Perhaps one should agree after the castigation by the Indian Supreme Court on the reckless and irresponsible live coverage of the anti-terrorist operations of Indian Security forces in the 26/11 terrorist attack at Mumbai Air port in 2008, by some Television News Channels repeatedly telecasting the operational movements of the Indian anti-terrorist forces so as to be watched by every one including the international terrorists across the world, in their live converage.
While confirming the capital punishment awarded by the Indian Lower Courts to the Ajmal Kasab a Pakistan based terrorist, the Apex Court of India on 29, August observed, live coverage of anti-terrorist operations by some Indian television channels endangered the Indian national interests, and any attempts by them to justify their rights of freedom of speech and expression to conduct their media business by citing those rights shows their irresponsibility and is totally wrong and unacceptable while dealing with such sensitive subjects. Any irresponsible acts under the guise of Consititutional rights, that throws the national interests and security in jeopardy would never be justified on that plea of consititional rights, observed the Two Judges Division bench of Supreme Court of India.
These recent observation by the Apex Court of India has once again put the Indian media to credibility test on their self-control mechanisims and brought into picture once again the exigency of other regulatory mechanisms required to restrain the unbridled freedom of the media that is endangering both social and national interests often.
While the Supreme Court’s comment is one aspect, some sections of Indian electronic media’s role in the recent times has come to great criticism by the cross section of the public in the country. Particularly the media role in damaging the ethical values in the social life by telecasting sexually provocative and indecent dance programmes, bringing all family oriented women before the small screen enticing them with petty gifts and showing their physically lustful and lascivious gestures and postures through dance programmes and, to lure more and more women into such programmes, to destroy their family lives unmindfully.
Majority channels, except some nationally reputed news channels, are commercially oriented and design meaningless love oriented programmes showing the heckling jokes and riff-raff social behaviour through artists, and spreading the irrationality and senselessness among the youth and women. Their target is to lure, entice the family oriented middle class women to Television programmes and make them to dance in lustful postures and gestures and make heavy money by seeking commercial advertisements for such programmes. Some sections of women one after another, are queuing to participate in such programmes to make money by exposing their bodies to public entertainment.
In the social front, the anti-social, anti-ethical behaviour, irresponsibility and recklessness of these channels is found by repeatedly telecasting the sexually provocative movie songs without any restrictions. This is how the freedom of expression and other rights are being utilized by those sections of the electronic media. The Cinematography Act, Art, Culture are the pretexts to continue their onslaught on the ethical and social values in the society. They have no concern for social values, good and national interests. Their objective is to spread lust, and riff-raff behaviour into the society to systematically damage the country intentionally or unmindfully through their programmes.
There are no controls on the daily serials being telecasted by such media channels, which are heavily contributing for damage of the Indian marriage and family systems. Their serial stories are basically filled with suspicion and crime oriented thems and displaying how to learn new crimes and to hatch conspiracy againt each other, especially in the familiy disputes. Daughter in law and mother in law brawls husband and wife misunderstandings would be depicted in notorious dimensions that do not really exist in the Indian Family and Marriage institutions. Some South Indian channels are notorious for this type of telecastings and police records reveals several of the crimes are learnt from the programmes telecasted by the electronic media. Criminal political support is aiding and abetting their activity further so as to keep the people of the country in senseless stage, to keep themselves away from thoughts of nationalism and oneness.
The Indian Supreme Court’s observation might be in the context of Kasab’s subject. But the damage being played by some of them is even more dangerous and is spreading like water under the mat. Some of them are operating something like internal enemies to the country’s national and social interests, and seeking exemptions to their crimes by hiding under the rights and freedom ensured by the Constitution of India. By dchaitanya.