Ban
seems to be the flavor of the day….
Do you want to ban an author? Yes we can do it. Do you want to ban a film? Yessir. What about jeans or skirts or bikinis? Yes we can out-source the job to our Khap Panchayats and they will throw in a mobile ban for girls for free. The list is endless. The thought process is warped. And the element of logic is conspicuously missing.
The latest item on the banned list is the film on the horrific rape in Delhi .
But first of all, what is curious is the serious divide on this topic between the rulers and the ruled.
It only amplifies the serious gap in thought process of the two.
This ban implies an intolerant and non introspective mind set of our community.
Banning the film after it had been approved by the ministry as well as authorities of Tihar Jail signals and erratic political mindset that can at the slightest provocation or excuse renegade on its sovereign promises.
It also implies that the process of giving approvals is not sound enough, is questionable, and that authorities can wake up any time in the future and makes fresh demands that were not spelt out earlier.
Moreover, going by the variety of items being banned or suggested to be banned by various irrelevant organizations, range from jeans, skirts and bikinis, to beef, liquor, films, authors, etc – the list seems to be endless and lacks any pattern.
And then, the reasons of the ban are as erratic as the products themselves.
Beef is on religious sentiments, Skirts, Jeans and Bikinis are on cultural sentiments, films are on the image that we project to the world, Authors such as Perumal on religious sentiments, Liquor on social reasons, cuss words in films on their influence in society, and then, on and off there have been rumblings even of the ban of Diesel cars as they are perceived to be more polluting….
One can understand bans on reasons of safety, non compliance of norms, environment or health issues etc but erratic, frivolous and subjective issues are hard to understand.
The geographical spread of these bans is also mind-blowing. The law of sale and consumption of beef is varied across parts of the country.
Liquor is banned in 5 states but permitted in the rest of the country.
So, an item is somehow treated differently in different parts of the country? I know we take pride in our cultural diversity but seriously…..is’nt this going too far?
“What bad for the goose is bad for the gander theory” apparently falls flat in this country.
Going by past examples of the various bans imposed in this country, including to the ban on Green piece activist's visit to England, this latest ban on of the film, only reinforces the understanding that historically, the Indian political environment is erratic, capricious and not trust worthy.
India therefore, is a hypocrisy masquerading as a democracy as rightly said by Pathikrit Sen Gupta, of the Hindustan Times.
Lets look forward to a pseudo secular motely society fetered in regressive norms.....
Do you want to ban an author? Yes we can do it. Do you want to ban a film? Yessir. What about jeans or skirts or bikinis? Yes we can out-source the job to our Khap Panchayats and they will throw in a mobile ban for girls for free. The list is endless. The thought process is warped. And the element of logic is conspicuously missing.
The latest item on the banned list is the film on the horrific rape in Delhi .
But first of all, what is curious is the serious divide on this topic between the rulers and the ruled.
It only amplifies the serious gap in thought process of the two.
This ban implies an intolerant and non introspective mind set of our community.
Banning the film after it had been approved by the ministry as well as authorities of Tihar Jail signals and erratic political mindset that can at the slightest provocation or excuse renegade on its sovereign promises.
It also implies that the process of giving approvals is not sound enough, is questionable, and that authorities can wake up any time in the future and makes fresh demands that were not spelt out earlier.
Moreover, going by the variety of items being banned or suggested to be banned by various irrelevant organizations, range from jeans, skirts and bikinis, to beef, liquor, films, authors, etc – the list seems to be endless and lacks any pattern.
And then, the reasons of the ban are as erratic as the products themselves.
Beef is on religious sentiments, Skirts, Jeans and Bikinis are on cultural sentiments, films are on the image that we project to the world, Authors such as Perumal on religious sentiments, Liquor on social reasons, cuss words in films on their influence in society, and then, on and off there have been rumblings even of the ban of Diesel cars as they are perceived to be more polluting….
One can understand bans on reasons of safety, non compliance of norms, environment or health issues etc but erratic, frivolous and subjective issues are hard to understand.
The geographical spread of these bans is also mind-blowing. The law of sale and consumption of beef is varied across parts of the country.
Liquor is banned in 5 states but permitted in the rest of the country.
So, an item is somehow treated differently in different parts of the country? I know we take pride in our cultural diversity but seriously…..is’nt this going too far?
“What bad for the goose is bad for the gander theory” apparently falls flat in this country.
Going by past examples of the various bans imposed in this country, including to the ban on Green piece activist's visit to England, this latest ban on of the film, only reinforces the understanding that historically, the Indian political environment is erratic, capricious and not trust worthy.
India therefore, is a hypocrisy masquerading as a democracy as rightly said by Pathikrit Sen Gupta, of the Hindustan Times.
Lets look forward to a pseudo secular motely society fetered in regressive norms.....
Well said, I fully agree with you.
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