India’s a great democracy, give or take a few aberrations. We have a free vote, a media that largely speaks its mind. Top politicians still get caught out for their indiscretions, so do leading businessmen. And yes, we read what we want to, watch what we choose, say what we desire without being unduly worried. But will it stay this way forever? One’s beginning to have serious doubts.
The reason’s simple. Our leaders are always looking for a quick fix, even when it compromises on our most basic freedoms, as enshrined in the Constitution. They are also too eager to make political capital out of every opportunity, even when they know it’s bad for India and disastrous in the long run. There are many examples. But let’s start with the most recent: The ban on James Laine’s book on Shivaji. No one doubts Shivaji’s important role in Indian history but history’s not hagiography and, however great Shivaji was, like Gandhi, he is not and should not be above historical scrutiny. We must be able to discuss, debate, argue over his legacy without anger, acrimony, prejudice and bans.
One of India’s finest research institutes was mercilessly ransacked and priceless books and manuscripts were destroyed by a tiny group of angry dissenters when the demand for a ban on the book was first raised. The matter went to court and the Supreme Court has now struck down the ban, on the ground that no book deserves to be proscribed on the basis of the possibility that some readers may misread parts of it. The Court affirmed what many scholars have been saying, that there’s nothing in the book that has not been said before. Yet even with the ban struck down, the publishers (one of the world's most respected university presses) are scared to put the book back in the stores because of renewed threats. Worse, the Maharashtra Government plans to bring in a funny bill to stop anyone from criticising national leaders.
It’s a funny bill because it will successfully end all historical scrutiny, all debates on our past. It would also stop people from writing books, plays, research papers or making films on any historical event to sidestep defamation. For how will you ever write about the face off between Gandhi and Subhash Chandra Bose, without offending the followers of one or the other? It would end the revaluation of truth, diminish the spirit of inquiry and scholarship. If passed, this bill will be a huge blot on our democracy.
This brings me to a larger issue: Any tiny group today, any shrill, lunatic fringe can mess with India’s great traditions of liberalism and free speech. A cunning misinterpretation of a line from a song in Aaja Nach Le was used to suggest that it was against a particular caste and the song had to be changed even after the Censor Board had cleared the film. A play on Nathuram Godse, Gandhi’s assassin, was banned out of fear it may hurt the sentiments of Gandhi lovers. A film too, on the same subject, Nine Hours to Rama, was banned. During the Emergency, a film called Kissa Kursa Ka was not only banned but physically destroyed. Rushdie’s Satanic Verses was banned only to appease Muslim fringe groups. Two literary classics, DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover and Henry Miller’s Tropic of Cancer still remained banned, as historic reminders of how we stupid we can be. Recently, websites featuring the charming sexual adventures of Savita Bhabhi were banned as improper. Meanwhile, the Censor Board keeps chopping away at award winning movies on the ground that the squeamish may be offended. Isn’t it simpler to just let them be shown with appropriate rating codes to warn off all prudes?
History, sex, faith, reverence: these are all matters of personal choice. Democracy is not about endorsing a specific choice but allowing all choices to coexist, with dignity. But what we are increasingly seeing is that small and shrill groups of people of all denominations and persuasions are holding the majority to ransom. And we, the silent majority, keep quiet because we don’t want to pick up a fight with the easily enraged. This makes these minority groups grow bolder and bolder, demand more and more.
As this rate we will soon become a nation of bans. Bans on books, films, songs, comic strip characters, beer bars, pool parlours, inter-caste, inter-faith marriages. Bans on what we can eat, drink, wear, read, watch, surf. Bans on what we can joke about, what we can discuss. If we are not careful we could become a nation where bullies will roam the streets with their chests puffed out, demanding that we subjugate our beliefs to theirs, listen to every command they issue. They will decide what corrupts us. They will tell us what’s good for us. And the State, instead of protecting us, will succumb to their pressures on grounds of political expediency-- even if it means compromising on the freedoms we have long cherished.
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