Prakash Javadekar is a Union Minister in the Modi Government. He is currently serving as the Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises.
Prakash Javadekar holds 3 big ministries that are not only important but also have no relation to each other. We believe that it is too much work for him or he is just not interested in handling a very sensitive ministry like Information & Broadcasting.
Since the time of lock-down these things have surfaced even more. The content on OTT platforms are not scrutinized by any government/associative body before serving it to millions of people. These platforms contain series/movies that are very divisive in content and cause a lot of unrest among different sections of people in India.
We would not like to go into details of the funds that these series are receiving or whose agenda/narrative they are trying to implement. We would like to focus only on what damage this kind of non-regulated content can do to India.
Hurting Hindu sentiments has become a trend these day. The Hindu community is relatively not a violent one so it has become a soft target. Making fun of Hindu Gods or insulting the religion in some or the other way is so commonly protected under the freedom of speech. The Charlie Hebdo & beheading of a teacher in France is a very apt example of tolerance and intolerance. If freedom of expression is the shield they use in these cases then why is only one community targeted? Because they fear that their lives will be in danger if they say something insulting about the other religions.
We are not against any freedom of expression – you can guess it by our name itself. But we are strictly against hurting religious sentiments. Be it from anyside. This will not only bring a section of people in unrest but will also cause communal division. If you are against the government – and you think government is dividing people on religion then you should do the exact opposite and unite people through your content.
Government has to come up with some kind of regulatory body for these OTT platforms as well. The content needs to get approval like the Censor Board for Films. And this needs to be done on urgent basis. It is not only about religious content but also the obscene content that is coming out. It is like some OTT platforms are more or less serving porn content to their subscribers. OTT is being used by people of all ages, so the government has to come into picture to control the damage. And this is where exactly I&B Ministry should set up and take action, which Mr.Prakash Javadekar is not capable of. He just wants to be polite and politically correct – so he barely takes any action – as he is afraid that he might face backlash from either side. But this is not possible. A minister has to take decision for the betterment of nation as a whole, even if it means that a section will not agree. Long term vision is missing and so he is just trying to keep calm right now by not taking any decisive measure which is going to be very very damaging for the future.
We are a supporter free speech but there has be a line which one cannot cross – as nothing can be absolute – not even Freedom of Speech. So people who abuse this freedom must be kept in check by the government which it seems is not possible with a minister who is overburdened with 3 Big Ministries and is least interested in taking any decision in the I&B minstry. We think Prakash Javadekar should resign from I&B Ministry.
Jai Hind
