Free expression

A bunch of cultural hawks in Jammu & Kashmir want a halt to all cultural activities in the state's schools. They have a point, you see. It is a different thing that you might not see it (I mean, their point) at all. They feel girls and being exploited, obsceneity is being promoted. The Daily News & Analysis has some details: [ Link] After lying low for some time, Dukhataran-e-Milat (DeM) chief Syeda Aisiya Andrabi has suddenly sprung back to action and has threatened to launch an agitation...

This article from the Times of India is being reproduced here in full: [ Link] The bikini has never had it easy in these parts. When the Miss World contest was held in Bangalore in 1996, the city erupted in protests. Women’s groups objected to the commodification of women’s bodies, fundamentalist groups raged that it was against Indian culture while Left groups accused the Karnataka government of selling out. To avoid further conflict, the organisers shifted what they suspected to be the root of...

The Left cannot be far behind. The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) on Friday last staged a demonstration in front of a cinema theatre in the Khammam town of Andhra Pradesh protesting against the use of obscene posters, says a siasat.com report. [ Link] They removed the posters and set them ablaze. The protesters objected to screening of movies replete with obscenity. They attributed the increasing atrocities on girl students in educational institutions to the movies without any...

Guruvayoor temple authorities are reconsidering their decision to change the old dress code that allowed only saree-clad women to come to pray, says a Daily News & Analysis (DNA) report. On July 26 this year, the temple authorities decided to allow women dressed in salwar-kameez also to pray at the temple. Thsi volte face would be because preists say the deity is real, real angry at non-sari clad women. [ Link] However, during the eight-day ashtamangalaya devaprasanam (astrological consultations...

India should not see Ranbir Kapoor dropping his towel in Saawariya. The Censor Board Film Certification (CBFC) RO Vinayak Azad has this to say according to indiantelevision.com, "I think the issue is being blown out of proportion. It was a voluntary decision by the director Sanjay Leela Bhansali when we explained to him that the scene would not be appropriate for a U-certificate film. He opted to chop it." Yeah, sure, the towel has been blown away, Mr Azad. He has more to say: [ Link] "Being...

Mallika Sherawat gets as many headlines as she grabs eyeballs. Now her latest controversy is a resurrection of the one over her dance on New Year’s eve in JW Marriott Hotel in Mumbai. Narendra Tiwari, senior lawyer and president of Baroda Bar Association (BBA) has lodged a complaint against Sherawat and the hotel owner under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act in Vadodra court. He has accused her of publicly making wilful exposure of her person by words and gestures. The court hearing is...

The Hyderabad blues seem to be ruling the students of an engineering college. While many colleges around the country are imposing dress codes of salwar kameez and formal shirts on students, Aurora Engineering College in Hyderabad has gone a step ahead and made blue jeans and white shirt its new uniform. [ Link] The uniform has gathered mixed reaction from students. While many are taking it as an oppotunarity to flaunt what's in vogue, others are finding it a culture shock. ''I never wore jeans...

Moral policing hit a new low when a girl was forcibly paraded on the streets by the policemen of Muzaffarnagar after she was found in a hotel room with a male friend. [ Link] According to the police, someone tipped them off that blue films were being shot in a particular room of the Hotel Raj Mahal. When they stormed the hotel, a young couple was found in an "objectionable state" in the room. They were arrested along with the manager of the hotel who could not produce any records of the check-in...

After many colleges in Chennai, Hydrabad and Mumbai, Magadh University is next in the line to impose a dress code for its students. The proposal came in September when during a surprise visit by MU vice chancellor B N Pandey, it was noticed that students were not dressed "appropriately". At least, so he thought. [ Link] Although, the proposal included a code for the teachers also, it has been kept out of it as of now. Black trousers and white shirts for boys and white salwar and maroon kurta for...

Many love stories have born and evolved on the sands of Marina beach and they may continue to do so as the big stick of Chennai cops has now been instructed not to play spoilsport anymore. [ Link] Chennai Police Commissioner G Nanchil Kumaran has instructed the department to leave the decent couples alone on the beach and focuses on eveteasers instead. [ Link] The police department, famous for its moral policing, now says that lovers can meet at the beach and spend time there happily and that...