The Union Government’s ban on the telecast of a documentary film on the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old girl in a moving bus, was upheld by a Delhi Court. This is set to kick up another controversy on creative freedom versus bans as well as the right of journalists or filmmakers to interview a convict.

Preceding the ban, members of Parliament cutting across party lines expressed their ire over clippings of the India-UK production, India’s Daughter released to the media on Tuesday. The preview showed an interview in Tihar Jail of one of the rapists, Mukesh Singh, blaming women for getting raped. “Women are more responsible for rape than men, women should not travel late at night…,” he said, condoned by two lawyers defending the convicts.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh said in Parliament that the documentary has ‘shamed’ the entire country. He said permission to interview the convict was given on July 24, 2013. “I will get a probe done into how the permission was granted to interview the rapist, and if there is a provision allowing this, it needs to be reviewed,” he added.

Singh said he has asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to also look for ways to ban the film’s broadcast abroad. The film was scheduled to be premiered in India and countries, such as the UK and Denmark, on March 8 to mark International Women’s Day.

The Oscar-winning director-producer of the film, Leslee Udwin, however, said she tried to examine the mindset of rapists. “What actually inspired me to commit to the harrowing and difficult journey of making this film was the optimism occasioned by the reports that followed the rape. ….In this regard, India led the world by example…. I can’t recall any other country standing up with such commitment and determination for women’s rights,’ she said in a release.

Udwin said the interview of the rapist “offers a revealing insight into his attitudes towards women and into why men rape.” In a spirited intervention in Lok Sabha, BJP’s Kirron Kher, herself a performing artiste, said instead of the focus on ban, people should focus on ‘mindsets’. “The right to consent, the right over her body remains with a woman. No one has the right to blame her for such incidents and ask her not to carry mobiles or wear jeans. People wearing sarees are also being raped,” she said in an oblique reference to Khap panchayats, adding that there was need for gender–sensitisation programmes for children and village elders.

On Wednesday two Twitter handles, for and against the film, were trending. While some said the film held a “mirror” to the society and its attitude towards women, some others felt it painted a grim image of India and gave a ‘platform to rapists.’

Backing the film, lyricist Javed Akhtar said “The reality is that what that convict spoke reflects the view of many men in India. Why are we shying away from reality? Why are we not confronting the issue? We should confront the issue… It’s good this documentary has been made. Crores of men in India have now come to know that they think like a rapist. If it is sounding dirty, they have to think.”

Entrepreneur Anu Aga, also a Rajya Sabha MP, said: “It is not just the view of the man in the prison. Let us be aware of it. Let us not pretend that all is well.”

According to reports, Udwin has said that “I am deeply saddened by this ban, this is not reasoned behaviour,” adding that the film would be released worldwide as planned. She said she herself was a rape victim and would never agree to cutting the about nine-minute footage of the interview.

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