The Casual Vacancy causes a stir
By rjschultz68
@rjschultz68 (387)
October 6, 2012 3:15am CST
JK Rowling's first adult novel, The Casual Vacancy, has caused drawn criticism form India's Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, which manages Sikh places of worship.The furore has been caused by her portrayal of a moustachioed Sikh girl. Is the Sikh community correct to condemn the book as, after all, it is a work of fiction?
1 response
@GemmaR (8517)
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6 Oct 12
I have seen this on the television and I think that there has been a lot of controversy about the book for a number of reasons. One of the reasons was that children might think that it would be like her other work and try to read it, and there is a lot of bad language in it. I don't think that this is the case because it should be the job of their parents to keep the book from them. But I just think that if anybody or any group doesn't like the kind of thing that is written about in a book then they are not being forced to read it by anybody. An author can write about whatever they like, because it is just a work of fiction, and they are never claiming that their work represents an entire community.
@rjschultz68 (387)
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6 Oct 12
I agree with you, in that freedom of expression should not be stifled. The character in the book is only a player in a much larger production and,from what I can gather, she does not attack Sikhism as a religion.
