Committee to examine censorship law soon

Emphasising that he is not in favour of 'moral policing' with regard to censorship of films, Jaipal Reddy said a committee would be set up.

Emphasising that he is not in favour of "moral policing" with regard to censorship of films, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy today said a committee would be set up to examine the censorship law in its entirety.

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"I am not (not) in favour of a repressive regime or moral policing, but we cannot do without some kind of a law. We will be appointing a committee headed by the Joint Secretary to look at the law in its entirety," Reddy told reporters here adding that changes could be made if necessary.

"We cannot follow the western countries' model when it comes to censorship. India has its own sensitivities and we have to consider them. Some parts of the country are more advanced than the western countries while vast areas are mired in poverty," the minister said.

When asked about reports that the government is monitoring the viewing habits of people in Jammu and Kashmir, the minister said intelligence is not (not) dealt with by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, but "we do agree that we have to get our message across to the Kashmiri people and for that we have to install adequate infrastructure. We are in the process of doing that," Reddy said.

The government is willing to amend the laws to put a stop to this, but laws have to be implemented by the states, he said.

"We are sensitising state governments and people so that they are aware of the issue," he said adding that the government would also ask states to reduce entertainment taxes as a deterrent step.

When asked how the government would curb piracy of Indian films in Pakistan, he said Indian films are not (not) shown officially in Pakistan.

"We have to convince them to show our films and we will gladly show theirs," he said.