Where is our Freedom of Expression?

I heard through the media what Mr. Kamal Haasan had to say in the morning today. And I truly empathize with his emotional outburst about the possibility of leaving his homeland and even the country. He has undoubtedly been one of the great torch-bearers of the cinema in India. He is a great artist himself and he’s said to have invested 95 crore rupees for this movie. Just when the culmination of all hard work and investment was ready to be served, we started seeing this hullaballoo around his ambitious project Vishwaroopam’s release. So much so that the film has been banned in the state (Tamil Nadu) by a court order after the state government sought a stay referring to the requests from 23 opposing groups.  These groups feel that certain sections of the film hurt Islamic sentiments.  Now the big question here is that whether it is an isolated incident. Let’s have a look at a couple of and not so old events that speak similar stories:

• The release of the film “My Name Is Khan” was protested by Shivsena workers because Shahrukh Khan opined in favor of inclusion of Pakistani cricketers in the IPL. Aamir also perhaps was of the view that he would look at the talent and not be biased towards a country. Both were termed as “two idiots” then.

• There were many controversies surrounding Prakash Jha’s “ Aarakshan” that dealt with yet another sensitive issue of cast equation in the country. The sets were bulldozed because the land on which it stood was disputed. Some had issues with Saif Ali Khan playing a Dalit. The final blow came when the film got banned in states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. They were of the belief that the film contained inflammatory contents and may cause unrest among the various sections of the society.

While there are numerous other such events related to movies, I also read an another piece of news in Delhi Times today (30.01.2013).  A complaint to the Allahabad High Court stated that Mr. Amitabh Bachchan while doing the popular show KBC used “racha gaya” (written) for Quran which was an insult to Muslims as it was not written but revealed by Allah. The case was dismissed emphasizing that the word “written” as used by Bachchan can be another way of saying that it is a revealed scripture. Now incidents like these pose serious questions as far as our Freedom of expression is concerned.

And of course we have not yet forgotten the arrest of two young girls just because they made their opinions public on observing a “band” on Balasaheb Thakre’s demise. If we look even closer in the recent past, there have been umpteen numbers of incidents that issue us a serious caveat. If we do not pay any heed to it, we may end up losing our Freedom of Expression which in turn would lead to failure of Democracy in India.

Coming back to the ban on the films, we must thank Prakash Jha and his team who decided to go to the apex court in order to protest the ban in these states. Punjab and Andhra Pradesh withdrew the ban without waiting for the verdict and the court then had to decide on the Uttar Pradesh ban. The Supreme Court not only lifted the ban but came up with a historic and a very optimistic verdict. It pointed out that the State’s attempt to ban the film after it already had the go ahead from Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) amounted to exercising power of pre-censorship, which is not available to the State Government or to any high-level expert committee of the State for that matter.  Hence, it is for the State to maintain the law and order position and ensure that the Freedom of Expression is not taken away. It is only when the movie is “publicly exhibited” and it amounts to breach of peace then a State can exercise its power as far as suspension of exhibition is concerned. *** (These are my understanding of the verdict. Please refer to the Supreme Court judgment for verbatim and any clarification related to it.)***

And yet what we are seeing is the gross violation of this Supreme Court’s verdict as the movie gets banned before being publicly exhibited. Just because some groups object, majority cannot be robed of the right to viewing Vishwaroopam. It must be noted that it is running without any issues in a lot of other places and people (including Muslim viewers) have no objections. Isn’t it highly unlikely that an actor and a producer after investing so heavily that his own properties are at stake would alienate a community so large? Think about all the stakeholders and the losses they incur. Most importantly it’s the human spirit that loses. I also heard on a news channel that the incident was taking a political turn. People in DMK are wondering whether the whole episode may have resulted due to Mr. Haasan’s refusal to give satellite rights to a channel close to AIADMK. Huh…give us a break and keep the dirty politics away please!!

Whatever is the reason; it truly depicts a grim picture as far as our country is concerned. No wonder we see so much of brain drain. Good people feel suffocated in this kind of an environment and I think it is not only Mr. Haasan but a lot of fellow countrymen contemplate moving out of the country because they want to breathe easy. I do not really endorse the idea; however, can see where it is coming from. It is a shameful situation indeed and the concerned authorities must take immediate actions and prevent any further damages. More power to Mr. Haasan. I hope he fights for justice, stands for truth and does not leave our beloved country.

The system should make every effort to ensure that the Freedom of Expression is not curbed. Also, we too must own up some responsibilities and create awareness. These detractors are also people among us. All of us must always remember that we cannot force a viewpoint upon an individual or people in general. Voltaire had conveyed it beautifully:

“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”