THE  MODERN  RATIONALIST

Mr.Christopher Hitchens, a fine intellectual and political columniist, a thoughtful friend of India who clearly understood its responsible role in a complex geo-political world, passed away on Thursday, 15th December in Houston. He is mourned by crores of fans, contemporarians and coolleques that included writers, scholars and politicians, many of whom he both befriended and offended.

He was a master of oratorical flow and verbal assault, whose fondness for pushing and defending the issues made light of his deep learning and scholarship on staggering range of topics. In a career of writer that lasted for four decades, Hitchens excoriated public figures ranging from Mahatma Gandhi to Mother Theresa to Henry Kissingerd to Princess Diana to General Musharraf, ripping the hypocracy and can’t that accompanied their posture and image.

In his book on Mother Theresa, Hitchens denounced her as a “fraud”, and her missionaries of charity church, which is regarded as cult. He polished his reputation for controversy with ‘In the Trial of Henry Kissinger’, in which he accused the former Secretary of State of ‘war crimes’, and argued that he should be prosecuted for ‘crimes against humanity’.

He didn’t spare Mahatma Gandhi too, saying “Gandhi can not escape culpability for being the only major preacher of appeasement who never changed his mind.”

It was his scathing attack of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and its terrorism-supporting military that rocked Washingon, since Hitchens regarded Pakistan as a venal and ‘shameless” artificial state. In his essay ‘Vanity Fair’, Hitchens threatened US administration for its Pakistan policy. He explained to the ‘big, rich dumb Americans’ that the nuke and the army of the degraded country of Pakistan are intended to be reserved for war against the neighbouring democracy of India, of which he was an unabashed admirer.

He passionatedy pleaded the American administration for a policy shift in the region: “If we ever ceased to swallow our pride, so I am incessantly told in Washington, then the Pakistani oligarchy might behave even more abysmally than it already does, and the situation deterioratge even further. This stale and superficial argument ignores the awful historical fact that, each time the Pakistant leadership did get worse, or behave worse, it was handsomely rewarded by the US. We have been the enablers of every stage of that wretched state’s counter revolution, to the point where it is a serious regional menace and an undisguisaed ally of our worst enemy, as well as the sworn enemy of some of our best allies. How could it be “worse” if we shift our alliance and instead embraced India, our only rival in scale as a multi-ethnic and multi-religious democracy and a nation that contains nearly as many Muslims as Pakistan. ”

It was not the first time Hitchens explained to “dumb” Americans the distinction between a liberal, multi-ethnic, multi religious parliamentary democracy and an artificial theocratic state born of “manipulation and middleman tactics”. He passionately pleaded to maintain firm, warm solidarity with India, which is a pressing need of the present hour.

Besides being a plorific writer, wide reader and convincing orator, Hitchens has also got a good memory power. He could immediately recollect some thing he read or heard years ago, says his friend Ian McEwan. His writing style is pompisou heavily laden with adjectives, elegantly looping suh-clauses and archaic phrases such as “allow me to inform you”etc. He brought to his work outstanding skills of reporting and observation. He was a regular drinker and smoker. Inebriated or sober, he could charm almost anybody. He was also capable of withdrewing the charm and making a deep would at will.

He started his career as an entrant in the New Statesman. He became the Washington correspondent of “nation” contributing editor of Vanity Fair from 1982, literary essayist for Atlantic Monthly, a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books and a talking head on innumerable cable TV shows. He wrote 11 books, co-wrote six more and had five collections of essays published. His books on Orwell, Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine were most positive. His most successful book which brought him immediate international fame was God Is Not Great : How Religion Poisons Everything (2007), a mocking indictment which put him alongside Richard Dawkins as a leading enemy of the devout. He never let up in his ‘cold, steady hatred’ of all religions.

Hitchens was also, to his great pleasure, a liberal studies professor at the New School in New York and, for a time, visiting professor at the University of California, as well as a regular on the public lecture and debate circuit. Hitches loved debates. He confronted the Catholic convert Tony Blair before an audience of 2700 in Toronto and, by general consent, won with ease. His friend Amis described Hitchens as a rhetorician of such distinction that “in debate, no matter what the motion, I would back him against Cicero, against Demosthenes.”

He was a leftist right from the beginning of his career. Nobody else spoke with such confidence and passion for socialism. Hitchens travelled widely as a young man, visiting Poland, Portugal, Czechoslovakia and Argentina at crucial moments in their anti-totalitarian struggles, offering fraternal solidarity and support. He went on to write at length about such countires, sometimes at risk of arrest or physical attack. His loathing of tyranny was consistrent, unlike many of the 1960s gfeneration, he never harboured illusions about Mao or Castro.

Hitchens was born in Portsmouth in England in 1949. He migrated to USA in 1983. Though he was residing there fore more than 25 years, Hitchens took out US citizenship, only after the attack on American twin towers.

When he finally parted from the left, it seemed to some as though the Pope had announced he was no longer a Catholic. Though Hitchens supported Mr. Bush’s war in Iraq, he was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against Mr.Bush’s domestic spying programme.

When Hitchens was on a tour during 2010 for promotion of his book “Hitch-22”, he was diagnosed that he was suffering from cancer in his food path, which finally killed him after an year. He gave early notice that there would be no deathbed conversion to religion.If we ever heard of such a thing, he advised, should attribute it to sickness, dementia or drugs.

(The Rationalists’ Forum, Tamil Nadu, India – patronized by Dr.K.Veeramani, President - Dravidar Kazhagam convened a meeting on 18th December 2011 at Chennai, and condoled the demise of Christopher Hitchens. A brief account of his writings and approach to propagate atheist ideals were recalled among the assembled rationalists. Besides, the collection of the books written by Hitchens were displayed along with his photograph for the view to pay respects to the maverick – humanist.)