Moral Policing

I have been observing this kind of policing since quite a few years over here in Mumbai and honestly I am very much frustrated by it. First, we are staying in a democratic nation, which means we have the right to choose, see, and hear anything we want. I dont want to be told what to hear and what not to hear, what to see and what not to see. I am an adult and I know whats right or wrong for me. I think this applies to everyone.

Recently two incidents took place which prompted me to write this post. The first incident took place around 3 weeks back at Jehangir Art Gallery. The name of the exhibition was “Clits, Tits and Elephant Dicks”. Now after reading this title itself most patrons would have understood what the exhibtion is all about. Even then we have a patron who is filing a police complain against the artists for obscenity and social degradation. What the F*** is this about? The patron in question, chose to see this exhibtion and it was not forced upon her. She made the decision to view the exhibtion and so according to me she has not right to complain about the exhibition. If she didnt like the exhibition, thats fine, but she has no right to complain to the police and shut down the whole damn thing.

The 2nd incident took place last week where the Mumbai High Court ordered a ban on all movie channels that are being broadcasted in the city. The police were only too happy to oblige and raid the cable operators offices. The whole point is why is the high court acting out because of one person who feels that this could have an effect on the children. It is the repsonsibility of the parents to see what their kids watch on TV. Today almost all TV’s have parental locking system. So here we have one college professor who thinks that banning movie channels is going to improve the society. Today every school kid knows where to access porn, so why all this bullshit? There are so many other causes that are worth all these efforts. The only thing bans are going to do is put us back into Doordarshan era and according to a colleague of mine, result in explosion of population.

I hope that people in charge understand this and realise that we dont want to be told what to see and hear. We live in a free country and have the right to choose.