Parekh and Touraine have stressed the importance of intercultural dialogue in the
construction of multicultural societies. When, in 2004, the Repertory Theatre in
Birmingham, UK, produced Behzti (‘Dishonour’ in
Punjabi), by a British-born Sikh playwright, local Sikhs entered into a dialogue
with the theatre management and tried unsuccessfully to change aspects of the play
they believed offensive to their faith. A demonstration outside the theatre turned
violent and the production was halted, with an international outcry against this
affront to artistic licence. Although frequently represented as a Manichaean
conflict between proponents of free speech and those who sought to protect religious
sensibilities, the affair may not have been about, or not mainly about, the clash
between religious and secular values at all. It was much more complex, with a
diversity of voices and arguments that slithered between principles of liberal and
religious faith, culture, gender, and ‘race’.