Twitter is abuzz with varied opinions on the porn ban and the arrest of consenting adults from a hotel in Mumbai
Twitter is abuzz with varied opinions on the porn ban and the arrest of consenting adults from a hotel in Mumbai
“At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom,” said Jawaharlal Nehru in his now famous Indian Declaration of Independence. It is safe to say that India’s life and freedom have not been in the healthiest of states in recent times.
The first blow arrived with the announcement of the ban on porn sites, which left several youngsters (and adults) across the country utterly flabbergasted While Twitter and Facebook reacted with unending streams of jokes, memes, frustrated protests and downright surprise, Indians wondered how they could enable proxy servers.
And as if this was not bad enough, another act which left people stunned, unfolded in Mumbai. As consenting adult men and women were arrested from hotels, the eye of the public rested on the police — who chose to strangely act as moral guardians as well. The glitterati had enough and even those who remain far from the political eye, too, exploded with raging comments on social media and the Mumbai police’s notorious demand that those arrested call their parents is now the butt of jokes across media. Many like actor Ashwin Mushran tweeted, “We are arresting you for public indecency... But sir, I’m in my home... Home is on a road, road is public... Chalo jail #MumbaiPolice.”
As a comedian, Sorabh Pant of East India Comedy says, “I think these things are just stupid! I’m really curious to know what higher power has induced this sort of thinking. The government is obsessed with infiltrating into people’s private lives! But one thing the porn ban has done is united India in our perversion,” he laughs.
Publicly humiliating and demeaning individuals, stripping them of their right to privacy and love by propagating arcane moralistic stances is hardly the job description of the protectors of law and order in this country. While Independence Day lurks around the corner, the irony of the ban and arrests is lost on no one.
