THIS is apropos of the story regarding the ban on a band of girls in occupied Kashmir.

At the same time, a young Hindu contemporary artist in India was prevented by Indian extremists from exhibiting his paintings because they and the extremist religious BJP felt that this would injure Hindu sentiments.

Although the artist’s father, a lawyer and member of the Indian Supreme Court Bar, clarified and protested on the media that there was no legality in this action and that it infringed upon the right to free speech.

And in spite of the artist community protesting and explaining that nudity was a part and parcel of the Hindu religion, culture and mythology and its art wwere naturally a reflection of the same.

A statuette, worshipped for thousands of years, of a Hindu goddess in the buff was shown on Indian TV as an example by a senior woman artist protesting this ban.

This same artist also wondered why it was normal for groups of hundreds of Sadhus or holy men in the nude to participate in religious melas and festivals with no objection from the thousands of ultra religious Hindu participants of all genders, classes and ages.

She said further that on the same day as the art show was banned she saw a group of about 25 nude religious men walking near a Delhi flyover, further reinforcing the fact that nudity even in urban areas is an accepted part of Hinduism.

Why was this important piece of news not picked up?

The point is why do we have this irresistible urge to beat ourselves and our religion down and overlook transgressions of other religions? Was it lazy journalism? Was it a western worldview, i.e. Islam - bashing? This calls for an editorial policy review.

If the occupied Kashmir band story was picked, so should have been the other one. Both took place simultaneously and both were public display of religious intolerance and extremism. And both were equally headlined in Indian media when they took place.

NIGHAT MIR Karachi