[Reader-list] August in India - the censor, documentaries, the internet...and kites?

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear All,

The first of August brings interesting news from the Republic of 
India. Two relatively minor pieces of information tucked away in the 
corner of the Mumbai city pages of the Times of India website unveil 
further episodes in the rise of the censor in our lives. The first 
concerns the innovative requirement for censorship certificates for 
Indian entries to the next Mumbai International Documentary and Short 
Film Festival. The second, is about order  No. GSR529(E) of the 
Ministry of Information Technology, (issued on July 7, 2003) which 
stipulates the exact procedures for the banning of websites deemed 
offensive by the Indian state.

With this order,which extends the already draconian provisions in the 
existing IT legislation, the Republic of India, enters the exclusive 
club of free nations like Singapore, the Peoples Republic of China, 
Cuba, the Islamic Republic of Iran,the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 
Myanmar and others (the United States of America, the United Kingdom, 
the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Republic of Italy are close 
candidates as well) that monitor and criminalize Internet surfing 
behaviour.

There will be a lots of shrinking freedom to celebrate for Indian 
citizens on 'Azaadi Diwas' ('Independence Day') a fortnight from now. 
Perhaps the traditional kite flying excercises of the 15th of August, 
the only part of the charade that has any redeeming value, should 
this time be given a new twist - with kites stencilled 'Censored, and 
Azaad (Free) ' flooding the skies of the cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, 
Kolkata and wherever else in the territories of the Indian republic 
that people still feel free.

It would then be a challenge to the Government of India to create a 
new department of the Certification and Censorship of Kites in order 
to protect the Decency, Morality, Public Order, Sovereignty and 
Aerial Intergrity of the Skies over the Indian Republic.

I highly recommend the two articles below from today's Times of 
India, by Shabnam Minwalla, my attention was drawn to them by a 
forward by Sunil Abraham of the second article (on Intenet 
Censorship) on to the Commons Law List.

Incidentally, a campaign against the censorship requirement for MIFF 
has been initiated by some documentary filmmakers, and statements in 
support may be sent to <miff_campaign at rediffmail.com>

An intersesting discussion on the implications of the censorship of 
the Internet in India is underway at the "Commons Law" list at 
Sarai.net. The archives are at -
http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/commons-law/

Cheers

Shuddha
__________________________________________
1

Film-makers miffed about censorship rule
SHABNAM MINWALLA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, AUGUST 01, 2003 12:58:09 AM ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=105788

MUMBAI: The announcement for the Mumbai International Film Festival 
(MIFF) declares that 'happy days are here again'. But behind the 
bluster lies an unpleasant surprise: For the first time in its 
13-year history, the festival is insisting that participating films 
require censorship clearance.

This unexpected clause has generated alarm within the 
documentary-film fraternity, which sees it as an attempt to stifle 
freedom of expression. "All over the world, film festivals are 
outside the purview of censorship," said filmmaker  Sanjay Kak,who 
has started a signature campaign in protest.

Added film-maker Rakesh Sharma, "My last film, 'Aftershocks', was 
entered in 70-odd film festivals around the world, but the question 
of censorship didn't come up even once."

So why, after seven censor-free rounds of MIFF, are the dreaded 
scissors looming over the festival to be held in February 2004? Many 
suspect that this is not an isolated instance, but part of an ominous 
pattern.

Earlier this year, the censor board refused to clear'Aakrosh', a 
documentary on the Gujarat carnage, on the grounds that it "depicts 
violence, reminds of the riots and shows the government and police in 
bad light".

Similarly, Anand Patwardhan was thrust into a prolonged battle with 
the censor board last year over "—War and Peace", which addresses 
issues surrounding nuclear war.

"As equipment becomes more accessible and young people join the 
field, documentaries are becoming a space for independent voices," 
said Anjali Monteiro of the Unit of Media and Communication at Tata 
Institute of Social Sciences.

Added Bishakha Datta, who has spent a year tangling with the censor 
board over her documentary on commercial sex workers, "Earlier, if a 
screening was at some small venue, nobody bothered about the censor 
certificate. But today the censor board actually writes to the 
theatre and demands explanations."

This is part of a larger attempt to control thinking and clamp down 
on diverse ideas the same process that has resulted in the revision 
of school curricula and scrutiny of international scholars visiting 
India for conferences.

Is MIFF is the latest victim of this paranoia? Films Division 
maintains that a censor certificate merely helps it to establish the 
date of completion of the film. "Nobody has protested so far, and I 
see no reason why they should,"said a Films Division official.

However, the film-makers view the matter differently and point out 
that to demand censor certificates from Indian but not international 
films is both discriminatory and pointed.

"The kinds of films being denied censor certificates are invariably 
those which do not speak highly about the establishment," said Mr 
Sharma.

"We have a ridiculous situation where the VHP is free to distribute 
horrible propaganda materials, but if I use excerpts from those I am 
certain to be censored." Moreover, the fear of a sticky censorship 
situation might well influence upcoming film-makers for whom MIFF is 
an important forum.

"A film festival is a place to be experimental and outrageous, not be 
governed by the rules of sobriety," said Mr Kak, pointing out that 
youngsters might shy away from politically explosive and sexually 
explicit subjects in order to make to MIFF. "My greatest fear is that 
this will result in unhealthy selfcensorship, and set limits for the 
way we think."

___________________________________________________________________
2.

Watch what you surf, Net police are here
SHABNAM MINWALLA
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, AUGUST 01, 2003 01:10:10 AM ]
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=105813

MUMBAI: The thought police is gearing up to storm the virtual world. 
In what appears to be its first serious attempt to monitor the 
Internet, the Government of India has outlined an official procedure 
for blocking websites.

An order issued by the department of information technology on July 7 
enables a bunch of bureaucrats to decide the websites Indian surfers 
are allowed to access.

``This is the first formal step towards Internet censorship in Indian 
law,'' warns Somasekhar Sundaresan, a lawyer who specialises in 
technology issues. ``The order provides the State with sweeping 
powers to police Internet content. For example, news breaks such as 
those in Tehelka.com can simply be blocked by the government using
these powers.''

Interestingly, the Information Technology Act, 2000, only provides 
for the blocking of pornographic websites and the monitoring of 
websites which endanger public order, the integrity and security of 
the nation and relations with other countries.

But the new diktat goes a few steps further  permitting the blacking 
out of ``websites promoting hate content, slander or defamation of 
others, promoting gambling, promoting racism, violence and terrorism 
and other such material, in addition to promoting pornography, 
including child pornography and violent sex''.

The order  No. GSR529(E)  goes on to add: ``Blocking of such websites 
may be equated to balanced flow of information and not censorship.'' 
Critics, however, point out that much can be accommodated under this 
umbrella clause.

According to the order, various agencies  including central and state 
home departments, the courts, CBI, IB, police and the chairman of the 
National Human Rights Commission  can submit a complaint to the 
director of Cert-In, a new organisation which has been set up by the 
government to address IT security issues.

This will then be examined by a committee comprising bureaucrats from 
Cert-In, the department of information technology and the law or home 
ministry. The committee will ``meet and take on the spot decision on 
whether the website is to be blocked or not''. Neither the producers 
of the website nor those with a contrary point of view are to be 
given a hearing.


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