As you’ve heard, a warrant for Richard Gere’s arrest was served in India, in response to his public kissing of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. Seeking to defuse the controversy, Gere has apologized for giving offense. Too bad — his initial response, that this was a publicity-seeking move by a fringe group of Hindu fundamentalists, was the correct one.
On NPR this morning, a listener wrote in that Gere should have been more sensitive to “Indian culture,” as if there is such a thing as a unitary Indian culture. The country is massive, with a billion people and well over 18 officially recognized languages. Top Indian officials, and Ms. Shetty herself, are speaking out against the effigy-burning mobs.
To say that foreigners should “respect” these ultra-conservative wackos as upholders of “Indian culture” is like saying that visitors to America, in deference to “American culture,” ought not to offend the political sensitivities of James Dobson.
[P.S. — On CNN someone was quoted to the effect that in India, there are “different ideas about how a woman should be treated.” I’ll say. Just look at the mobs of angry men protesting Richard Gere and imagine how they treat women.]
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