POLITICAL DIARY

New Delhi, 31 January 2009

Immorally Yours….

HEY GIRLS, PUBS ARE BAD…. HIC!

By Poonam I Kaushish

What is moral? And what constitutes morality? Do one’s morals end where another’s nose begins? Sizzling questions which have stripped India of all open-mindedness, equilibrium and tolerance to expose the Ugly Intolerant Indian.

Else, how could we allow the Sri Ram Sene to brutally attack women in a Mangalore pub last week ostensibly for “violating traditional Indian norms”. Arguably even if the women were, it is not for the Sri Ram Sene or X, Y, Z to decide how to deal with them. Relaxing with friends in a pub is no crime. If they object to the drinking then they really should practice what they preach.

But this is not an isolated example of the growing moral policing and intolerance in society. Union Health Minister and Rajasthan’s Chief Minister too have taken up cudgels against the ‘Westernisation’ of culture. Southern star Khushboo is still facing lawsuits over her remarks on pre-marital sex to a magazine. Wherein she said no educated man should expect his bride to be a virgin and young people who had premarital sex should use condoms. Predictably, all hell broke lose. She was labeled an 'anti-social' and her remarks were interpreted as an attack on the integrity of all Tamil women. While one may or may not agree but she is entitled to voice her opinion. 

Undoubtedly, we seem to be getting offended and increasingly becoming intolerant all the time. Everyone. Today it is the Sri Ram Sene against Karnataka’s “pub culture”, yesterday it was some people in Baroda getting offended by an erotic painting, before that it was Hollywood Star Richard Gere kissing Bollywood’s Shilpa Shetty, earlier married couples kissing in a hotel bar in Chennai led to the hotel’s licence being revoked and its manager arrested.

In Hyderabad’s tennis star Sania Mirza’s effigy was burnt for advocating safe sex. She was forced to retract and instead state: “I can’t justify premarital sex, as it is a very big sin in Islam". Then someone in Mumbai was bothered about a book on Shivaji, another on the Da Vinci Code. Anything from Valentine's Day to sex education in schools is denounced as an alien Western import et al.

What is moral policing? Factually, it is a religious police or Clerical Police that exists in Saudi Arabia. In India it seems to be an attempt to control the cultural and moral atmosphere prevalent in society. The moot point: is it for individuals or rabid organizations to act as the guardians of others morality? What makes them think that they have the right to define Indian culture or to determine what is morally right or wrong?

Importantly, policing of an individuals right to freedom of all kinds speaks poorly of a society. Very few are aware that the concept of freedom will offend. Freely expressed opinions always hurt. Speech, when censored is not free at all. If a painting is obscene or hurts the sentiments of others, then let the public decide, not hooligans or political parties. People can always refuse to go to pubs or hotels. Or they can organise peaceful protests. But to close down exhibitions, file PILs, arrest artists, and molest women is just not acceptable.

Have these self-styled moralists forgotten that erotica is very much a part of Indian/ Hindu culture. They obviously are ignorant of our ancient history that is filled with sex. If they are really concerned about 'Indian culture', they should read Vatsayan’s Kamasutra and study the Mujhra culture. And see the walls of the famous Khajurao and Konarak temples with their erotic carvings of different positions of the Kamasutra. Are they ignorant that our movies are filled with scenes of sex, sleaze and striptease? And which religion says violence and subjugation is the way to preserve Indian culture?

Sadly, this is not a new attitude, history is full of incidents. Remember McCarthyism in US, when everyone who said anything was a communist spy. The truth is that even as we have achieved political and economic freedom we still remain hostage to the errant elements of the society. "Lopsided economic growth has created a dispossessed population which cannot relate to Western cultural values and norms," asserted a social scientist.

The tragedy of it all is that the political class exploits this. Wherein rowdy and rabid outfits proliferate and act with impunity because the authorities are reluctant to take stern action against them. It gives them the opportunity to exploit the sentiments of the vulnerable aam aadmi. Get votes. Get attention. The increasing frequency of hooliganism exposes the continuing failure of law and order.

Clearly, if some have violated the law, it is for the police to act. Rabid outfits cannot be allowed to take law into their hands. The government needs to send out a strong message that it does not condone the activities of such groups. Besides, if the law has failed, work towards setting it right. Taking the law in one’s hands does not solve the problem. It makes one a criminal in the eyes of law.

Plainly, if organisations like the Sri Ram Sene are keen to uphold Indian cultural values, they would do well to learn a lesson from the country’s long tradition of cultural tolerance. If they are keen to improve the lot of women in this country, there are any number of issues they could address. They could start with fighting female foeticide, dowry death, rape, domestic violence, kidnapping of girls for forced prostitution etc.

Further, should Governments decide what people should eat, whether and what they should drink, what films they should see, what TV programmes they can view and whether sexual favours can be sold and bought? Is this the job of the State?

What is worrisome is that once the moral police sink their teeth into our social fabric they will become unbearable and more criminal. As moral policing knows no bounds, it whips up sentiments at the drop of a hat. There is no limit to what the moral police will do, no depths to which they will not sink, because they have no fear of the law. They become the law.

By remaining silent spectators we are encouraging rowdyism and its practioners to get away. A time may come which will restrict our tongues, our looks, our ways of life. In no democratic country can a handful usurp the right to decide what will be read or published by people. All this not only spells danger to the free exchange of ideas and the freedom to read, write, publish and perform, but is a serious curtailment of the right to work for a better society.

In the ultimate, the way to go forward is to support freedom. If somebody’s expression of freedom offends us we need to move on. Remember, even as we restrict freedoms for others tomorrow our freedoms too will be restricted by another. For those who believe that moral policing is justified in the name of being sensitive to the sentiments of others, this is just the beginning. Today it is an art exhibition tomorrow a girl wearing jeans may be arrested. With each moral terrorist having his own idea of what is morally right, how artists should paint, how women should behave.

The role of the State and our self-styled moralists is not to decide what moral standards people should live by. But set standards through its own actions. Bangalore, Chennai, Baroda, Mumbai and the rest of India, need politicians and policemen with moral standards and professionalism, not moral policing! INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)