“Where they have burned books, they will end in burning human beings.” — Heinrich Heine
Gita and Ramayana Will Be Burnt By The DMK
Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) president K Veeramani has warned that the sacred book of the Hindus, the Bhagawad Gita and the Indian epic Ramayana, would be burnt as part of a demonstration to be organised soon. Veeramani said and alleged that Ramayana, one of the oldest and well known epics of the world, besmirched women … The DK leader also said that the Bhagavath Gita and Manusmruthi too denigrated the women folk. Hence, a demonstration would be held soon and these works would be burnt to ashes.
Because burning religious texts will empower poor and uneducated women in Tamil Nadu. Right. Why doesn’t the DK, for instance, give them an educational hand up after which women parse religious and secular texts for themselves, and figure out what they want? But, it isn’t really about the empowerment of Tamilian woman, is it?
When Marx opined that religion is the opiate of the masses because it discourages independent thought, he didn’t foresee his own philosophy turning into the anthem of an organized sheep huddle. Any enshrined set of ideas can be twisted and abused for the acquisition of power. Ask Jesus about the Catholic Church and Mohammed about Sharia.
This brings us to books and literacy: Before The Gutenberg Press the average person owned 0 books. Before Project Gutenberg average persons owned 0 libraries. Let’s make the personal computer the personal library, starting right here with the falling literacy rate of the United States.
I’m all for making books available on the internet, but I will never give up the pleasure of browsing in bookshops and libraries.
Blair, you have the luxury of browsing in bookshops and good libraries. Most of America and the world do not. This is not an eBook vs. book debate, as much as it is a statement that in an age when traditional books are increasingly expensive, hence out of reach, and the price of computing is going down, owning a personal library containing public-domain classics is one of the solutions. It is a problem of getting the maximum number of books to the maximum number of people.
FYI Koreans printed the first book, and had movable type before Gutenburg.
Just some trivia for you.
No argument, Maitri, but those who can experience book-in-hand should do so.