Gujarat and beyond

It can be argued that multiplex owners8217; decision not to screen the film Parzania in Gujarat was not really theirs to make. It was made for them by the fear that still looms large in that state. This fear may be opportunistically reinforced by muscular threats issued by Bajrang Dal loudmouths. The ban on Rahul Dholakia8217;s film may as well have been imposed by Narendra Modi himself, or by his police department in whose impartiality the average multiplex owner in Gujarat has so baldly refused to repose trust. This argument is valid and Modi, currently in overdrive to make over his image, must take note. The credentials of Development Man will wear thin before they have had a chance to settle into the national imagination, should Gujarat continue to serve up news of such intolerance.

But the backdoor ban on Parzania in Gujarat is also part of a larger restrictiveness. While Modi and Hard Hindutva forces in general must be held to account, this buck doesn8217;t stop here. It touches governments and groups across the political-ideological spectrum. In no particular order, attempts to curb the freedom of expression in recent times include: the special pre-release screening of Rang De Basanti attended by the defence establishment to judge whether the film showed the armed forces in a poor light; the withdrawal of Russian director Alexander Sokurov8217;s film on Lenin, Taurus, from the Kolkata Film Festival after demonstrators outside the theatre denounced the 8220;falsification of history8221; and the Chief Minister Jyoti Basu agreed; Mumbai High Court8217;s decision to ban adult films on cable TV after an irate college lecturer filed a PIL; the decision of many states to ban The Da Vinci Code ostensibly not to offend Christian sentiments.

Freedom of expression must be inviolable in a democracy. The onus of explanation must always be on those who seek to curb it. That this is not always so in present-day India is a challenge that must be acknowledged in order that it can be met.