Moral Policing Vs. You & Me

It happens only in India.
As long as we r clutching our age old ‘traditions’ and ‘culture’, it’s gonna be like this only. Advancement doesn’t come just by talking ’bout it. And we’re talking ’bout making India Super-power by 2020….!!

Don’t blame your culture and Tradition. Those are the only valuable and great things we have left. It is the twisted minds which blame everything to tradition and culture. Art used to flourish in India and so was open thinking. We did not burn our Sadhus and “Rishis” as “witches” when they discovered amazing things about this planet, we did not burn the sculptures or artists behind khujaraho and other beautiful caves.

Sure we had some bad things as well but believe me good must have been a lot more than bad.

It is our ignorance which has landed us here and hopefully with blogs and other ways of communication we will once again make more and more people aware and proud!

It’s been happening for 5 millenia. It’ll keep happening. Perhaps in cycles.
Fall back on John Lennon – ‘Nothing is real / And nothing to get hung about’.

J.A.P.

Sonia, I hope U’ve seen Swadesh. What you are arguing about is very well described in that movie. We people just go on being agog about our tradition and culture.

Our culture is great, mera bharat mahan. US is going to hell, their tradition is dirty.”

This is not done. Every country has it’s own tradition and values. But if it is holding them back, it’s high time they have a relook at it. On one hand, we are the country which gave the world Kamasutra, on the other – even today sex is a taboo word here. We make an outcry when Shilpa is faced with racial slurs at Big Boss. But at homeland, we can’t resist ourself from making Sardar jokes and likes. Do U call it double standards….??

U wanna reach people through blogs…?? Honestly, what %age of indian population do U think uses internet? Those who do, most of them don’t have time to read a long post and ponder about it. And the very few who do think about it, they rest @ just that – thinking. All we do is think and shout within ourselves. We don’t take any actions. Thinking is – political leaders are there for this. “Ghar ki safai mei haath gande kaun kare”. All people just shout for a few days while our netas wait for the dust to settle down. The ‘news scoop’ keeps moving from front page to 5th to 7th to a tiny column to out of paper. People forget about it and finally no one knows what happened to the issue for which they were ripping their lungs out. That’s India.

Koi desh perfect nahi hota. Use perfect banana parta hai.

Bikram,this is not about perfection or the state of the country,not exactly.And as for US,the two political sides over there are called Democrats and Conservatives.And the Conservatives are against things like live-in relationships and homosexuality.

What I don’t understand is this sense for morality.I will save my words because it will be somewhat similar to what J.Alfred wrote on his blog and Bikram,you have already pointed out Kamasutra.The morality problem arises because of religion.In case one may have noticed,the people of only a particular region are doing the moral policing.It’s quite obvious,there is no point in moral policing.It’s an attempt to scare us,that’s all.

But the truth is,it wouldn’t last very long.It’s ok now but it will become passe in a few days.Artists have voiced out against this case already,so the support is there.

Oh,Bikram,as for what ‘Sid’ said,do u remember what he says on the radio?”IAS join karo,navy ya army join karo.” So have you signed up?

Bikram – All I have to say is grow up and stop watching so many movies There is no perfect country, shit happens everywhere. Do you remember the treatment to Dixie Chicks in the great US you are referring to?

Abhinav – In US you have Democrats and Republicans – Conservatives are in both parties somewhere more than the other.

It is exactly the attitude you used which starts the religion based mess. Look how quick you were to point to a particular religion for this action.

As you mentioned I am sure that person will get justice

And YES I believe blogging can make a difference! Any revolution and change takes time.

Geez,I am such a racist pig .Kidding,kidding,no offence taken and none intended.And yes,I stand corrected.They are Republicans and not conservatives.However if I remember correctly,the republicans are the conservative type rallying against things like gay marraige and live-in relationships.

What I am trying to say is,why are a particular group of people deciding what is right and wrong for us?Isn’t that up to an individual to make his/her own choice.The country allows a person to choose any religion,it allows free speech,but somehow some people think that religion holds more importance(which might be the case,but I think otherwise).

Well Abhinav that particular group of people are called legislators and they are in every country. If you want to go down to discussion of what is freedom and what we perceive as freedom we can be here for ages.

A lot of the major issues in the present and past world are related to religion. What were these so called crusades if not genocide? John Lennon I think got it right – “Imagine…” but look what your free world did to him or wait a minute was it a BJP/VHP member?

Since when did the moral police become legislators?

And as for “my” free world,why don’t you like it?

Law decides what can do and not – I was being specific to your comment. By your free world I was referring to the US, more specifically assasination of John Lennon.

Arrghh.. Khajuraho – not again. Lets destroy those statues and we wont have it being dragged in any discussion on obscene art.

Now, I did see that “work of art” by that student. It was/is obscene.

BTW, Sakshi,

I think it was allright to arrest Chandramohan. To tell you frankly, the problem is not painting Gods in the nude or something. The problem is discrimination and pseudo-secularism.

Sakshi,

Well… yeah. You are right. They should have been arrested.

Now, a little off topic. This is one such incident that we are looking at. Let us look at 10 such incidents. Whats the reason these things are happening? And, why is the public not against them overwhelmingly? Frankly, I do feel offended when I see such obscene art, even though I am much less religious. In normal times, I would not have bothered much. I can elaborate further, but it will become too long a rant.

I say again, the problem is not the paintings , the problem is the pseudo-secularism and hypocrisy that go with it.

Sakshi,
Officially, we do not have clear-cut freedom of expression in this country. That, and the Indian Penal Code which allows your arrest for causing offence, means in practice there is no freedom of expression.
Many who support control over expression have no idea about the consequences of not allowing full expression. And they are in majority.

Moral Policing, these words in a democratically elected and governed
country like India sounds out of place. In the last few months, there
have been several cases where the self-styled culture protectors have
gone on the rampage and saving their culture in the bargain. I wonder
what culture they talk of, and which culture do we belong to in that
case.

This happened in Meerut, an upscale economically booming town in
Northern Uttar Pradesh “Operation Romeo”..A few innocent couples are
picked up by the police for sitting together in a park..and beaten
repeatedly in front of camera.

Luckily.. right actions were taken..protests held….issue raised in
parliament..the police suspended.

So it seems everything was sorted out as it should be in a democratic country .

Or was it? or does the problem run deeper?

Lets take a trip down memory lane..but in the recent past.

1. A minor is raped by a policeman in the metropolitan city of
Mumbai. The policeman is apprehended (and somehow..it seems..is out on
bail now). But…there is a political organization (I think many would
know which one)…which comes out speaking jargon about the kind of
dresses females should wear. And by some unknown string of
logic…connecting the dresses worn to the criminal mentality.
2. Anna University in Madras..recently banned the wearing of t-shirts
and jeans by girls saying that it distracts studies. Well….only of
the queer mind..I think. (The Vice-Chancellor should really get
himself examined)
3. Khushboo and Sania Mirza are attacked by political organizations
across the spectrum for speaking about safe sex publicly.
Amazing…considering we have the second largest Aids population.
4. A hotel is raided in Chennai because of couples dancing
together.Marriages may be next..beware (will they arrest the bride and
groom for holding hands).
5. Bar Dancers are banned in Mumbai.

All the above may seem unconnected to each other but if we examine it
close..we see the underlying “Moral Policing” involved. There are many
such incidents in the recent past involving many states.

So..why is it that in recent times this “Moral Policing” is on the rise?
Why is it that in this age..where the late Kalpana Chawla could
co-inhibit a space shuttle with male colleagues..is the wearing of
T-shirts and Jeans offensive? When was the law changed to include
dancing as an offense? How come we can accept a female as de-facto
prime minister..but turn against them when they talk about reducing
Aids by adopting safer sex in this country?
But..the most important fact remains..why are all these charges and
tirades being directed against women? And why are the women
organizations keeping mum on this issue and not going to court or
staging massive protests?

“One man’s food can be a poison to another.”

India is changing fast. And it is changing at a faster rate socially.
However the change is not even along the spectra of society. The
younger lot, who give a damn about politics, have discovered new
independence in terms of wealth and opportunity. And the older lot and
the ones left behind, who are active politically, have not been able
to digest the rapid changes.

The woman, who till now had the role of homemaker, has discovered new
found financial independence and many young girls have started to
believe and realize that they can be as independent as a man. Thus the
young girl of today instead of helping out in kitchen prefers to go
for an “unwind” with friends without time restrictions, a domain held
previously only by the boys of the home. With the advent of internet
and TV, she has discovered doors which probably she never knew
existed.

The male of the society, previously the keeper of social and economic
duties, is being ruffled. He, who for such a long time, could script
the story and direct the proceedings is suddenly finding himself
alone. He is keen to hold onto this bastion. The other females of the
society who feel deprived of this change are not willing to let others
enjoy this new found independence and are desperate to bring them into
the structure in which they had for long suffered.
However, the thorn which probably pricks the most is the new found
sexual independence enjoyed by the young breed of girls . The fact
that they can choose and have the ability, knowledge and resources to
charter their way of life is a bitter pill for the old zealots to
follow. The sexual independence and dominance, once the sole purview
of the male (and primarily responsible for India heading towards being
the “AIDS” capital of the world), is being challenged. That this is
affront to his male hood is being projected by him as an affront to
social customs (w.r.t. the Tamil culture issue raised during Khushboo
debate.Note:Tamil Nadu has the second highest incidence of Aids in
India). And the womanhood, eager to deprive the young, are following
him blindly. Thus leading to the “Moral Policing” of the youth.Its a
sad fact that the people who are politically active belong to the
category who have refused to accept these changes and want things to
remain as they are either because of fear of losing the dominance
(males) or because of jealous intentions (females). The younger lot
who are living these changes and are probably the most productive of
Indians, contributing to its economic upheaval, are disgusted with
politics and want to have no part of it. The fact that exciting
opportunities exist beyond the borders of India also makes them lax in
regard to taking action against the “lack of freedom” in the so-called
“democratic” India.

And all this contributes to the victories of the old guard hellbent on
resisting changes and imposing so-called “Moral Policing”.

But that does not mean that the old guard would be winning forever. As
seen in the Meerut incident the young people were out on the streets
which forced the authorities to take action. Its only a matter of time
before a change of guard happens. The wait is on for the straw which
would break the camels back. I just hope it is sooner rather than
later.