It’s our tradition to agree to disagree
instance, when the classical tyranny of San skrit needed to be questioned and subverted many modern Indian languages came into being as forms of dissent from the classical The vernacular did not, as it were, demolish or aspire to occupy the hallowed space of the classical. Instead it became a dissenting par allel. Each Indian language embodies and sustains a worldview which deviates from the classical world view of Sanskrit. The presence of nearly 1,000 Ramayanas in India ranging from creative transformations in languages to different readings from the Jain point view for instance, are evidence that the domination of a narrative and the worldview it enacted and expressed was creatively chal lenged and transformed. A Kannada Rama yan or a Hindi Ramcharitmanas deviate quite substantially from the original in San skrit by Valmiki and all of them have validity and sanction.
Some satisfaction can be derived from the fact that in the present situation some writ ers-artists-intellectuals have refused to be silent and have protested. It could be claimed that they have stood by the glorious and unbroken tradition of plurality and dissent and hopefully would continue to fight through creative and intellectual means for democratic values of freedom, justice and equality as enshrined both in our traditions and the Constitution. All thinking and crea tive persons owe this much at least to Indian heritage, creative imagination and human ity. That they have many different points once again underlines the innate plurality of both affirmation and dissent in India.