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Journalism of Courage
IT is a defensive Chennaite who rises to protest against the new assault from the 8216;outside8217; when they chorus, 8216;8216;Why are people from other cities making such a fuss about this Khushboo business? Don8217;t you realise it8217;s just another case of media hype and political fraud? It is an incident which involves a has-been actress and loony fringe political parties and, if left alone, will just blow over.8217;8217;
Perhaps. On the face of it, the Khushboo incident has all the ingredients of a political potboiler8212;a story of revenge, political backlash, and brownie points. Her comments on female sexuality were fodder for her fiercest foe Thankabachan, a film director and Tamil Protection Movement member, who was forced to apologise by Khushboo a month ago for likening actresses to prostitutes.
As the hostess of a popular television game show on Jaya TV, Khushboo is also a target for her political-business rivals. In Tamil Nadu, the most influential and popular channels are owned by the two rival political parties: Jaya TV is associated with AIADMK Chief Minister J Jayalalitha, while Sun TV is aligned with the DMK8217;s M Karunanidhi and his great-nephew, Communications Minister Dayanidhi Maran.
Coexistence code
BUT prod them a little, and the people of Chennai are exuberant, contemplative and eager to deliberate on issues that are simmering under the familiar Khushboo story.
Has moral policing in Chennai and Tamil Nadu reached alarming levels, with individual freedom increasingly under threat? See box, The Morality Plays. Is Chennai really as conservative and conformist as it is made out to be? Was Madras bolder than Chennai? Is the prominent Chennai citizenry8217;s dawdling on the issue a pointer to public apathy, to an absence of civil society for public discourse and debate?
Or are they simply afraid to take up emotive issues for fear of reprisal from the fierce moral guardians? Is there a disconnect between political parties and people8217;s aspirations?
Spirited poetess Kanhimozhi, 34, is the embodiment of the traditional yet modern Chennai woman. The only daughter of DMK supremo Karunanidhi8217;s 8216;second8217; wife, Kanhimozhi is a product of the potent Dravida movement8217;s liberating, ritual-free marriages, which ensure property rights even for the love child. She is at ease at whatever she does8212;writing feminist poetry, wearing salwar-kameez or jeans, attending a Carnatic music concert or a modern ballet.
8216;8216;Chennai is conservative when it comes to women, we are made to be the torch-bearers of male-defined culture,8217;8217; says Kanhi, 8216;8216;but I would say today a woman has more rights if the laws are enforced. Earlier, a woman wouldn8217;t dream of complaining her husband had married again. Today, a woman can go to a police station and even complain of domestic violence.8217;8217;
Kanhi is equally emphatic that Tamil society is not oppressive but catholic. 8216;8216;From E V Ramaswamy Periyar the father of the Dravida movement who openly dismissed marriage as a patriarchal institution to subject women to sexual slavery in the 8217;40s and even said a married woman could desire a man other than her husband, to women poets today who explore their sexuality8230; it8217;s all Tamil culture.8217;8217;
Total tolerance
SO, what is the Tamil culture that the self-appointed moral guardians are so fiercely protecting? In Chennai, at the heart of a shining new metropolis, the outsider8217;s caricature of the 8216;Aiyayo Madrasi,8217; of the god-fearing, compliant, conservative, non-meddlesome, career-conscientious vegetarian, is a thing of the past. The brahminical backbone of Mylapore has been overrun by the muscular, assertive, once-liberating undercastes of the Dravida movement.
While the accent may still remain, the language is changing. Sanskritised Tamil is fast fading and a robust, colloquial Tamil of the backward castes has begun to dominate the landscape, from the gana rap, the folk rhythm of Chennai8217;s slums to the 8216;curry rock8217; of non-resident Indian-Tamilians. Tamil pride is raging from Thambaram to Tampa Bay, Mambalam to Maryland.
Karthik Chidambaram, son of Finance Minister P Chidambaram, swells with indignant pride, when he says, 8216;8216;Chennai is the most tolerant city, even in comparison to Mumbai. Do we have the Shiv Sena here? Our history of Hindi-bashing is not the precursor for this demand of a new Tamil identity. Banning Hindi has nothing to do with this recent wave of aggressive protests. In fact, I am equally opposed to the imposition of Hindi in the state, how is Tamil a less Indian language than Hindi? The attack against Khushboo is symptomatic of the intolerance that is spreading all over the world8212;from Bushism to the Sena.8217;8217;
Chidambaram is shrewd when he questions the state police8217;s 8216;moral8217; prohibitory orders that require popular city bars to shut at 11.30 pm, while state liquor vends remain open till midnight. 8216;8216;Perhaps the government should question this hypocrisy if they are serious about drunken driving among the rich youth,8217;8217; he says tartly.
The resonant convergence of the traditional and contemporary in Chennai is sharp. The towel angavastram and cotton veshti is as common as couture jeans and shirts, Kanjeevaram temple borders and spaghetti tops brush each other with ease, oiled and jasmine-coiled plaits and mushroom haircuts are de rigeur, caste-marks on the forehead stare at arm tattoos without flinching. The techie from Miami may shave his head at the Taj barber shop, but will walk the mile with his country pilgrims up the hills of Tirupathi, blissed out and blessed.
The classical dance and music academies flourish, as the gaggle of maamis aunties in silks rustle into the sabhas that dot every locality, while the sophisticated starchiness of global Chennai chic glides into lounge bars and discos. From the swank Leather Bar to Java Green tea houses, Spencer Plaza Mall to heritage boutique Amethyst, the shine and din of cross-cultures is only rising.
But under the veneer of happy co-existence of the old and the new runs a tremor of anxiety and fear of the uncertain future8212;of a new generation of empowered girls and boys, especially girls, for whom a slew of jobs has opened up. From night shifts in call centres, to job demands that require dressing up like a Detroit car salesgirl, the changes confuse the elders about modernisation. While Chennai parents may know a DOS from a dosa, will call centre girls be known as call girls?
Dalit deconstruct
However, the cacophony for the protection of Tamil culture comes from those very people who first struck out at the citadels of Tamil brahminical conservatism.
Says MSS Pandian, a Chennai-based social scientist and fellow at the CSDS, Delhi, 8216;8216;The irony is that it is the Dalit Panthers which are spearheading the campaign of conservatism and female virtuosity, when the defining cultural critique of the past 15 years has come from Dalit intellectuals. Dalit intellectuals like Raj Gowthaman played a critical role in deconstructing the so-called glorious Tamil culture and exposing how it was always stacked against Dalits and women. Today, seduced by Tamil nationalism, Panther leader Thirumavalavan is whittling away these gains. And this new group is clamouring for purity, chastity, even abstinence from alcohol, which is the new taboo.8217;8217;
This new Dalit show of power in post-Khushboo Chennai, also comes from a closet fear of the new, economically empowered Dalit woman. Dr S Anandhi, who has done extensive research in Chengalapattu, in north Tamil Nadu, on the community, says there is a palpable anxiety in the community over the emerging Dalit woman.
8216;8216;Dalit girls8212;not boys8212;are being scooped up by multi-national pharma companies and garment export factories for assembling goods, and though they are paid very low wages, they are now the new bread-winners of the family, not their brothers. With this role reversal, the males have taken on the role of the protector8212;which not only means surveillance on their sisters, but an emphasis on morality, caste purity, sexual virtuosity, monogamy, arranged marriages and even dowry, all of which was unheard in the community.8217;8217;
Counter-culture
BUT before one begins to believe the voices of the Chennai haute-bourgeoise have drowned in the demand for a new social morality, the slow rumblings of protest have begun to gather momentum, to grow into a counter-wave.
Kanhimozhi and Chidambaram have launched a weblog called Forum For Free Speech. It already has 3,000 members, and a feisty debate is on in the website on Tamil culture and identity. Other forums have also taken off8212;from the Campaign for A Saner Chennai, which has doctors, lawyers, sociologists and other professionals, to the media-sponsored Journalists for Freedom of Expression8212;to encourage public debates and discourse.
Says Mangaiarasu, a theatre activist and member of the Campaign for a Saner Chennai, 8216;8216;It8217;s time to take up public discourse rather than retaliate on the streets. We have become the laughing stock of India, and I am truly ashamed of this new moral backlash.8217;8217;
However, the artiste Mangai has never experienced moral policing on her performances, whether it is a play on a Sangam poetess who 8216;8216;drank toddy and loved bravely8217;8217; or on transgender issues, where players 8216;8216;cursed and lifted their sarees.8217;8217;
Similarly, the modish duo of Anita Ratnam and Ranvir, who started the increasingly popular Other Theatre eight years ago to provide a platform for contemporary dance, drama and music during the uniquely Chennai, month-long traditional festival of classical dance and music, are possessive of their city, yet agreeable to some of the new codes of moral policing.
Both are parents of teenage children and, as Ratnam says, 8216;8216;While we have reinterpreted Draupadi, a woman who lives with five weak men on stage, I am for a dress code for college kids. I believe in freedom with responsibility.8217;8217;
The Gujarati-speaking Ranvir takes his 8216;Other8217; initiative seriously when he announces he is a wannabe Tamil chauvinist. 8216;8216;I am deeply protective of Tamil history and culture. What we witness in society today is the interregnum of tradition and modernity.8217;8217;
Ranvir believes the initial lack of public debate on the Khushboo issue was underlined by a 8216;8216;pure urbane fear of retaliation from a totalitarian state, hooliganism and mob culture.8221;
And as the counter-culture czars and czarinas, academics and media honchos, emerge out of the shadows, to debate the new issue of moral policing, a new resistance movement is already unfolding.
On Monday, academics and dozens of women8217;s NGOs will meet to set in motion their plan against Ramadoss, Thirumavalavan and the rest, to slap suits of defamation they described feminists as 8216;8216;morally loose women8217;8217; in courts across the state, just like the Thiru gang did to tie up Khushboo in legal knots.
The counter-culture gang is already sensing a small victory. The DPI8217;s Thirumavalavan told The Sunday Express: 8216;8216;It is true that neither my partymen and women nor I have read Khushboo8217;s interview. What we objected to were her remarks to the reactions to her interview !8217;8217; Chennai continues to vibrate with its contradictions and contrariness.
with Jaya Menon
The morality plays
The Khushboo controversy might have grabbed national headlines, but it isn8217;t the only lifestyle issue to have aroused Chennai8217;s moral police in the recent past. The city8217;s profile began to change about eight years ago, when a greater MNC presence saw city hotels beginning to cater to a more cosmopolitan clientele. The crackdown wasn8217;t long in coming
8226; Barely six months after AIADMK supremo J Jayalalitha came to power, in November 2001, city police chief K Muthu Karuppan ordered all discs to shut down. He said, 8216;8216;Most of the five-star discotheques took out licences in the name of conducting cultural dances. But the dances at the discs are very much against basic Indian cultural ethos.8217;8217; The popular Hell Freezes Over, owned by the family of DMK leader Dayanidhi Maran, was the first casualty. EC 41, on the scenic East Coast Road, followed.
8226; In August 2003, courting couples became the target under a special drive led by then city police chief K Vijay Kumar 8216;8216;to curb illegal activities in the park such as bringing girlfriends without the knowledge of their parents, sitting in dark shadow places, committing indecent activities and annoying the general public8217;8217; sic. The police picked up 10 men, all aged between 20 and 32, from Anna Nagar Tower Park8212;a popular city landmark8212;and while they were remanded to judicial custody, the women were sent home after their families were informed of the 8216;8216;incident8217;8217;.
A police press note described the 10 men as 8216;8216;miscreants8217;8217; booked under the 8216;8216;appropriate section of law.8217;8217; They were lined up against a wall at the Anna Nagar police station and photographed, their identities8212;and their parents8217;8212;addresses and photographs were released to the media. They were booked under Section 292 IPC, a non-bailable offence dealing primarily with obscene publications, which carries a maximum two-year prison sentence or fine or both.
8226; The same month, a police team raided two cybercafes in the city8217;s Anna Nagar to check alleged viewing of pornographic films. A crew of a popular television channel accompanied the police team. An official press note later said that the manager and an employee of one of the cafes were arrested and booked under 8216;8216;appropriate sections8217;8217; of law. During the raid, the police allegedly found couples viewing obscene films on the Internet. The police telephoned the parents of the visitors to the cafe and the boys and girls were sent back home 8216;8216;with severe warning.8217;8217;
8226; In September 2003, a section of the media reported on a male striptease in a star hotel, which was attended by 40-50 Chennai maamis. While the hotel pleaded ignorance, the police launched a crackdown, raiding hotels in the city and rounding up 8216;8216;call girls8217;8217; and their 8216;8216;prospective clients.8217;8217;
8226; Later that month, a just launched Tamil eveninger from the Sun TV stable published pictures of girls and boys close-dancing at a star hotel and questioned the 8216;8216;elite city girls8217; morality8217;8217;. A day later, a leading Tamil daily published similar pictures from the same party, raising more moralistic queries. The next day, the city police arrested two hotel managers for violating licence conditions and staging obscene acts and songs to the annoyance of others in a public place. They were released on bail two days later, but the police withdrew the hotel8217;s bar and hotel licences. The hotel moved the High Court, which stayed the shut-down order but ordered closure of the bar-cum-nightclub and directed that the police commissioner8217;s order be treated as a show-cause notice. The nightclub is now back in action, apparently because the hotel had given 8216;8216;a satisfactory explanation8217;8217; to the show-cause notice and acquired the necessary licences.
8226; In September 2005, Anna University Vice-Chancellor D Viswanathan banned the use of cell phones and attire such as jeans, tees and skirts and outfits that were sleeveless or tight-fitting for students in the 277 affiliated engineering colleges across the State. Students were told that a violation would invite a warning and procedures according to the code of conduct rules. According to the V-C, certain outfits 8216;8216;detracted from the seriousness of academic pursuits.8217;8217;
8226; In October this year, actor Khushboo8217;s personal views on pre-marital sex and virginity caused an uproar with the political outfit called the Tamil Protection Movement, floated by the Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Dalit Panthers of India, demanding a public apology. The actress broke down before television cameras as she apologised, stating she had no intention of offending Tamil sentiments or Tamil women.
The Khushboo chronicles
The Tamil Protection Movement floated by the Pattali Makkal Katchi and the Dalit Panthers of India is spearheading the agitation against Khushboo, but almost every political party8212;with the notable exception of the DMK, the Congress and the MDMK, the DPA/UPA constituents8212;has had its say. While the PMK is part of the DMK-led Congress Democratic Progressive Alliance, the DPI is eyeing its maiden Assembly seats in the May 2006 elections
8216;8216;Khushboo should have refrained from making such comments. It is not good to express views contradicting Tamil tradition and culture.8217;8217;
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
J Jayalalitha, at a October 16 press meet
8216;8216;Will those who are clamouring for freedom of speech and expression dare to declare that chastity no longer exists in their homes? We are not in the mood to take advice, but in the mood to give it. I am stating here on behalf of the six crore Tamils in the state that we will not permit destruction of Tamil culture. Our self-respect is even more important than filling our tummies.8217;8217;
PMK founder-leader S Ramadoss, on November 24 while launching with DPI and other fringe Tamil outfits Tamizh Paathukappu Pasarai, a movement to protect Tamil culture
Declaring that the apolitical forum would agitate in a non-violent manner to protect Tamil culture, Ramadoss accused the progressives opposing the protests against actors Khushboo and Suhasini of being motivated by anti-Tamil sentiments.
8216;8216;Neither my party nor the DPI instigated our cadres to stage the protests against Khushboo and Suhasini. It is an uprising by Tamil women, whose sentiments were offended by Khushboo8217;s remarks8230; The issue can8217;t be considered closed just because she has apologised before one television camera. She must tender an unconditional and open apology to all.8217;8217;w S Ramadoss
8216;8216;While Tamil Nadu is reeling under heavy rains and floods, so-called intellectuals are saying Khushboo and Suhasini have no freedom. They say we are instigating the agitation. If we had instigated it, then Khushboo, Suhasini and those clamouring for freedom of speech would not have been allowed to live here. But we are democrats8212;if they are willing to put an end to the controversy, then we are willing to end the agitation. But if they want to continue then we will make out plans. 8217;8217;
DPI leader Thol ThirumavalAVaN
8216;8216;It8217;s true neither I nor my partymen or women have read Khushboo8217;s interview. What we objected to were her remarks to the reactions to her interview. Khushboo reportedly told a Tamil newspaper that an issue was unnecessarily being made around her remarks. 8216;8216;How many would not have had pre-marital sex? The educated will understand my views. I am not bothered about those who misunderstand them,8217;8217; she reportedly said. I cannot belittle the wounded sentiments of the women who are genuinely affronted by her remarks.8217;8217;Thol Thirumavalavan
8216;8216;The agitation and the court cases against Khushboo have assumed unpleasant dimensions. Those who disagree with her views should not resort to agitation in violation of democratic norms.8217;8217;CPI state secretary D Pandian
8216;8216;Though Khushboo8217;s views on pre-marital sex are not acceptable to the CPIM, we believe those who disagree with her should resort to healthy, democratic means of protest. Everybody has a right to express their views on Khushboo8217;s remarks, but it should be in a democratic form.8217;8217;CPIM state secretary N Vardarajan
8216;8216;We do not agree with or subscribe to Khushboo8217;s views. But throwing chappals at her is not part of our culture. It should not be encouraged as it will set a new trend. In a democracy, there is place for views and counter-views. Views should be countered through views alone and not through protests.8217;8217;BJP vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu
8216;8216;The association will no longer take things lying down. We are planning a course of action, even legal protection, if necessary, to ensure that such attacks are not repeated8230; There is no bias against actresses in the Sangam and members will rise above political affiliations to safeguard actors8217; rights8230; But actors, too, should exercise restraint while expressing certain views in public as their actions can hurt the industry in general.8217;8217;
Nadigar Sangam Artistes8217; Association general secretary and actor Sarath Kumar
