More than four bans in one week. At this rate we can all forget about the ongoing Cricket World Cup and concentrate instead on our fondness for bans.
On Monday, the Maharashtra Government imposed a ban on beef. Anyone found to be in possession of or selling beef can now be jailed for five years and fined Rs. 10,000. Which roughly translated means that the consumption of burgers is illegal. This was then followed by a ban on the documentary India’s Daughter , by British film-maker Leslee Udwin, which focuses on the assault of the December 2012 Delhi bus gang-rape. Closer still, the word ‘lesbian’ has been muted from the film Dum Laga Ke Haisha and the CBFC will apparently not allow the screening of Fifty Shades of Grey , even after toning down sexual scenes and removing nudity. Translation: People don’t get to watch Dakota Johnson’s butt double. Three months ago, Uber was banned in Delhi but if some reports are to be believed, the company still shows that taxis are available for booking. So much for solving the crisis of rape.
What the enforcers forget is that the Internet repels some of their decisions. People can still enjoy banned movies online; unfortunately the same cannot be said of beef — you just have to settle for water buffaloes. Even government offices haven’t been spared. Last month, private email networks were banned for official use. Bureaucrats have been ordered to use services offered by the NIC so that they can be monitored closely (hint: porn, Facebook, Candy Crush games).
This only leaves us with a host of suggestions for the Government on what to ban: TV serials, moral policing, burning books, selfies, spam mails... Maybe what we need is a ban on banning.
