laaga Chunri Mein Daag and the dilemnas of the Muslim left

A review from the NYT of Laaga Chunari mein daag below. I enjoyed the movie, and thought that Konkana Sen Sharma held the movie together.

A fascinating blend of musical, melodrama and feminist fairy tale, “Laaga Chunari Mein Daag” shows Bollywood’s moral universe in transition. The film follows the fortunes of Badki (Rani Mukherjee) and Chutki (Konkona Sen Sharma), sisters from a genteel Benares family with money problems and predatory relatives. When Badki leaves to find work in Bombay (as everyone in the film still calls the sin city currently known as Mumbai), “Laaga” really takes off. There, Badki — with no diploma and no skills — becomes Natasha: a high-priced prostitute. The movie isn’t coy about this. “I’ve fallen from grace,” she says. “I can never come back.” Ms. Sharma hits all the right notes as Chutki, the film’s conscience and clown. Through her, “Laaga” rejects tragedy and embraces its musical comedy heart.

Also a good article on the Muslim left here.

Well, secular tyrannies are inadequate. Monarchies are dictatorial. Outright Islamophobia and directly demonising Islam gives fuel to Islamism. Military confrontation is out of the question for ethical and pragmatic reasons.

I recommend creating a viable and well organised Muslim left. It would be an intra-religious movement as opposed to a universalist one (though obviously it doesn't shun allies). It would be a cousin of the international left, but in a Muslim garb. Just as the Muslim right found Islamic means to justify the destructive ideas from the enlightenment (Fascism, Marxism, totalitarianism, evangelical religion), the Muslim left should find Islamic means to justify the positive ones (anti-foundationalism, pragmatism, autonomy, tolerance).

This Muslim left should also espouse the following basic ideas, without being limited to them:


separation of mosque and state;

opposition to tyranny (even if the tyrant has liberal values);

affirmance of republicanism or democracy;

an ability to coherently demonstrate that the Muslim right represents merely one interpretation of Islam;

a commitment to free speech and eagerness to defeat the Muslim right in the marketplace of ideas;

commitment to religious individualism and opposition to left-collectivism, specifically Marxism;

opposition to economic protectionism;

opposing any and all calls for a "council of religious experts" that can oversee legislation (even if those experts are liberals); and

affirming international law.