As Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech) of the Constitution comes with riders, we have today ‘equal rights’ opportunists who take offence at anything and everything. There is outrage when a cartoonist shows a mirror to the government; when a film looks critically at inter-caste violence; and sometimes, as stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui found to his distress, even before you crack a joke.
So, while the freedoms of speech and expression; to assemble peaceably; to form associations; to move, reside and settle down anywhere in the country; and to practise any profession, carry on any occupation, trade or business are protected, they are subject to certain conditions. These are called ‘reasonable restrictions’ on the exercise of the right in the interests of the “sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order, decency or morality or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence”. For the purpose of this column, the focus is on the ambiguous “decency and morality” and what constitutes as a threat to the “integrity of the state” from the eyes of a comedian or a filmmaker.
Several police complaints have been made against comedian Vir Das for a six-minute video he uploaded. The complainants took offence at the harsh truths that he stated in the speech about what he called “two India’s”, at Washington’s Kennedy Centre, in a language that comedians usually deploy. In a country where a kiss against the backdrop of a temple in a web show can lead to protests, especially when demonstrated by an inter-faith couple, this is not surprising. One of the complainants has sought to register an FIR against Mr. Das for “defaming India in the USA which is venomous and inflammatory”.
In a shrinking public space for the media in India, it is today left to comedians, cartoonists and filmmakers to turn the mirror on Indian society and draw their attention to the failings of public institutions, the government and the state. Mr. Das did just that. He spoke about the farmers’ protest, rape, India’s response to COVID-19, the crackdown on comedians in the country, and the opacity of PM CARES. When complaints were filed, he put out a statement pointing out that it was satire. This is nothing new. Cartoonist Manjul attracted the government’s attention when Twitter on a request from the Government of India informed him that he had violated the laws of the land. He had criticised the government for its slow vaccination pace at the height of the tragic COVID-19 second wave.
If stand-up comedians are regularly bullied and threatened with police complaints and FIRs, they will have to look behind their shoulders before opening their mouths each time. Script-writers will think twice before penning down some harsh truths about the society they live in. And filmmakers will tread carefully or take the easy way out. What a joyless country we would then be. Whatever way you look at it, the joke is on us. Surely our sentiments cannot be so easily hurt and India’s image so easily tarnished? Mr. Das spoke about two India’s. But in fact, there are many India’s today where people can take offence at any point of time to anything said, written or shown anywhere in the world.
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