‘Cultural bullies trying to strangle spirit of free thought, rationality’

Cultural bullies were currently trying to strangulate the spirit of free thinking and rationality in Indian society, said Professor S Irfan Habib of the National University of Educational Planning and Administration.

In his keynote address at a seminar organised by Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, Habib also said that politicisation and misinterpretation of issues related to religion were threatening to tear down the fabric of pluralism, arduously put in place in post-Independence India.

Habib recalled the works of Maulana Azad, who all along battled against religious orthodoxy for openness and critical thinking. He felt Maulana Azad’s thought was relevant in today’s context of attacks on the argumentative process.

“Maulana Azad rebelled against conformism and vulgarisation of religion,” Habib said. The Professor also recalled Maulana Azad’s aversion for narrow-mindedness and described it as a disease of a nation.

Professor Ranjan Chakrabarti, Vice-Chancellor of Vidyasagar University, said the nation has been seeing a battle for multiculturalism, secularism and democracy. He felt blunt propagation of obscurantism always sharpened the opposition to it. He was optimistic that India would overcome the hurdles and move ahead.

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