Dear Editor,
The charge against the musician using the name Baby Skello has caused several letter writers and commentators to come to his defence under the guise of freedom of expression. Unfortunately, these individuals with mostly Christian names do not feel the hurt, pain and anger of the majority in the Hindu community. And worse, many of the Hindu leaders who would write long letters in the press feuding over the date on which Divali or Phagwah should be celebrated, now seem to have lost their appetite for writing. In my view, freedom of speech is indeed a hallmark of democracy. However, even in advanced democracies freedom of speech has limitations.
Guyana is a multiracial, multicultural society. Religion is an integral part of a peoples’ culture and their identity. Insulting a people’s religion is not simply a matter of free speech. It can cause great harm as we have seen in many European countries such as France and Holland where death and destruction resulted from perceived insult to a particular religion. Even more than a decade after author Salman Rushdie’s perceived insult of Islam, he was viciously slashed several times by an attacker, nearly died and left permanently blinded in one eye. In Guyana where race, religion and politics are intertwined freedom of speech has to be tempered with reality.
As I reflect on this matter, I am reminded of the Guyanese expression “monkey does know which tree limb fuh climb on”. Hinduism is a religion of peace so it is easy to dump on and Hindus in Guyana are generally pacifists. The vulgarity in that song is unbelievable. To the many defenders of the singer who see this matter as his right to freedom of expression, I say remove the words “Mother Laxmi” in the song and replace by “Virgin Mary” and let it go viral. I believe the reaction not only in Guyana but across the Caribbean, the USA and Canada would be incendiary.
For the uninformed who believe that Hinduism is all rituals, religious holidays and idol worship, I encourage you to listen to the great American “Queen of All Media”, the incomparable Oprah Winfrey, in her YouTube video “Why I Chose Hinduism Over Thousands of Other Religions”. In her presentation, this outstanding African-American notes “It (Hinduism) gave me a relationship with the divine…The Vedas, the Upanishads, the epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata (Hindu Holy books), were not written for one time or one tribe. They were born from the observation of human nature, the cycles of life, the mysteries of the Cosmos…”
A further YouTube video is worth bringing to readers attention. It is titled “Africans doing Aarti, Bhajan and Chanting Mantra”. It shows indigenous (yes African) Ghanaians performing Aarti in homage to none other than Mother Lakshmi. Unlike Baby Skello, they are singing “Jai Lakshmi Mata” meaning “Glory to you oh Mother Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth, prosperity and abundance.
Harry Hergash
