In these days of quick fixes,
quick opinions are the most dangerous and with that statement I would like to
dismiss Anurag Kashyap’s article and Ashwini Mishra’s article as an
ill-conceived thought stunt manoeuvring on the tricky terrain of freedom of
speech and control.
The recent FIR lodged againstHoney Singh for his misogynistic lyrics (written way back in 2006) slamming
him for degrading women in his lyrics is the common theme of the articles
targeted here. Many would like to claim that Yo Yo Honey Singh is the symptom
of the problem and not the problem itself. For the limousine liberals, the
problem being the larger social mentality that creates a market for those kind
of lyrics as Honey Singh is now blamed for. While it may be close to accurate
that a ready-made market exists to consume such lyrics and that is the only
reason artists like Honey Singh come into the picture; however the use of that
argument to justify misogynistic lyrics for the cause of “freedom of speech and
expression” is an utterly half-baked one. Moreover, calls for Honey Singh’s
artistic freedom have come from those with skeletons in their own cupboard
(such as Anurag Kashyap who has faced censorship issues, and Ashwini Mishra, who feels
he should face a ban for his desperately drummed up anti-government songs).
There are issues that go deep and
there are issues that go deeper. Quoting foreign thinkers and their quotes,
(such as for the clichéd one, “I may not
agree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it” by
Voltaire), cannot be done at the cost of ignoring our own social values and
contextual mores. Does it not seem ridiculous to one to import foreign quotes
for home-grown problems? Our problems are different and so will our answers
be. Voltaire was a French philosopher and what he stated was a response to the
make-up of the French society as it then existed. It may apply there still, but
India since the beginning has been breathing on a different value system that
is single-handedly responsible for ensuring the integrity of this nation
despite its many cracks and fissures. We must quiver before even defending Honey Singh for his ultra obscene misogynistic lyrics with the bat of free speech.
Our constitution allows one full
freedom of speech and expression, but that right is not absolute, as everything
else in the universe is; NOT ABSOLUTE. Our constitution allows for the
imposition of few restrictions on the freedom of speech with the sole condition
that any such restrictions to be imposed should be reasonable. This reasonable leash unleashed on
our freedom of speech and expression by the drafters of our constitution is birthed from the ideology that we live as a single humongous organic
united social entity and are not divied into islands as individual ourselves. Therefore, what we say
has to be said, keeping in mind the larger society’s developmental and
progressive needs. Our right of free speech and expression should not border on
destructive, misogynistic or even anti-everything all the time - ala- our creamy communists verbose
style and accordingly must be tamed with the tape of reasonable restrictions.
Moreover, blatant defense of the
crass and the uncouth misses the point of an artist’s social responsibility towards
his community. Yes, there exists a market for cheap and crass content but an
artist’s responsibility is not towards himself alone, i.e., making money from
society and then shoving the rod of free speech and expression up society’s
ass when society comes back to you with brickbats. Society makes an artist and
the society has the full freedom and the right to destroy one too. When Anurag Kashyap
says the crass has the right to exist, it only exposes the mindset of those who are in the business of art, thereby indicating that the
“crass cow” has more milk to be milked from.
Besides, Honey Singh took the
easy way out to make a song that could catch up with the masses instantly. It
was an easy thing to do. Has everyone forgotten, easy come-easy go?
In case one would be led to assume so, I should clarify here that I am not trying to link Honey Singh's lyrical skills and the recent bus incident. But this write-up has come out more as an attempt to show how we cannot uphold one's right to free speech and expression every time blatantly and absolutely.
Image from here
In case one would be led to assume so, I should clarify here that I am not trying to link Honey Singh's lyrical skills and the recent bus incident. But this write-up has come out more as an attempt to show how we cannot uphold one's right to free speech and expression every time blatantly and absolutely.
Image from here
we have long forgotten our Indian culture nad values. The generation is only after westernizing themselves and blame western culture again and again for all the crap. We ae aware of all the loopholes to save our soul from any such issues !!! it is the upbringing that is to be blamed that does not inculcate such strong values in a child which can prevent him/her from abusing/hurting or doing anything wrong. But it is not only the upbringing and the family but the responsibility of the person himself also to evaluate their own actions.
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