Interview with Naipul

Topic started by Indian (@ hor186074.uea.ac.uk) on Sun Aug 18 12:13:16 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

Naipaul again: Pak cradle of terror

Agencies

London, August 7: Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul has stated that the Godhra
carnage was designed to create a reaction that led to the burning of Gujarat
for months together.

In an interview to the Times, Sir Naipaul, who does not hide his definite
antipathy for ‘‘Islam’s fanatical role in India’s past as well as
present’’, said: ‘‘The original thing that started it was a terrorist
act, and should be considered so. It was meant to create a reaction.’’



The 70-year-old Sir Naipaul, who created a row by expressing his sympathy for
Hindu revivalism in the form of the BJP, says: ‘‘My feelings about the BJP
are very complicated,’’ but adds that he has not changed his basic view.

‘‘I think every liberal person should extend a hand to that kind of
movement from the bottom. One takes the longer view rather than the political
view. There’s a great upheaval in India and if you’re interested in India,
you must welcome it,’’ said the Trinidad-born British author.

Naipaul said he was aware of the absurdity of an international war against
terrorism for the simple reason that ‘‘your biggest enemy is your great
ally’’.

Even though he approved of the war against Afghanistan aimed at flushing out
the Taliban and Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the
September 11 attacks on the US, Naipaul said: ‘‘Your biggest enemy is your
great ally — Saudi Arabia — and the foot-soldiers of terror come from your
other ally — Pakistan.’’

Asked whether he had any inkling of the possibility of the September 11
attacks, he said: ‘‘I’ve been aware of madness in the Islamic world.
I’ve written about it.’’

‘‘The madness of people who have fallen behind technically, and who do not
have the will to make the intellectual effort to catch up. I was aware of the
religious hatred, I was aware of the indifference to life. I was aware of the
anti-civilisation aspect of the new fundamentalism. But I had no idea it had
gone so far — the madness,’’ the author of Indian origin said.

‘‘The idea of their strength is an illusion. Nothing comes from within. The
terrorists can fly a plane, but what they can’t do is build a plane. What
they can’t do is build those towers... It’s nothing but religious hatred.
And that is so hard to deal with, or even contemplate. You can deal with the
poor striking out, but you can’t deal with the threat of a universal
religious war,’’ said Naipaul, who was knighted in 1990.

Talking about Pakistan, he says both his books on Islam have been
‘‘banned’’ there.

‘‘Anyway it’s not a book-reading country. It has no intellectual life —
it’s against the intellectual life. I think if the fount of all your actions
is religion and the idea of the religious war, which involves religious hatred,
then books, civilisation... These things don’t matter to you. All you need is
the Koran and a ruler with a big stick,’’ the 70-year-old author said.


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