Leslee Udwin has earnestly requested the Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi to watch her documentary film India’s Daughter. She firmly believes that after watching the entire documentary Modi will realize its relevance and importance for the Indian public. The BBC documentary explores the mindset of the criminals and their defense lawyers to show the real reasons behind heinous crimes like rape.
Despite portraying social truths, the documentary has been banned in India on the pretext that it has maligned the Indian culture. Questions are being raised about the rights of a foreigner to make such a documentary and interview rape convicts. But, in spite of the ban, millions of Indians have watched the hour long documentary and surprisingly raised their voices in protest against the unjustified ban.
Is India still a democratic country?
In banning India’s Daughter, the political leaders have ignored the fact that the film has been made with the permission and help of the victim’s parents. If they have no objection and the makers were successful in obtaining permission to question Mukesh Singh, the rapist, then why are the political leaders acting against it now?
Leslee Udwin has broken no legal norms in choosing the gang rape of Nirbhaya, (the name given to the girl by the media), inside a moving bus as the subject of her documentary. A serious and shocking crime like gang rape and poking out the entrails of a woman in the name of teaching her a moral lesson for going out with a guy at night deserves our attention.
It is necessary to find out the mindset of the criminals and their backgrounds. Leslee Udwin has completed this humane duty. She has tried to bring focus on the derogatory manner in which women in India are perceived by a major percentage of men and women. The ban on India’s Daughter has raised questions against the democratic rights of Indian viewers. Do Indians have no right to choose and select the content they read or watch? It seems political leaders have become determined to snatch away the constitutional rights of their countrymen.
India’s Daughter should be shown in schools and colleges
It is true that the content of India’s Daughter will shock the viewers and deeply move them, but that’s exactly what Leslee Udwin has tried to achieve. The purpose of this documentary is to raise awareness and change the way women are generally perceived in Indian society. Let alone the uneducated Mukesh Singh and his friends with a criminal bent of mind, even the so-called educated defense lawyers are saying despicable things against women.
One of the defense lawyers of the rapists has been recorded saying that he will splash petrol on the bodies of his sister or daughter and burn them alive if they dared to go out with a boy or had a romantic affair. The convict is shown telling in the documentary that their death sentence will caution the other miscreants and they will kill their victims after raping. He also mentioned that Jyoti would not be beaten or her entrails would not come out if she did not protest during getting raped.
The bare truths of this mortifying crime should be used to spread awareness among students and their parents. It has now opened a new path of exploring the real causes of rape and brutal torture on women in a developing country like India. There is no doubt that the Indian women have come far, but still there are inhibitions working against them.
To prevent crimes like gang rape we have to change our mindset and perception. Men have to accept women as their equal or else the gender-biased crimes will continue to plague our country and no amount of banning will be successful in delivering us from them.
Summary
Banning a well-made documentary on cultural and political grounds has reinstated the weakness of India as a democratic country. India’s Daughter has not crossed limits of decency. It has only brought to light the ugly truths of Indian society that need to be changed.
