Is it really a case of ‘cultural emergency’ or do we actually need ‘social policing’?

I was always good at civics back in my school days and as much as I remember, there was a certain right called ‘the right to freedom and expression’.  Either it’s absolutely obsolete now or I really went to a bad school.

I am appalled at the current state of affairs. The freedom of expression is being compromised and at what cost. The minority vote bank game is nothing new but to play that at the risk of confining artistic expression is completely unacceptable. Do we still live in a world where even the work of artists, painters, writers, and sociologists would be dictated by the so-called ‘religion saviors’?  Is it a ‘social fatwa’, because if it is then these are ominous signs for the things to follow.

A cartoonist getting arrested, a girl harassed for posting a Facebook status on a politician - these are things that are unheard of, and the fact that these cases are happening in the culturally progressive states of Bengal and Maharashtra make it all the more frightful. We saw what happened with Vishwaroopam. It was banned citing the reason that it could lead to a law and order problem. I feel that the youth today is politically aware and mature enough to decide what to watch and what to miss. I haven’t watched the movie but even if it has scenes that could hurt religious sentiments, I would rather protest by not talking about the film and not recommending it to my friends than coming out on the streets which could create a law and order situation.

Mr. Rushdie was denied entry in Kolkata as his visit could have religiously incited the common man. That’s outrageous logic. It’s almost like defaming the average Kolkatan who is liberal, secular, and culturally sound. 

We don’t need to learn rocket science to understand who is responsible for all the disorders. It’s conspicuous. The fringe groups and organizations do not speak for the common man. We are religiously tolerant people and cannot be maneuvered by these ‘self-appointed messiahs’ for their petty political gains.

Artists, painters, actors, dancers, etc. are social commentators. They are bound to make these groups unhappy, but to succumb to their ‘social policing’ would be jeopardizing our basic right to express and comment.

Surely the ‘fundamental rights' cannot just be a prerogative of the ‘fundamentalists’.