Opinion Banning liberty
People in Gujarat have become so accustomed to bans,particularly on films dealing with communal violence that they assume such products have been banned even when they have in fact not been banned.
In the past when someone was visiting Gujarat from Mumbai,people were likely to request the visitor to smuggle in a bottle of whisky in a suitcase. These days the joke goes,they are asking people to bring in a copy of Jaswant Singh’s book. The joke is a little worn though. Gujarat is so prone to banning things that one has to keep abreast of the news to know what contraband is in fashion. Not so long ago a DVD of ‘Parzania’,or ‘Fanaa’,would have been the gift most in demand.
Or ‘Firaq’. People in Gujarat have become so accustomed to bans,particularly on films dealing with communal violence that they assume such products have been banned even when they have in fact not been banned. When Nandita Das’s ‘Firaq’ was released,it was assumed by many in Ahmedabad that it would not be shown. Even when it was pointed out that there was no ban it was believed that the newspapers had not advertised the shows when in fact they had.
One can’t really blame them. But also one can’t really single out Gujarat in this respect. Bans have become common all over India. Bans or violent protests which often turn out to be as good as a ban given the risks involved in marketing the controversial product.
Maharashtra,once considered a progressive state with a great deal of respect for the arts and for debate is another state where intolerance runs high. Plays have been disrupted,cinemas and art shows have been attacked. A library stocked with rare books has been ransacked. And though usually it is parties professing narrow regional or religious loyalties that tend to be the most vocal in demanding and implementing bans,almost every political party has had some time or another used confrontational tactics to demand bans.
At one time using violence for such ends would have been frowned upon. But in recent times no political party has had the courage to stand up for freedom of expression. Worse still,there has been no public movement in protest against such arbitrary suspensions of freedom. So what is going on? Once there was so much anger against the government for controlling television and radio. The defeat of the Congress which censored news during the Emergency was seen as people’s victory. But now it seems we are content to let governments,or anybody at all decide what we see and what we read and how we dress and behave without a murmur of protest.
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