No sex please, we’re Indians
Hot from the I & B ministry’s oven: Channel gets axed for raunchy footage.
By TNN |
Continuing with its tirade against obscenity on television, the government’s moral police has decided to wave its truncheon. Never mind the sex and violence in our cinema or the hot and heavy music videos or even the Kserials’ shenanigans that pass muster and never bring a bead of sweat on the I & B ministry’s brow.
But browbeat they will ‘phoren’ content that is ‘against good taste, decency and denigrates women and likely to adversely affect public morality.’ That’s our I & B ministry for you. Modify the content to suit Indian sensibilities or get gagged. No sex please, we’re Indians. We’d much rather cavort with our types; on our channels. We’re swadeshis, you see. We gave the world the kama sutra. So it’s we who ‘urge’ on Vatsyayana and not get colonialists to do the same. Simple logistics, even if it smacks of hypocrisy.
To matters more banal, the I & B ministry exercised its powers under Section 20 of the Cable Television Network Regulation Act, 1995, to ban transmission of FTV. The two-month ban follows close on the heels of a temporary ban of AXN. Justifying the move, a ministry official said, the government had earlier warned the channel on earlier occasions for showing raunchy footage but it appears that it did not have much impact on the channel.
The ministry makes a clean breast of its intentions. Midnight Hot, it alleges, shows skimpily dressed and semi-naked models, ‘the kind of things even in school-time, examination time, daytime,’ which says I & B minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, is ‘not fair.’
Even as we ‘flesh’ out the truth and get under the ‘skin’ of the ministry and its self-righteous moral policing, the man on the street needs no thought control.
Says Saurav Bhowmick, a 28-year-old lawyer, “The government exceeds its dominion by wrongly traversing the definitive line regarding the freedom of speech and its exceptions as laid down in Article 19 of the Constitution.” His views are further corroborated by Rajiv Kumar, a 27-year-old journalist. “This step hardly affects the mindset of those who used to watch this show. The government is making a fool of itself by projecting itself as self-appointed moral guardians. Why don’t they leave the viewers to decide what they want to watch? The ban will, in fact, create far greater hype about the channel.”
The hypocrisy is evident when he says, “While the portrait of a nude is called exploitation and worse blasphemy, the same by a Picasso is art in abstraction.” The parting shot comes from a software professional, Kunal Sharma. “Bollywood has more skin-show. The ministry has no cognisance of that. Instead, ministers are seen at filmi parties. If we are talking about titillation, wouldn’t you much rather have a superbod walk the ramp in barely-there lingerie than watch a Rakhi Sawant tacky music video?”
Vinay Pathak: Actor-anchor
I’m depressed. All this while I was under the impression that I was the only one watching this channel on the sly.
Aryan Vaid: Actor
This is scary, man. Society seems to be regressing, not progressing. By imposing a ban on FTV, the government is not getting to the root of the problem. Those who have access to an FTV also have access to the Internet. Can you ban the Internet? It’s all in the ether. You can’t gag content.
Arbaaz Khan: Actor
The show in question comes on air at midnight, when children are generally off to bed. It is we who decide what to watch and what not to, not the government. We have a plethora of sites on the Internet, magazines, CDs that are more explicit than FTV. Do we ban the right to information? What about the violence on news channels and films? Is violence more acceptable than sex? Time we eased up on our laws.
Priyanshu Chatterjee: Actor
If moral policing is exercised, it should be enforced on all fronts. Why should a fashion footage be axed? What the child should view or not is a parents’ prerogative, and that doesn’t call for a ban on a channel.
Cyrus Sahukar: VJ
The more you ban stuff, the greater is the curiosity generated. I feel moral policing only comes second to personal policing. A ban on the channel is just an over-reaction.
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