V. S. Naipaul

I THINK YOU ARE RIGHT. NAIPAL IS IN CONFLICT WITH HIMSELF. I`VE NEVER READ A MORE NEEDLESSLY DULL AND POINTLESS AUTHOR. IT BEATS ME AS TO HOW HE WON THE NOBLE PRIZE. SOMETIMES I FEEL THE WORLD HAS GONE ABSOLUTELY NUTS!

warpster #3: ``One of his main points in his islamic country tours was that islam encourages its followers to disown their pre-islamic heritage actively and aggressively (be it Iran, Malaysia or Pakistan). Would you disagree with his assessment?``

I don`t know whether you are an Indian or a Pakistani, but I have heard a lot of Indians making the above comment. It is usually made right after pointing out that Pakistan is filled with monsters, waiting to target Indians. The later comment, has been put to death (hopefully) after the Indians have finally had a chance to see Pakistanis, for the first time in real life, through the recent cricket series. I still cannot help smiling, when I see the dropped jaws of my Indians colleagues, when they see Pakistanis enjoying themselves at these matches, and welcoming Indians. It goes completely against what they were originally brainwashed into believing about Pakistanis. All of them are now, ``overwhelmed.`` Even Sunil Shetty, a face regularly seen in anti-Pakistan movies, received a rousing welcome in Lahore.

I am not sure how the second argument will come to rest. It is obviously not true either. Pakistanis, including me, still carry their ancestoral Hindu names. That, in itself, should be enough to put the argument to death. After all, if a person wanted to drop his/her heritage, their names would be the first thing they would change. On the other hand, other than A.R. Rahman, I have not seen any Hindu with a Muslim name.

But what I am more interested in (if you are Indian) is who plants all these fariytales into the minds of Indians, regarding Islam and Pakistan, and what not. Could you highlight.

As for Naipaul: What the hell difference does it make what he thinks. He is one human being, who has his own issues, like the rest of us. If he wants to mouth off on Muslims, it is his right. Doesn`t make any difference, one way or the other. I am a bit concerned about his hobnobbing with the BJP however......

You have picked various quotes from people and pasted it. Your own opinions (other than a general negative spin on Naipaul) are mostly missing.

Naipaul, if I recall, is married to a pakistani muslim (interesting that Rushdie is married to an indian hindu!). He cannot be all that xenophobic as you claim. He has, in the past, toured a bunch of islamic countries and called it as he saw it. Not an even handed account to be sure but then he is not an academic or journalist.

One of his main points in his islamic country tours was that islam encourages its followers to disown their pre-islamic heritage actively and aggressively (be it Iran, Malaysia or Pakistan). Would you disagree with his assessment?

He is entitled to hobnob with whoever he wishes be it the BJP, VHP or whoever. Claiming that, as Rushdie does, it disgraces the Nobel is ridiculous. To claim a moral equivalence between the VHP on the one hand and nazis and fascists on the other is extremely questionable.

Naipaul may be a complex, troubled personality but then most interesting, creative people also could be characterized similarly (Picasso, Van Gogh, Dali etc.) His personality does not invalidate his writings.

Rashid,
Naipaul`s negative feelings towards Islam are basically driven by fear and awe at the immense power of a religion that can mobilize one-sixth of humanity and result in an intense collective feeling of being ``different`` from the rest. It is the same underlying sentiment that motivated the clash of civilization hypothesis. At the same time I doubt if he personally hates muslims per se, given that his spouse is Pakistani.
The real question is whether Islam can peacefully coexist with other civilizations. Most secular people like myself, believe that to be the case. The current warm-up of Indo-Pak relations shows that it is indeed possible. Naipaul and others of his ilk (e.g. jay) are pessimists who believe that the ideology behind Islam is too strong to coexist with other ideologies or ways of life. Time will tell, which side is right about this.

Rashid Mughal

I think you overused the whole thing about using Naipauls titles in your piece it isnt that clever or impressive. Actually it is like something a sixteen year old would do. Also, it is Sylvia PLATH, not Sylvia PLATT.

Are you really a writer? And an editor? What have you ever edited? Dude, you are a terrible writer.

Naipaul, I can take his early works and pick and choose from the rest. He wrote some cr@p about India, but he wrote some good stuff about other things. I think he sees himself as a Hindu version of Iqbal. Incidentally, he writes cuttingly and intelligently on Iqbal. If he took a step back he might be able to see how people sometimes resemble those they rage against the most.