E-Paper
Control dramas
The Talibanesque charade being played out over the movie based on The Da Vinci Code raises questions about how freedom of expression is being encroached on by illiberal groups, and the Government of India.
The Talibanesque charade being played out over the movie based on The Da Vinci Code raises questions about how freedom of expression is being encroached on by illiberal groups, and the Government of India. The Censor Board needs to be abolished and the government must think very carefully about the consequences of its proposed bill on regulating TV broadcasts. Restrictions, when needed in the interests of public order, are best handled through self-regulation. Conflicts arising can be arbitrated by the courts. Governments are best advised to stay clear of anything that smacks of censorship. That is why we find I&B Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi’s remark that he would only permit the screening of The Da Vinci Code if the Catholic bodies clear the movie unacceptable. It takes us back to when Rang de Basanti had to be ‘approved’ by the three chiefs of the armed forces. This is an untenable proposition whose absurd logic will have mafia dons clearing crime movies.
Indian laws are quite clear that freedom of speech and expression are not absolute; they are subject to limits which prevent incitement of hatred against another community. But recent governments have tended to interpret this to mean that if any small group vociferously or violently threatens or demands a ban on a book, painting or movie, they get the benefit of doubt and the work is promptly banned.
In fairness to the Christian protestors, they have come last into this queue. In the late-Eighties, Muslim protests ensured the ban of The Satanic Verses. More recently, they took to the streets against cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad published in some other countries. Their Hindu counterparts prevented the filming of Water in Varanasi and attacked theatres showing Fire and Jo Bole So Nihal. Liberalism, the essence of democracy, is about freedom of thought, restriction of the powers of the government and religion. To undermine liberalism is to weaken democracy.