Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'A good gesture by TN govt' that was published in Newsband

A good gesture by TN govt

The ban on film ‘Vishwaroopam’ has been lifted by Tamil Nadu Government. The question is whether TN government was right at all in the first place to impose temporary ban on the film? How could the film be banned when only two years ago the Supreme Court had set aside the two-month ban on the Hindi film Aarakshan on the ground that States cannot proscribe films that have been cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification on the mere apprehension that screening them may cause a law and order problem?

The landmark case that set the tone for such judgments was S. Rangarajan v/s P. Jagajivan Ram, where the Supreme Court held that “freedom of expression cannot be suppressed on account of threat of demonstrations and processions and threat of violence.”

Also recently, the Supreme Court had dismissed a petition challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s ban on the release of the film DAM 999. While it is the right of the fringe Muslim groups who are offended, seemingly or otherwise, to protest against the film, any demonstration should be staged only peacefully. Anyone who threatens or takes recourse to violence deserves to be dealt with strictly and punitively.

Censor Board had passed the film and hence there was no need to ban it after that. Someone had said that Censor Board should involve one person from each community in its Board and that names should be proposed from each state government. That is a good idea.  

Freedom of expression is most important as per our constitution. When a person expresses anything there are hundreds of people who speak against it. That does not mean everybody should stop expressing completely. Violent protests should be dealt with severely and treated as criminal offence. Right to protest should be allowed but only in peaceful manner.

The only Muslims who are portrayed badly in this film are those belonging to Taliban who send innocent children to become suicide bombers. They kill innocent Muslims who do not agree with them. Talibans are indeed guilty. Why should other Muslims sympathize with Taliban? In the film, the whole Muslim community is not branded as terrorists. Only the Talibans are referred to as terrorists. There is no reason for other Muslims to feel offended.

In the first place, the TN government should not have imposed a ban on the film in such haste. But now that it has come to senses and lifted the ban one should appreciate the gesture.