None of the reasons given by the Tamil Nadu government for imposing a ban on the film Dam 999 holds water. The right to freedom of speech and expression, as enshrined in the Constitution and upheld time and again by the Supreme Court of India, is too dear to be sacrificed at the altar of political contingency. Everything the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary, Debendranath Sarangi, stated about the film could be true, yet nothing would justify the ban on a film cleared by the Censor Board. Admittedly, the title of the film alludes to the Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala, which was built in 1895 on land given to Madras State on a 999-year lease. The climax depicts the bursting of a weak dam, resulting in the death of hundreds of thousands of people. In publicity material for the film, the director, Sohan Roy, who hails from Kerala, spoke of dangers posed by old dams. Further, Biju Vincent, representing the Mullaperiyar Samara Samiti, which is spearheading opposition to the dam in Kerala, was present at a press conference to announce the release of the film. These facts do not constitute the slightest justification for a ban. To say the film would create discord between the people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala is to underestimate their good sense and maturity. If a motivated few instigate tensions that lead to law and order problems, the onus is on the State government and its law enforcing machinery to deal with them.
What is surprising is that the government allowed itself to be led by the chauvinist demands of some political parties for a ban on the film — instead of dealing firmly with those who threatened to prevent the screening of the film. As pointed out by A.P. Shah, retired Chief Justice of the Madras and Delhi High Courts, in an article in The Hindu (http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2656995.ece), “different views are allowed to be expressed by proponents and opponents not because they are correct or valid, but because there is freedom in this country to express differing views on any issue.” If disturbance to law and order on account of the release of the film was a concern, the proper course for the government would have been to provide adequate security to cinemas screening the film and to act firmly against those seeking violently to disrupt public viewing of the film. As the Supreme Court laid down in its 1989 judgment in S. Rangarajan v Jagjivan Ram involving the film Ore Oru Gramathile, “freedom of expression cannot be suppressed on account of [the] threat of demonstration and processions or threats of violence.” Bans cannot be allowed to become a substitute for responsible policing. This is settled law, which will no doubt be reaffirmed when the matter is taken to court.
Keywords: TN govt ban, Dam 999, Mullaperiyar row, freedom of expression
If it was to be banned,Kerala must have come forward first as they are under the sword of democles in Mullaperiyar.It is a movie; reportedly bursting of the dam is not the only theam it portrays.There must be lot many creative things.One thing sure there is nothing obsene to tarnish the Image of India. When we boast of development ,we did't find anything wrong with exposing the treacherous life of slum pepole in Mumbai through Slum dog millionair.Obviousely that picture did't lemit the content in simpily exposing the slums.There is an indelible message in the movie.Mubaits did't raise their voice against Slumdog Millionair.They could clearly distinguish art and sentiments.Mr.Sushil Kumar winner of Kone Benega Krorepati is a testimoney to the creativity of the Director.The same way if Dam999 can shed some light on Mullaperiyar we should welcome that.An unnecessary ban can only increase the milage of the movie at no extra cost for advertisement.Banning bounseback.
Bose A Panicker
Hats off to "The Hindu"!None of those who banned or raised their voice for the ban DAM 999 have not seen the film! freedom of Expression should be up hold.
Politicians balance the maximum outrage caused by suppression of free speech
versus the violence that offended parties can unleash. Unless we build a strong
culture of protest against suppression of free speech, whatever the reason it will
always be easier for governments to err on the side of caution and ban freedom.
In a country where there are so many issues that need to be fixed, free speech lags
far behind.
The problems of old dams is part of the problem that is the cumulative destructive effects of modern civilization. Together with the problems of old nuclear fuel cycles including of course nuclear reactors and old skyscrapers and wastes generated by modern civilization we are faced with extinction. the Mullaperiyars, the Krishnarajas, the Stanleys, the Bhakras and the 350000 Mw of nukes are a nightmarish scenario for people to ponder deeply. Way back in 1908, writing in Hind Swaraj, Mahatma Gandhi stated the problem: Given enough time modern civilization will destroy itself. So Dam 999 is a story worth being shown to the citizens. Similarly the China syndrome which unfortunately tragically is being played out by Fukushima tragedy breeding Fukushimas galore by recriticalities in the open biosphere. Its time to impeach modern civilization and bring normal civilization into being now. The water needs of modern civilization are being met by causing quakes like the 2004 Andaman(300000 dead)
My memory goes back. In oct 1963, when the Bhakra Nangal dam, one of the straight gravity dams of the world, was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He stated that the dam was built for the benefit of mankind and this dam may be called a temple, a gurudwara, or a mosque. A great message from a great leader. That principle applies to all dams, bigMy memory goes back. In oct 1963, when the Bhakra Nangal dam, one of the straight gravity dams of the world, was dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. He stated that the dam was built for the benefit of mankind and this dam may be called a temple, a gurudwara, or a mosque. A great message from a great leader. That principle applies to all dams, big, medium and small. The prime minister, the chief ministers of all States and the political leaders of all the political parties in this country, should have this concept in their thoughts, while deciding this issue. Churches, mosques and temples should be protected BY ALL FOR THE BENFIT OF MANKIND. People belonging to all the religions are residing in the four districts adjacent to the particular dam, and the relatives of the occupants therein, are residing in the 28 states of India and other parts of the world. Let the first Prime Minister' s vision help the country and the world., medium and small. The prime minister, the chief ministers of all States and the political leaders of all the political parties in this country, should have this concept in their thoughts, while deciding this issue. Churches, mosques and temples should be protected BY ALL FOR THE BENFIT OF MANKIND. People belonging to all the religions are residing in the four districts adjacent to the particular dam, and the relatives
Of the occupants therein, are residing in the 28 states of India and other parts of the world.
Let the first Prime Minister' s vision help the country and the world. C.P.Chandra Das, USA.
it is the real matter.the polititians in both kerala and tamilnadu are seemed to be oppertunistic.it should be changed to reach at an amicable solution....
The Supreme Court has repeated ruled against State Governments banning books and movies. Be it a book that states something against Chatrapathi Shivaji, or containing any line around caste issues OR for that matter dealing with something sensitive to the feelings of someone, the easy route that most Governments take, unashamedly, is a ban. When a Government bans a book or movie, it is essentially abdicating its responsibility of maintaining law and order, educating its citizens on issues and directly stomping on the constitution.
I am from Tamil Nadu and for me, it simply is irrelevant whether the movie is correct in its viewpoints or not. The makers of the movie have complete rights and freedom to articulate their viewpoints - I will stand by them irrespective of how strongly I might be against the viewpoints that they have expressed.
I am afraid, its no longer merely sufficient for the Supreme Court to overturn a ban. There has to be something punitive for this not to be repeated.
Provincial frenzy is made to ascend trampling the freedom of opinion guaranteed in our Constitution.The playing to the local gallery is on display. When do we get over the zero-tolerance?
Very nice editorial.
Especially the part where it says that the government of TN is
underestimating the good senses and maturity of their people.
Expressing your view is the most important right and the very base of
the FREEDOM. It was before 1947 that some people had "Rights" to tell
us what we can say and what we cant.
Tamil Nadu is paying Rs.17 Lakh for the existing water usage to Kerala. Inturn,
they are generating electricity from this water using this water to the tune of Rs.
1000 Crore at the least. So, the interest is that they don't want to pay more than
Rs. 17 Lakh.
What does Kerala want - primarly, they want control over the dam, that is currently
under Tamil Nadu control. Fair I would say, why would some other state want
control over another state's resources, unless it want's to protect it's 'interests'.
The other critical aspect is that of the people who stay below. What if the dam
collapses - some water will flow into the lower reparian districts (have family there)
and some into the Idduki Dam. The bigger problem is if too much water flows into
Idduki, it will topple and the problem is manyfold - Kerala's financial hub, Cochin
will be destroyed. The cost will run into the tune of Rs. 5 Lakh Crore rupees. What
about the lives. It will cost or affect 35 Lakh lives.
Banning of the movie Dam999 is certainly a violation of the rights to expression of an Indian citizen.
Lifespan given by Penniquick,the builder to that surki dam(made out of lime and jaggery 116years before,30tonnes of lime is being washed off every year) was 50 years.The only reason why TN is opposing a new DAM is that they want to control the DAM and dam site for next 999years which is inside kerala state and continue to exploit kerala for water at cheapest rate in the world(paying just 10.15lakhs per year)they are the sole beneficier of the water for past century,they generate electricity which cost .13 paise per unit and selling it to kerala at Rs.12 per unit.If a new dam is built of course there will be a new agreement TN is fearing this because of fear of losing control over dam,playing mere politics by risking future of kerala and 4million lives..it happens only in India..If it was located anywhere else in the world the Dam would have decommissioned 50years ago.
Dam999 is a movie based on 1975 Banqiao Dam disaster in China. It has nothing to do with Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala. The ban is undoubtedly led by misconceptions. But, it is important to make the people of Tamil Nadu aware of Mullaperiyar Dam - a lethal water bomb on the verge of collapse. And if that happens, 35 lakh lives will be under water, wipe a away a few districts (and one more dam in the worst case) and change the geography of India. The TN Govt should stop inclining to the colonial blunder of 999 year lease agreement which has been a reason of conflict between two South Indian states even 67 years after they left. Its already late for the two Governments to reach mutual concordance because if the worst happens, both sides will have to bear the brunt, clearly Kerala at the dark side...
Great lines, aptly summed up. Democracy means tolerance for every view. Debate, decry but never throttle. Gratifying to see The hindu takes on the issue when most other journalist have been quiet about assault on Freedom of Expression. Even producers of Dam 999 are terrified to go to Courts. Tamilnadu Government need to be more tolerant.
Banning or allowing the film does not address the issue on hand, namely the safety of the dam and its expected life cycle. The technical expertise within the country, even though it is equal to the expertise from outside, is always subject to political pressure for obvious reasons. It will therefore help if expertise combined with experience from outside is sought in this case by the Supreme Court of India, since the Governments at the center and the concerned states have abdicated their responsibility to the people of India irrespective of which side of a man made boundary that they happen to live on.
Banning the screening of DAM 999, even if simulating the likely
disaster that could befall on Kerala coast, is not going to mitigate
or prevent any potential devastation, that would be caused if a dam of
over 100 years old built with stones and 'surki' (sugar and Calcium
Oxide) breaches. It is better for people to be aware of what is likely
to happen if neglected. In the event of a disaster, the population in
the four districts of Kerala in the down stream would be wiped out; at
the same time 230,000 acres of farmland irrigated in Tamil Nadu will
suffer drought. It is the mistrust between the governments that this
issue is dragging and at the peril of innocent common people;
particularly Tamil Nadu suspecting Kerala government, not without
reasons, re-building the dam affecting their interests. It is in the
interest of both to build a new dam without compromising on either of
their interests. A 100+ year old dam cannot be safe; maturity should
prevail over rivalry.
India is the largest democracy, in terms of population.The government also has the unique reputation of banning dozens of books and movies, since 1947, because not doing so "would create a law and order problem" or because the book or movie "would offend a community"
Absolute freedom of press may be not exist anywhere because there is a conflict between that, and "spreading hate". That said, why does the government not let the people decide?
Is this an example of "freedom of expression" that our founding fathers dreamed about?. We are a democracy, but still live under this oppression of not being able to express our thoughts freely. Such bans are unheard of in the west.
Unless there are safeguards in law against the flagrant use of "bans" "freedom of expression" will exist only only in principle, and not in reality.
it do happens in India, that on one side constitutional rights of people of indie to express their opinion and if they do then, politics
come into picture,if Aamir Khan express his concern over Sardar Sarovar
Dam then in repercussion his film fanaa banned in Gujarat.constitution
gave us weapon but Govt. emptied the bullets from it.
You have defended a good cause. While explaining to a child the basics of "What is civilization?", C.E.M. Joad says in an essay that eating chocolates or riding in a motorcar is not the sign of being civilized. Civilization is the creation of some thing beautiful, something that defies the time, he asserts. By any means a movie is the beautiful endproduct of painful craeative endeavour. And the elation of the creator of the work- a book, sculpture, movie or whatever be it- attains the pinnacle of joy when he makes it available to the external world for their seeing or perusal. The perpetrators of ban of 'Dam 999' have done so out of indiscretion. It has become almost a fashion these days to cry for ban of the works of creative endeavour. The movie in questian is particularly relevant as, in the realm of reality, Mullaperiyar dam threatens the occurence of a horrendous human tragedy.
Governments of Tamilnadu and kerala should observe maximum restraint on mullaperiyar issue.The banning of a filim does not yeild any result in solving vexed issue.
None of the reasons given by you in your editorial dated 26th Nov. against the ban on ‘Dam 999’ holds water either. True, freedom of speech and expression needs to be respected. But that doesn’t mean, as the recent interview of Justice Markandey Katju indicates that any insensitive rubbish can be uttered anywhere, at any time. As everybody knows that Mullaiperiyar dam issue is being addressed through courts & dialogue. In this situation, how do you justify the exhibition of the muscle power of one of the parties through a concocted story depicted through a derogatory film? Obviously, this is not the matured way of addressing the issue. Hence, I wholeheartedly welcome the decision of the Tamil Government to ban the film.By the way, don’t call the protest against the film as ‘a chauvinist demand of some political parties. It is nothing but an assertion of Tamil identity.
The ban on showing the film by the T N government should not be opposed .In my opinion showing the film will create a psychological phobia among people which is really unwanted .Whether it is going to break or not it is a different issue which is to be discussed by both the governments and to reach a conclusion ,and it will be settled in due course of time.But by that time we can avoid the fear among people that it is going to break.
What happened to the ‘Sethusamudram Project’ for which crores of rupees were dissolved in the Palk Strait, which is just 33 -50 miles wide between Indian and Sri Lanka. Probably DMK and Congress would expect people to forget the issue for reasons known to one and all; why the ruling alliance is not raising the issue, of course for not implementing the project but for swindle of monies in disguise?
Only after the Banqiao disaster China focused on surveillance, repair, and consolidation of around 87,000 reservoirs across the nation built during 1950-70 with traditional engineering technologies. These reservoirs which are in poor safety conditions, pose challenges to the prevention and control of flood-triggered geological disasters to regions having human settlements with a population of more than 130 million.>In his 21 minutes’ documentary, the director had thrown light to a scientific explanation of the disastrous nature of a dam wherein the government turns a blind eye towards reality of a catastrophe. The film Dam 999 may be depicting a Dam, truly the Mulaiperiyar dam constructed during the colonial era. It also depicts the Indian mythology of 999 accepted by British regime and put into practice even in lease agreements!
After reading the movie reviews, I feel that the TN government did a good service to its people by banning Dam 999.
The editorial had rightly shown the finger towards politicians instigating people to get infected with the feeling abhorrence on people of neighboring states while cashing on politically motivated issues as desired by bigot groups. There is no justification in banning the film DAM 999, which is based the same Director- Sohan Roy’s documentary film- ‘DAMs- The Lethal Water Bombs’ on Banqiao dam ( China) disaster of 1975 which had won five international awards and got noticed in 15 film festivals around the globe. The Banqiao dam (492 million c.meter) almost similar to the Mullaperiyar dam (443.23 million c.metre),was destroyed by torrential rains in 1975 which claimed the lives of 2,50,000 people.
To a large extent I agree with the views expressed in this editorial but given the timing of release of the film and sestivity of the issue souring at the same time the TN governement in a way has taken a sensible step. There are examples of state governments banning films on the grounds of probable communal violence in the state, which should not be taken as escape from maintaining law and order. The step taken by the TN government is sensible since it avoids any unnecessary disturbance that could be created by this film. Freedome of expression should come naturally but with a sense of responsibility.
The dam is developing new cracks with each earthquake. This area has faced 22 earth quakes so far in this year of 2011. So, now people fear that the dam may collapse anytime, unleashing the most destructive acts of nature. If this event happens,four districts(Idukki, Kottayam, Ernakulam and Alappuzha) will be vanished from the earth and around 2 million people will die.
The main problem is, there is no any serious and practical action by state government or national government or supreme court. The only solution is to make another strong concrete dam parallel to this old dam. Usually it takes too much time for any decisions or order by government and supreme court to implement.Time and Tide Wait for None.
YOU are right in pointing out: To say that the film would create discord between the people of TN and Kerala is to udnermine the good sense and maturity. Even if the nfilm had dealt with the Mullaiperiyar Dam with tis own way of depicting it, banning the film itself is the worst form of 'fundamentalism'; the state has banned it only because of the chauvinist outppuring of the TN political partires wishing to put the government in a soup. TN government buckled under that pressure perhaps. Now we will have to seek judicial remedies to get over this uncalled for ban.
The all party meet of kerala and the timing of the movie "Dam 999" was not a coicidence. This clearly showed Kerala political parties intention to make maximum impact of fear on people. Their interior motive may be to break the long term lease of the dam to Tamil Nadu Goverment citing earthquake. Earthquakes happen all over the world everyday- some felt by humans and others by animals. May be both Tamil Nadu and Kerala Governments agree to an investigation by international group of engineers before further talks among political parties of the States or with the central government
It is right that banning the screening of the film Dam 999 holds water finds a solution. The viewers can watch the film and let their views to come out, which may make a way for solution to come out. Banning the film make it more popular. I think TN Govt is supporting the film in such a way.
The editorials of The Hindu is par excellance. The opinions do not just remain 'opinion', but they become 'facts', because it is written with so much logic and correct argument. Similarly here, the key thing to note in this article is 'freedom of expression'. No matter whether one is right or wrong, it is one's fundamental right to express one's opinions.
It has become a regular practice to impose ban on any book or a film at the hint of possible violence.The intolerant groups or people have been able to curb the voice of difference. In a real democracy, opposite opinions have to clash and the better opinion prevails.Hence, no to ban.
I fully support THE HINDU on this issue and what it states in its Editorial. Though the circumstances concerning the content and the release of the film specifically, its timing, when the Mulliperiyar issue is at its feverish pitch, does give the impression of a unnecessary provocation, the Maturity of the people of TN and Kerala must be given a chance to sort this out.
Having stated this, it would be foolish for the makers of this film to believe that the people of TN would take everything lying down ,and that a film would be able to resolve this ticklish issue in favor of the proponents of the subtle message.I think the politicians have started to muddy the waters and it is high time that saner voices of the Intelligentsia came to the forefront and see if consensus opinion could be built that can force the warring leaders to ink on. The experts comittee set up on this must assume a more leadership role in resolving this crisis, taking into consideration all aspects of safety.
A sensible editorial. Like the banning of 'The Da Vinci Code', this is yet another immature act on the part of the government and a knee jerk reaction at that.
Great editorial. TN should take the criticism in a positive way and try to see the other point of view.
Worry not people of Tamil Nadu about the banning of the movie. If the tussle between the governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu goes like this, you people will soon get to see the disaster of Mullaperiyar dam, not on screen, but in real.
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