24 September, 2007

BP Singhal, Entertainer

WTF quote of the day:

Anybody who wants to denigrate another religion, I call him a Christian. You must find out Ambika Soni’s religion.

This is Hindutva defender BP Singhal, as interviewed by Shivam Vij. It is a priceless rant, but its entertainment value is diluted by the fact that many people take Singhal seriously, and share his sentiments.

This fine exchange takes place between Shivam and Singhal in another part of the interview:

[T]here is an objective way of looking at such things that can recognise mythology but not mythological beliefs.

If you come to the scientific realm I will give you scientific evidence. There are seventh century onward coins which have the word Setu on them. There are temple complexes in Indonesia which have sculptures of seven monkeys carrying stones on their arms and heads, and with bows and arrows Lakshman and Ram behind them.

But those could be artistic representations of mythological stories.

Who are you to give your interpretation, artistic or non-artistic! And who is anybody? There is a picture that speaks for itself. If you don’t understand its language say I don’t understand its language. But you have no right whatsoever to give another interpretation than what it is giving in your face!

That’s right, whatever Singhal says is fact, and anything else is an interpretation that no one has the right to articulate. Who are you to give your interpretation, eh?

The best part comes when Singhal is asked about what he thinks is the motive for wanting to destroy the Ram Setu, and he says:

Americans! Americans! Americans and the Christians. I mean, Christians because of Americans and Americans because of Christians, and Christians themselves.

So you see, illogical anti-Americanism is not just a feature of the Loony Left, but also of the Rabid Right. Such it is, such it goes…