Ban on Play Mr. Jinnah

``FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF SPEECH AND CREATIVE __EXPRESSION``

The cloak that leftists/ Fifth Colunm like you hide behind to undermine a nation. Lahanti. Is there ever a limit to the ``free speech``. You guys are notorious to ghol all type of kanjarpana under this free speech loophole.

The truth is that the play has not been banned.

The truth is that theatre with far more controversial subjects and interpretations have been and are part of the regular Indian scene for decades now. Asmita have done more than a few themselves.

(And there are enough policemen, senior as well as junior, officers as well as constabulary, who have been part of and continue to be part of theatre in India. Especially socially active theatre in India.)

Plays come and plays go, as do movies. This is, in my opinion, probably an attempt by the author as well as Asmita to drum up some free publicity for a play. The fate of a play on Jinnah in India, or elsewhere, can hardly be any different from the fate of a movie on Jinnah, likewise.

Why the hell does one have to submit a script of a play to the Delhi police? Authoritarian Bastards....

Dude, the Indian Goverment is basically full of Brahmanesque fascists. They will talk big democracy but will not allow an actual rocking of the boat. Let them go to hell and you should perform your play abroad.

This is not and should not be about Pakistan. The same government that today bans a play on Jinnah also banned a play earlier on Nathuram Godse. By what right? Where is freedom of speech? Are we free to only sing praises to the dogs of the Nehru Gandhi Family and Bapu Gandhi?

Is any challenge to the myth making of the Gandhi Nehrus to be met with bans?

None of Veeresh`s sophistry hides the fact that in SECULAR DEMOCRATIC FREE INDIA one has to apply for permission of the Police to stage a play. I will slap the next Indian who lectures the US on human rights or talks of Indians being second class citizens.

Hey, I do not need police permission in the USA for staging a play. And I am not even a US citizen.

by claiming `free speech`

Yes, by claiming Free Speech. And the very fact that an Indian puts free speech in quotes proves that it is a facade. No different from Pakistanis having complete freedom of speech to give gaalis to Indians.

Complete freedom of speech as long as you get the approval of the establishment. What a fraud.

BeeJay:

``Free speech has never been a 100 percent free right in India``

Exactly. So what is the moral authority by which India gave lectures to the world on democracy and freedoms (while ofcourse holding a begging bowl in the hand)

Hey, Speaking for my self I am glad to live in a country that does provide me a genuine right to free speech unlike the insecure sountry in which I was born.

``You all show your true colours now dont you! if this had been a reverse situation, where the Lahore police had stopped a play on Gandhi or Nehru, you would`ve been up in arms telling us how backward and narrow minded we are!``

Ally you are 100% correct. Along with bigotry and shortsightedness, hypocricy is also a hallmark of the Indian establishment / upper middle class.

````FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF SPEECH AND CREATIVE __EXPRESSION``

The cloak that leftists/ Fifth Colunm like you hide behind to undermine a nation. Lahanti. Is there ever a limit to the ``free speech``. You guys are notorious to ghol all type of kanjarpana under this free speech loophole.
``

BULLSHIT. Free speech is not a goddamn loophole. Iit is a Fundamental Right. It is amazing that u will blame the Leftists for ``exploiting loopholes`` but defend the right of a Bhindranwale to call the Prime Minister of India a Brahmini.

Freedom of Speech is a two way street.

And Veeresh, so what if the play has not been banned? Why should the script be pre-approved by Delhi Police? What of Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy? Who the hell is some babu to decide if an idea is worth propagating or not.

At least be honest like BeeJay and admit that ``free speech`` in India is a fraud.

Re: # 19, ah, Stuka!!

a) Why submit a script? Because that`s the law, and not just in India, especially if you want to stage a commercial production. It is like this, censor board for movies, headmasters for school and college theatre, cops for theatre and political stuff, &c &c.

b) The script needs to, basically, satisfy the laws already set out on the subject. Sedition, religious bigotry, war against the Nation, &c &c, all these are nada. There are enough avenues for appeal.

c) Hey, you do need permission from the relevant authorities to stage commercial theatre in the US. Matter of fact you need permission even to sing or play a flute on a street-corner in the US, with or without a guitar and mouth-organ.

+++

I`m in this one just because I think it is so easy to beat India on the head. Not anymore.

+++

So tell you what Stuka, you and me, I run up a quick script on ``Mr. Abdul and his life in G-Bay, Cuba, via Diego Garcia - BIOT``, and you arrange to stage it at the Public Library in your burg or wherever?

Re: # 23, the script for the Nathuram Godse play/s have been freely available and staged in Marathi for some time now. Big deal.

Then, at a later stage, it got banned by, as you rightly put it, a babu. Well, s/he occupies a chair and position given to him by the Sovereign, under the Constitution of the Country, so s/he has a right to take what s/he deems to be lawful action.

You then have a right to go into appeal. That`s democracy.

+++

But you are missing the point. The real point is that I am waiting for Arvind Gaur to respond.

You see, I also know how many tickets were sold, and how many were unsold.

+++

What chance does a play on sadly and dear departed most respected and almost forgotten Jinnah, howsoever controversial, have of being a commercial success in all of Delhi beyond a couple of shows at the Sri Ram Centre basement at 25/- rupees a pop, you tell me Stuka?

+++

ally:

the ``ban`` is silly. some peoples` reactions to this ``ban`` are silly. but like stuka said. this isn`t about pakistan. and this isn`t about hindu vs. musalmaan either, as some have tried to bring up. it seems that you`ve unleashed a whole lot of emotion here, par yaar, emotionalism naal har gall naeeN hoNdi. and don`t i know it! so ``mr. jinnah`` doesn`t get shown in delhi, fittay munh fer. . . it gets shown somewhere else. if indians can`t deal with it in delhi, there are plenty of places to show it.

what ``we`` are is not in front of these indians, just as what ``they`` are is not in front of us. in your list of dirty laundry that envelops us, you neglected to mention that our government also legitimized ``terrorist`` groups. how do we explain that? there are pakistanis who don`t even understand what is happening under their noses and cannot explain it except to be apologists. just as there are apologists for murder and for extreme political parties in india. but have even these groups sponsored men with guns to infiltrate pakistan proper and gun down holy places and seats of government. i suspect the answer is no. what ``we`` are is not in front of these indians, just as what ``they`` are is not in front of us. and again the banning of this play has little to do with pakistan, or where muslims are better off. their responses are of fear. yaad rakkheeN.

xo ~ ana

There is a LIMIT to ``Free Speech`` - even in US. I`ve been noticing for 20 years now that the limit is shrinking with times. What works in or for the US doesn`t neccessarily work for others. We will see how much ``freedom`` US will have when 15% population is muslim, and Canada becomes a thorn in its side.

EVERYTHING should be taken in CONTEXT.

National Security, Honor, harmony are more important than trash in the garb of and loophole of ``Free Speech``.

Bhindrawala is irrelevant to the issue. Had he staged a play to Jinnah, he woud`ve been a villain in my book too.

Re: # 23

Yo Stuka - calm down man. Free speech is doing fine in India. Bans on plays/movies are just over-reactions from over-jealous officials - the authorities have clearly stepped across the line. And soon they will step back, or beaten back behind the line ....... Godse play was finally played - so will be this drama on jinnah.

Overreactions are common across democracies - after 9/11, remember what US gov`t proposed - spy on the neighbor scheme - TIPS or something? And Patriot Act ...... And the banning of Bill Maher ..... Castigation of the black poet in New Jersey..... Remember all that?

So now calm down .... Jinnah will play and sky will not fall down. ..... People have strong feelings about the man and for good reason. And they are venting .... and that`s good thing. People venting against communal freaks is a good thing.

Re: miriamk # 16

You said, and I quote, ``So, let the people make up their own minds instead of making it up for them.``

This is against the interest of any government, any where in the world, and no government, will ever allow this to happen. The idea of people thinking for themselves opens up the possibility of people arriving at conclusions, which demand an accountibility from the governments in the form of answers. The power of the government comes from its ability to convince that it has all the answers and if it is proven that the government does not have answers and it was lying to conceal this fact, it stands discredited.

The basic rule of governance is not to give the people what they want, but to make them accept that what they have is good enough for them. The function of the government is to allow a sense of uncertainity, which is created by the opposition, to continue as a means to keep the people occupied in trival matters. This prevents the people from concentrating on the issues; i.e., what are the politicans doing and what has government done to fulfill its promises. Hence, the people have to kept busy and they are kept busy so that they do not have the time to think about politics, which means that the politicans and governments can easily avoid being answerable to the people.

The governments and the politicans, have created a house of myths, which supports their arguments for existence and from whence, their power originates. Allowing the people to think and have their own opinions, will challenge the mythology of the politicans and the governments and prove the contradictions between the myths and the reality. It would undermine basic notions of power and the people, who have the most to lose from this are the politicans. Therefore, the politicans will never allow this from happening. Most political systems are a duet; the government sings particular tune and the opposition sings a different tune, but no opposition will sing the same tune, when it comes to power and likewise, every government will say the exact oppposite of what it was saying while it had the power.

This is achieved through the fabrication of a make believe confrontation, in the politics, but in reality, the aims of the government and the opposition or political parties are the same and that is make the people caught up in the trivalities of the argument and not allow them to think about the meaning of the argument itself.

As Sir Humphrey Appleby of ``Yes, Minister/Yes Prime Minister`` fame said, ``it is not the job of the people to think; it is the job of the government to tell the people what to think lest they discover that the government has no idea what it is doing``.

Ciao

Re: # 14 ana
//...you can defend me any ol` time..//

I will defend you alright. That `s good every once a while - you know, you scratch my back and I will scratch yours [back, that is]. But defending thing is good, only up to a point.

More importantly, you have to see who you are defending. Some people are worth it, some are not. Communalists like FV are not worth it. Decision is of course yours - I am just telling you......no hard feelings either way.

mr. j: what is all the fuss about?
t: i don`t know, sir
mr. j: they haven`t stricken off all those archaic laws in the past 58 years?
t: sir, i am not a playwright, just a small unread poet
mr.j: do you know what the play is about or were they cashing in on advani?
t: sir, you seem to be pretty well informed there
mr.j: i am busy will you kindly answer me?
t: (he is still humour impaired )
mr. J: i can read your mind. anybody here can, just like you can read the caller`s id number:)
t: er..th..thank you sir ..re: the play i can only tell you after the writer responds to my friend veeru...am in TO, they are in delhi
mr. j: ok, and tell stuka to cool it, dung happens
t: am shocked sir, i mean....ok....sir, i will tell him
mr. j: ok... we get movies here too....saw forrest gump the other day
t: (hmmmm that explains dung)
mr. j: mind your own business young man. good bye

Play should go on...and if it is trully banned it is very sad and an act of shame for any Indian who takes in pride of its progressive and modern outlook - although it is a work in progress.


#15 Ally brother, so all it needed to break you down and tear you apart inside out was an allegdation about banning/postponing/flopping a supposedly controversial play on Jinnah?:-)
This inspite of the fact that Play is written, played and being organized by the Hindus?

BTW what can be a male name is Susan....we had Bobbi, Bittu, Billu etc but Susan....Susan Brar..wtf?