Use the remote

In Mumbai, it took one prudish petitioner. The high court reiterated its December 2005 ban on 8216;adult content8217; on TV, extending it to direct-to-home providers and broadcasters. Some cable operators feel much better 8212; why, indeed, should they alone suffer the Mumbai police8217;s midnight knock? There are small mercies for the average couch potato in Mumbai as well 8212; films certified U/A will be shown after all. And serials are spared the axe. For now. But over all, the court8217;s decision is cause for celebrations in the morality brigade. This brigade, remember, has been on a winning streak in one of India8217;s most cosmopolitan cities that was. From the state home minister8217;s feverish crusade against dance bars to police strictures that sculptures and paintings showing body parts at an art exhibition be covered up or else, it8217;s been a string of visible successes for those who make it their business to mind all Mumbaikars8217; morals. That irate college professor who petitioned the court to banish 8216;adult content8217; from her own TV set and everybody else8217;s too is part of a sunrise industry.

We8217;ve all tracked the sprawl of intolerance in the metropolis but this court ban makes it especially poignant. The court, after all, is seen as the last refuge for individuals who fear their freedoms are being hemmed in by the state. In recent times, the judiciary has spoken up for the citizen when other institutions have failed him. Judicial activism helped clean up the air she breathes, it memorably lashed out at the chief minister who fiddled while his state burnt, ensured that victims8217; hope for justice remains alive. For the court now to take up position next to the nanny state and the moral police is a sad let-down.

There is a simple answer to the concerns the petitioner raised. If you don8217;t think the film on TV is suitable for your children, use the remote. Better still, talk to them, guide them to make the 8216;right8217; choices. Blanket bans and censorship are dangerous short-cuts, intolerable in an open society. Hopefully, the apex court will step in to restore reason.