Let's stop fighting over non-issues

07 February, 2013

I don't understand why words uttered or thoughts and opinions of an artist are examined under a microscope in our country. So much so, that they become national news and a threat to peace.

One such example is the furore caused over the movie ‘Vishwaroopam’. A perfectly harmless movie (as asserted by all who saw it), with a censor board certificate. It is proven that majority of people protesting against it have not even seen the movie. The movie is based on terrorism and does not target any particular faith or section of India. They why waste time and effort in protesting against something which is made for entertainment in the first place.

Then there is Mr. Ashis Nandy’s comment. Media as well as protestors picked out one sentence from the entire statement made by him and twisted it and made it sound like an anti – Dalit statement. It is quite evident that the entire exercise is politically motivated and done with an agenda to win more vote banks.

There is also the never ending fight against Salman Rushdie and various other authors who write what they believe in and want to exercise what is their constitutional right - freedom of expression.

Sadly in our country, creative freedom has been bound and shackled by the self designated moral police. In their overzealous attempt to keep the society balanced (or so they claim) they are killing artists’ imagination.

How I wish these groups would mobilise themselves to fight crime instead, protest against corruption, actually keep the society balanced by not tolerating any injustice done towards weak or innocent. The criminals do not attack based on caste, creed or color. They are menace to the entire society. They are the real threat to the society, not some movie which runs for three hours and is a work of fiction.