-touchy neo-Hindus are also of the view that the film promotes “Love jihad” [a conspiracy theory about Hindu women being seduced into converting to Islam] as Nayanthara’s character’s Muslim friend Farhan (played by Jai) “brainwashes” her to cut meat saying that Ram and his consort Sita also ate meat. These fanatics say that many Hindus are vegetarians and the concept of their gods eating meat is offensive to them. The film, it must be remembered, was cleared by India's official Censor Board. In taking down legitimate content or offering apology, the streaming services are playing unconstitutional censors under the pressure of the ruling regime. India, at the moment, has two favourite pastimes: Ram and Religion. The country seems to have travelled back in time to reach the medieval, nay bronze, era. We're talking about time-travel, taking a quantum leap in the times to come but here in India, we're leapfrogging back to the times of religious obscurantism. Now everything is being viewed through the prism of extreme religiosity. Most of the Hindus eat meat but think that their gods consume Gaajar, Paalak and all Saatvik Bhojan. Jai Prabhu! Jai Sri Ram! Bengali Brahmins cannot live without their daily diet of Maachhi-Bhaat (fish and rice) and they offer meat to their favourite deity Kali. Visit Kalighat in Calcutta and Kamakhya in Assam and see the goats waiting to be slaughtered for a subaltern deity. Religiously intolerant people are often those ignorant fools who know nothing about their religions and concomitant traditions and rituals. We've a plethora of such mutton-headed, sorry, cauliflower-headed (because analogy should also be veg for Sanatanis!) fanatics who're out to establish a Hindu Rashtra. Let's see, for how long does this euphoric religiosity last? ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/leapfrogging-religious-obscurantism/d/131512 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism