Mumbaikars have welcomed the government’s decision to ban the controversial documentary film “India’s Daughter” about the infamous Delhi gangrape which occurred on December 16, 2012. Many of them criticised the derogatory comments made by Mukesh Singh who is one of the six men responsible for the rape incident. Huge uproar was witnessed in Rajya Sabha over the documentary as women MPs demanded strict action against the accused and Tihar jail officials for allowing the interview.
AV spoke to Mumbaikars to know their opinion about banning the documentary ‘India’s Daughter’. Here is what they had to say
Capt Abhijit Adsul, Yuva Sena spokesperson said, “The accused has sent out the wrong signals by issuing such statements. Already being in police custody serving his punishment and has got such audacity to speak about the victim in a negative manner is indeed outrageous. Any negative portrayal of the victim should be banned as she had to undergo severe pain. The ban is justified.”
Viveck Shettyy, MD of Indus Communications said, “Do you dig into a dustbin and broadcast it on national network? Then why do you need to dig into the mind of a rapist? It’s truly sickening.”
Bharat Dabholkar, Ad-film maker and theatre personality said, “The rape cases won’t reduce by banning anything. Media shouldn’t give coverage to the accused and his words should be ignored. Strict laws should be framed for reducing crime rates in our country. This ban is more than justified.”
Krishna Hegde, Congress leader and former MLA from Vile Parle said, “The accused should be awarded death sentence and not be allowed any media interaction as his views don’t matter. I welcome the decision.”
Advocate Sushan Kunjuraman said, “No. I can’t endorse such views of the accused. His negative mentality will spoil the mind of others. Everyone is supposed to follow a code of conduct in public life. I totally justify the ban imposed on this documentary where in the culprit speaks such pathetically about the feminine gender.”
Hansel Gonsalves, a software engineer, Goregaon (W) said, “Banning such documentary won’t change the mindset of the people. Documentary won’t harm the image of our country, but our actions and attitude surely will.”
Alina Dcosta, Masters of Communication student, Vasai (W) said, “We need a ban on our mindset that are trained to think in the same manner for years. A ban on our ‘chalta-hai-attitude’ is also the need of the hour. Remember bans won’t stop the issue, it causes rebellion.”
Leah Linhares, a student from Mira Road (E) said, “No, definitely not! Rape cases won’t reduce if you ban such things. A person won’t sit to think ‘ok they banned XYZ so I won’t commit the crime’. India needs strict laws so that the accused should be hanged to death without further delay.”
Brenden D’costa, Mira Road (E) said, “The ban is justified. You see the respect and dignity of women constitutes a core value of our culture and tradition. By taking this step, the government tightens its stand of what they had promised to remain fully committed to ensuring safety and dignity of women.”
Earlier Home Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement clarifying the government’s stand about this issue. He said that the filmmaker Leslee Udwin defied the conditions under which the permission was given to her to shoot. Rajnath also added that the “no objection certificate was given by Ministry of Home Affairs in 2013.”
“It was noticed the documentary film depicts the comments of the convict which are highly derogatory and are an affront to the dignity of women,” Rajnath said.
On the other hand, British filmmaker Leslee Udwin said she had followed the “necessary protocol” in making her documentary. “I wrote a letter to Tihar’s director general saying that the film will be in public interest and there won’t be any unnecessary sensationalism. I was given the permission and I interviewed these convicts from October 8 to 10, 2013.”
