Seshan laments degeneration of moral values

There is unyielding corruption in the country, to the extent that it has become the coinage of the day, Seshan said. “There is no righteous conduct in the country, no dharma. We have had a scam on every conceivable subject during the last five years. There is not one place of education which is not steeped in corruption. We have a democracy which is the envy of other countries, but at the end of it all, we have MLAs hurling mikes at each other. Those who should be in the Central jail sit in the Assembly while those who should be in the Assembly languish in theCentral jail,” he added.

Seshan then moved on to films, choosing to point out the plus points first. “It is a growth industry, providing employment to many. Films here have dealt with social issues in an educative manner and have also been responsible, in some ways, for arresting social unrest. Films have also popularised Indian classical dance to a large extent. The outside world came to know about Indian culture through films made by people like Satyajit Ray,” he said.

Seshan faulted the film industry for an equal, if not more, number of reasons. “Indian films have not done anything to promote work culture among people. Most films are intolerant to other cultures. Indian films make people unconcerned about social evils. These films have vulgarised Indian classical arts. There is a continued misuse of the female and her body. Indian films contain an overdose of unjustified violence and are responsible for spreading criminality. Many of the movies we make here are cheap imitations of those in theWest. The films suffer from deplorable repetitiveness. Over the last 50 years, Indian cinema has done nothing to promote good writing,” the former Chief Election Commissioner said.

Government censorship of films will always be stupid censorship which destroys the artistic value, Seshan said, touching upon the last point in his lecture. “Despite all the censors, what should not get through does. The only way out is for the film industry itself to act as a watchdog. The industry should establish its own censorship. There is the need for self regulation,” he said.