Freedom of expression has been a contested term in the contemporary scenario. Artists, musicians,
filmmakers are continually plagued by the forces that are beyond their power. They become victims
of various ideological apparatuses like the State and society at large. These authoritative bodies have
always tried to suppress any idea or thought that has a protesting and vocal attitude. No artist today
is bereft of any controversy, especially, when he/she articulates issues like gender, sexuality or satirises
the state of political affairs in the country. Art becomes a tool to politicise the issue, one aspect of it is
taken out of its context and used to garner attention of the masses. Unfortunately in a nation like India
where there is a huge divide between people in terms of ethnicity, culture, lifestyles and ideas there is
bound to be an ideological clash and censorship paves its way easily into our lives.
One often comes across reports of vandalism, rage and violence caused by a film or an artwork.
Today it’s difficult to trust the credibility of anything that is constantly covered by the media that turns
into a controversy and the artist or the filmmaker becomes famous. To some it may seem genuine, to
some a sham or a publicity stunt to gain popularity. Often the dispute is over the issue of morality and
what would appeal to the taste of public. In this process the artist or filmmakers subvert their body
of work to conform to the system’s world-view. Any one that tries to break away from it faces a lot of
flak and violence, especially by fundamentalist groups. Extremism can always lead to violence but
this violence is without a cause. Those who cause it masquerade as preservers of our culture, morality
and often the blame is conveniently shifted to the ‘Western influence’. This sort of hypocrisy influences
public opinion, on one hand the ruling class always tries to capitalise on the foreign investment in
the country and on the other they wipe out opinions and value system different than theirs. They are
out rightly imitating the American economy and trying to build homogeneous structures like malls,
departmental stores, food outlets and all this is sanctioned in the name of development and progress.
One has to stand up and question what is progress and development? In spite of all their efforts to
uplift the Indian economy, we still see people grappling to meet their basic needs. And in this process
the art and the artist also become victims of the state’s intervention in creative arts.
In my opinion, art should never think of the public or any other institution’s view of morality
and acceptance. It should put them in an uncomfortable position where they become conscious and
acknowledge issues concerning our people and society. It should be a medium to awaken the jaded
masses in the country. In this view our current issues tries to examine these issues deeply. Censorship
in art has always been a disputed and complex setback that requires closer analysis to unearth the
inherent flaws that determine the outcome of a finished artwork.
One has to go back in history and try and understand the origin of censorship, when and how it
emerged and through history was gradually being developed into an institution. Also we as people today
have become passive recipients of the existing faults in the system. We have become too comfortable
to react or stand up and protest against the system due to which everything continues the same way.
Let’s hope that our current issue enlightens our readers and offer them some food for thought.
Our sincere endeavour is to try and analyse important issues plaguing our society and express them
uncompromisingly and truthfully.
Siddhartha Tagore