"Three things that never come back:
the spent arrow; the spoken word; the lost opportunity"
-William George Plunkett
At the very outset let me make it clear that I have not watched the controversial documentary by Ms.Leslee Udwin. However, I also wish to highlight that I do not give a damn to those who keep saying that only those who have watched the video can understand the point of view being put across through the film. I feel I do not need to watch a video to understand how screwed up we are as a society. The nation wants to know, not what Mr.Arnab Goswami wants to preach, but where is the link to the banned video. Only if the nation desired to know how the daughters can be protected or more importantly, how sons can be brought up with right moral values.
With the likes of Meryl Streep apparently agreeing to attend the US premiere of the documentary, it would not be a surprise if the filmmaker walks away with an Oscar next year. One country's shame, another country's fame. And unfortunately if that happens, Indian Government should also get the Academy Award for the Best Supporting Role. By choosing to ban the movie, it has only managed to fire the engines of curiosity all across the world. Anti-piracy law has not been able to put a stop to the illegal download of movies(ask Mr.Akhilesh Yadav..hehe) and so there is no way that Indian Government could have controlled unauthorised online consumption of this product. India is not North Korea or China unless of course there is a definite policy shift towards that kind of CLAMP DOWN CULTURE. Myopic vision coupled with knee-jerk reaction on the part of the Government has ensured that India becomes the laughing stock of this world. It was anyways bad when the Indian newspapers headlined India as a "Nation of Rapists" and now we are a "Nation of Idiots" as well.
The ban by the Government itself is silly and the logic given by the spokespersons really baffle me. According to them, the words of the criminal are more infectious than the Swine Flu and can cause an epidemic. They gave zero stars to the film because they didn't like such content. How can a filthy Rapist be shown as being remorseless?? A nice question indeed. A remorseful Rapist is a Saint and then the movie is ok for nationwide release. We have grown up on diet of Hindi films which by default had the element RAPE in the chemical composition of a VILLAIN. Of course, the HERO got to kill the Villain at the end to get rid of the evil. That was okay as the RIGHT finally prevailed over the WRONG so what if every Indian(including kids) were exposed to things like RAPE, MURDER, & ROBBERY. Considering there was only one channel those days, I think many of us turned out to be quite alright. So, listening to the Criminal doesn't influence one to follow in the same footsteps for he/she is not Osho. Nor does Crime work on the model of Network Marketing. If your value system is good,virtues in place and brain intact then even Satan cannot lead you astray.
Without trivialising the issue, I would like to draw a parallel here with the use of anti-smoking disclaimers in movies that had been ordered by the Government. They wanted to ban smoking on screen but finally diluted the stance to allow the release with such disclaimers. Those messages make people cringe in their seats and therefore leave an impact on the minds. Would the Government have given a Thumbs Up had the documentary carried additional footage of strong messages of public outrage against such heinous crimes, criminals and mindsets including that of the defence lawyers. How about a few minutes of Mann Ki Baat on Gender Equality by the Prime Minister adressing the society through that film?? How about the voice of the mothers?? How about a pledge by the Police authorities and Aam Aadmi to be the 24X7 custodians of India's daughters?? The idea should have been to get the message across through this documentary that going forward this nation would be more responsible towards its daughters and NO ONE SHOULD DARE TO HARM THEM. This is where the Government lost an opportunity to mobilise public opinion and set the ball rolling towards transformation of the civic society. This is where "Minimum Government and Maximum Governence" was the perfect panacea to the ills of the society. Showing direction to the society so that children are brought up with right values is the job of the Government and so far the Report Card (for sixty seven long years) is a cause of serious concern.
What irks me is that why couldn't any Indian filmmaker or Indian news channel come up with this documentary. Well, I am not endorsing the creative brilliance here but as an Indian, I am saddened to see a foreigner coming to India and mustering the courage to do what her Indian counterparts perceived as unthinkable. Now a few journalists are damning the work of the filmmaker almost as if she is more evil than the Rapist himself. Is it a case of sour grapes?? The Nation wants to know. I really loved the social experiment that NDTV had carried out through a wonderful series by the name "WHAT'S YOUR CHOICE?". And they did air a special show on the documentary which kicked up a storm indeed. The media got caught up with the content of the film while ignoring the two real questions that have to be answered by the nation-What could we do to change the mindset of people like Mukesh Singh?? If learned lawyers talk like the uncivilized then what way our Education System needs to be reformed?? Indian News Media lost an opportunity to do mature journalism.
The filmmaker lost an opportunity as well and cannot escape as a victim of the political censorship. The case is sub-judice and so local sentiments had to be respected as a responsible filmmaker. Right to Expression should not be taken for a license to fly into a country and recklessly turn a sad event into a story to win applauses. In the west, law is so intrusive that a mother cannot even slap a child to discipline him or her. Ms.Leslee Udwin, thank your lucky stars that you are in a wonderful country like India where you are sitting pretty while the entire nation is quibbling over the mess that is your creation. I said we are a nation of Idiots and that includes a moron like me who is typing away at this hour as if you are waiting for this piece of brilliant writing....hmmm. What I find wrong with your action is that you were indifferent to the plight of the girl and the sentiments in this country while filming. You could have easily approached the Government and Civil Society to make this a piece of social project much beyond the mere statement of facts. What Mukesh Singh thinks is not important to us for every criminal finds some reason to justify the crime. What he thinks would have come out in the trial as well and but you have given him a stage to shamelessly showcase his dangerous thoughts. India is none of your business and that you have proved it by being so cold and reckless in your approach. As for the legal wrangle that you find yourself in along with BBC, that could have been easily avoided had you taken the stakeholders on board.
To sum up, as much as we have reacted to INDIA'S DAUGHTER, the movie; I hope we start caring for INDIA'S DAUGHTER, the girl child and all the women. We owe it to Nirbhaya. On that note, Happy Women's Day(belated I guess) to all the SANIAs and SAINAs.
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