What Should A Writer Write? What Should A Reader Read?

Because of several attacks and threats to writers, one would like to know the answers to the above questions.

Just to take two examples—male and female.

Salman Rushdie got the fatwa for his “sins” in writing Satanic Verses, what Muslims considered as insult to their prophet and religion.

In the same way, the Bangladeshi writer, Taslima Nasreem, went into hiding in India when Muslims started hunting for her on account of her defaming writings.

Questions: What is freedom of expression? How far should it go?

I think the best a reader will do is to send a riposte to any deemed offensive writing. Or not to read t all.

In the context of the above, Jews and blacks might even ask for the author of Queen Esther to be hanged. Because in the book, Esther was black, not Jewish; and it was the Jews that were decreed to die in Persia, not blacks.

But does it matter? Which is more important: the message or the method of conveyance?


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