Dinesh Kamath's Editorial (Politically supported goons rule the roost) that was published in Newsband

Politically supported goons rule the roost

The people who had fought for our freedom had dreamt of a free society. But what we find today is corruption everywhere and restrictions on the freedom of thought and expression that could be damaging for the future of the country.

Women and men of letters and arts are scurrying for cover after being hounded by political parties, caste and communal outfits. The fate of Aarakshan, a film based on reservations, is a case in point.

The film has been cleared by the censor board and an examination committee, including dalits and OBC members, a horde of other politicians or groups, who now want to review the film before release.

Directors are at the mercy of too many self-styled vigilantes. They have to give in to senseless controversies which are growing longer by the day. The genuine artistes are loyal to their craft, not to the propagandist diktat of a party or a group.

These groups guard their vote banks by holding artists and freedom of thought hostage. For them it is become a fashion nowadays to run amok vandalising art, driving artists out of the country. It was such groups which forced M F Husain to breathe his last in exile, made Mumbai University drop Rohinton Mistry`s ‘Such a Long Journey’ from its syllabus and banned a book by Taslima Nasreen and drummed her out of the state .

Nobody has taught such groups to respect Freedom of Expression and they continue to hold to ransom artists whose duty it is to transgress boundaries. It is not the books and films that disrupt law and order. The people who actually violate the laws are the politically supported goons. When such mobs create havoc what we need is the help of the Indian army since the police force is not equipped enough to control them.