Free expression

A college professor was beaten up by saffronite hoodlums and subsequently arrested for allegedly speaking against Hindu gods and goddesses. And yes, he was also coerced to apologise for his heretical statement, says the Punjab Panorama blog. [ Link] Prof Sunil Agarwal teaches political science at the college. Aggarwal was manhandled by the workers of Shiv Sena and Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad allegedly for "speaking against Hindu gods and goddesses". He was immediately booked without trying...

These are bad enough days for freedom of expression in India. But there are also those rare occasions which bring cheer. A Bombay High Court division bench has ruled that films can be shown at festivals without a censor certificate, and that films screened at such fora could be in other formats, too, and not necessarily on 16mm and 35mm film. The National Film Awards (NFA) versus documentary filmmakers Gaurav Jani, Anand Patwardhan and Simantini Dhuru case wasn't merely about technicalities as...

In June, music channels faced a lot of music. There as a court case, and there was a diktat from the information and broadcasting ministry asking these channels to apologise (yes, apologise) for telecasting "obscene" music videos. The same month, writer Sunil Gangopadhyay managed to escape for allusions to fantasising about a Hindu goddess. Music channels asked to apologise for obscene videos June 11, 2006: The Union Government asked six channels, including music channels MTV and Channel V, to...

It has been a while since the Shilpa Shetty case had made news; but that was before this blog was launched. It is nevertheless pertinent to do a brief recap. For the case may or may not have ended, but it is for sure not going to be the last of these lathicharges by the moral policemen. Arrest warrants were issued against Bollywood actresses Shilpa Shetty and Reema Sen for posing "obscene" for a Tamil eveninger Tamil Murasu. The City Judicial Magistrate, Elangovan, directed the Commissioner of...

It hasn't been a pretty picture for those who want to dress as they like in India. Moral policement are forever on the prowl. The usual contention has been that skirts, revealing dresses, indecent exposure, et al, provoke sexual assaults on girls/women. And, the targets of these attacks have primarily been students of schools and colleges. The Times of India has a brief timeline. [ Link] Delhi, June 2005: The dean of University of Delhi's Kirori Mal College blames "revealing dresses" for...

Girls in Madhya Pradesh may not get to wear skirts anymore. Barely, a fortnight after a ban on fashion shows in government-run colleges, the women's commission of the state — of all people — is considering a dress code for girls in educational institutions. And of course, that means no skirts for you girls. [ Link] You won't believe what this woman has to say: Some members of the Madhya Pradesh Women’s Commission have gone on record favouring the proposal. "A proposal envisaging a ban on skirts...