Rushdie affair is really, a failure of words

Maybe there are now so many words that we have lost the capacity to value them, or worse, the people behind them. So many words have been written about the Salman Rushdie “affair”, and there may yet be questions officials still need to answer about how they handled it. I have never read any of Rushdie’s work. You can read all your life and still not hope to scratch the surface of the millions of words created daily, nevermind the most timeless works created over the centuries in a multitude of beautiful languages. [caption id=“attachment_196772” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Visitors wait for the Indian born British author Salman Rushdie’s video conference at the Jaipur Literature Festival. AP”]  [/caption] Whether you have read him or not, what this past week showed above anything else was a failure of words. Plenty of people were yelling, or denouncing - Rushdie included - but few were talking to each other. In the spirit of an age where anyone can write anything instantly on their phones, tablets or computers, it is easy to let words fly, without thought or compassion. Threats of violence or death are the most extreme and shameful examples in any country of hatred so easily expressed in words and so deeply held within the heart. Each one of us must rise above this most base use of words. It’s not because we’re diminishing the value of words, of truly beautiful poetry or literature or holy scripts. It’s because we are ultimately devaluing and dismissing the humans behind them. Humankins - as my dad refers to we mortals - are such fragile creatures. We bruise easily with sticks, and stones, and words DO hurt us. But we have value - this is really easy to say, but it must be said occasionally. Even if you hate Rushdie, or think he was a mediocre author, he is still a husband, son, brother, father. No god or otherwise should ever devalue that fundamental so much as to justify hate, or violence. And hatred comes just as easily from “liberals” - a word that could increasingly do with consignment to the back of the dictionary. Liberals - so-called or self-called - hate those who censor, those who threaten and those who hate. It is sometimes a natural reaction, but the words of reaction don’t help. So both sides fire missiles of words at each other. They press buttons largely without ever having to see the face of the real humankins they’re catapulting their barely suppressed hatred towards. If you can’t see your target, and you’re anonymous online, then it doesn’t matter, right? Surely if you believe in the words spoken by your god, your prophets, your soothsayers, your authors of fictions, and in the words you shout in defence of those words you hold so holy, then you would not wish to have any of those mouths - ethereal, literary, or bombastic - taped shut. It works both ways - right, left, religious, atheist, political, literary, foreign, domestic. I make a living from words, but I am acutely aware of their power, to help and to hurt. I will fight against censorship but politely request we all take more responsibility for our words. The Rushdie “incident” is a failure on all sides to think about the power of our words, the waste of energy of our hate, and a failure to value the very human ability to speak and the humankins behind that ability. The 15th century bhakti poet Kabir wrote: Except that it robs you of who you are, What can you say about speech? Inconceivable to live without And impossible to live with, Speech diminishes you. Speak with a wise man, there’ll be Much to learn; speak with a fool, All you get is prattle. Strike a half-empty pot, and it’ll make A loud sound; strike one that is full, Says Kabir, and hear the silence. (KG 61) Long before the internet, or publishing, or smart phones, this mysterious figure summed up what we need to remember about words, about speech. To some, words are “inconceivable to live without”. To others, they are “impossible to live with”. You can learn from the wise, and learn little from those who hate without thinking. Ultimately though, they’re just words - they’re not the humankins who speak them. Sometimes silence is okay if you want to appreciate and listen to the person in front of you.