O P I N I O N S

EDITORIALS

Need for restraint
China's aggressive moves in South China Sea
An old map, long-standing territorial claims and new economic might have ignited another flashpoint on the Chinese border. At the centre of it are the two island chains, the Paracels and the Spratlys, which are claimed by a number of countries in the region.

Managing agriculture
Hooda wakes up to the crisis close to elections
Four months ahead of the assembly elections the Haryana government has announced "a comprehensive agriculture policy". In its two consecutive terms in power the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government has not addressed problems of agriculture which are widely known: crop diversification, sinking water table, stagnation in farm productivity, bringing more areas under assured irrigation, lack of facilities for food processing and storage and poor access to institutional credit.

• Thought for the Day

On this day...100 years ago

on this day... 100 years ago
The consequence of the Delhi change
IT is remarkable how the opponents of the transference of the Capital are slowly beginning to realise the value of the change. Yesterday we wrote that the only way to justify the expenditure involved in building an artificial Capital was by carrying out the pledges solemnly given in the Despatch.

ARTICLE

Positive signals from Iran
Time for a final deal on the nuclear issue is now
Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty
Iran and the P-5+1 (China, France, Russia, UK and USA and Germany) reached an agreement at Geneva on November 24 last year on the steps to be taken by Iran to roll back its nuclear programme in return for limited easing of sanctions.

MIDDLE

A general election to remember
Lieut-Gen (retd) Baljit Singh
I had arrived home on winter vacation from school and witnessed at first hand the initiative of a diligent District Collector-cum-Magistrate who criss-crossed his district from dawn to dusk, in the week preceding the polling day.

OPED SOCIETY

Of censorship and submission
India has shown a constant downgrading on the international rating of the Press Freedom Index, leading to a higher degree of self-censorship. This is true not only of the media but also creative expressions, academic pursuits and the social media. These are disturbing signs for the growth of a healthy democracy
Vandana Shukla
Books are being banned. Authors are gagged. We don’t like to laugh at ourselves, nor do we allow others to make us aware of our idiosyncrasies. Political parties, publishers, filmmakers, academics and even artists are giving in to the illogical demands of fundamentalists.

EDITORIALS

Need for restraint
China's aggressive moves in South China Sea

An old map, long-standing territorial claims and new economic might have ignited another flashpoint on the Chinese border. At the centre of it are the two island chains, the Paracels and the Spratlys, which are claimed by a number of countries in the region. The importance of these chains lies in their location and unexplored undersea oil fields. China says the islands have belonged to it for 2,000 years, a claim hotly disputed by Vietnam.

China placed a billion-dollar marker to stake its claim in the form of an oil rig, positioned in the disputed area. Now Vietnam claims that this falls within its exclusive economic zone under international law, and has responded aggressively to the move, a confrontation that has led to a number of incidents of ships bumping each other and the use of water cannons. Protests, some of them violent, have erupted against Chinese interests in Vietnam.

Notwithstanding US President Barack Obama's recent assurances to its allies in the region, Beijing, perhaps, believes that the US will not react aggressively to its moves. To a certain extent, this is correct, if we look at the international reaction - some statements which collectively amount to a slap on the wrist, and little else. The Chinese ambition to dominate the South China Sea is no secret. It has disputes with the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia, and has been building up its presence in the area. Last year, it had a confrontation with Japan over the Senkaku islands, and created ripples when it announced an 'Air Defence Identification Zone' in the East China Sea. India, which has a longstanding territorial dispute with the Chinese, must carefully consider its options. Chinese maritime disputes are just another dimension of the expansionist tendencies of the economic powerhouse. As for the Chinese Government, it must realise that while such moves may bear fruit in the short run, in the long term, the posturing will destabilise one of the busiest shipping routes in the world and negatively impact Beijing's relations in the region.

Managing agriculture
Hooda wakes up to the crisis close to elections

Four months ahead of the assembly elections the Haryana government has announced "a comprehensive agriculture policy". In its two consecutive terms in power the Bhupinder Singh Hooda government has not addressed problems of agriculture which are widely known: crop diversification, sinking water table, stagnation in farm productivity, bringing more areas under assured irrigation, lack of facilities for food processing and storage and poor access to institutional credit. Having an agricultural background, the Chief Minister must be aware of these. Problems of the agriculture sector as well as solutions are known. The M.S. Swaminathan Commission has dealt with these comprehensively. And yet what has Hooda done in his almost 10 years in power to tackle the agrarian crisis?

Hooda often boasts of Haryana's achievements in comparison with Gujarat. Haryana is now targeting an agricultural growth of 4 per cent, which appears a distant dream, while in Gujarat the growth rate reportedly is 10 per cent. Hooda has spent more time on fighting water battles with Punjab than managing and conserving the state's existing water resources. Weather experts have warned of deficient rains this year. Has the government launched any drive to bring down the area under paddy? To talk of promoting and developing horticulture, dairy, poultry, fisheries and livestock at this juncture makes little sense. These are areas which require encouragement year after year and can't be thrust on farmers through a policy framework at the end of the government's tenure. Unrest among farmers had surfaced off and on in the form of protests for reservations in jobs and admissions to professional colleges. In a fire-fighting approach the Congress government accepted the farmers' demand with an eye on elections.

The crisis in agriculture requires long-term efforts with help from the Centre. The UPA had junked the Swaminathan report. To boost farmers' incomes the report suggested a minimum support price for farm produce calculated on the basis of input costs plus a 50 per cent profit. The BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party have promised this in their manifestos. Haryana's latest agriculture policy is silent on this.

Thought for the Day

I admit that: my wife is outspoken, but by whom?
— Sam Levenson

On this day...100 years ago

on this day... 100 years ago

The consequence of the Delhi change

IT is remarkable how the opponents of the transference of the Capital are slowly beginning to realise the value of the change. Yesterday we wrote that the only way to justify the expenditure involved in building an artificial Capital was by carrying out the pledges solemnly given in the Despatch. The Statesman which was one of the most uncompromising opponents of the change has learnt to modify its opinion of the reform. It now writes that the consequence of the transfer of capital "must be either the virtual abandonment of Delhi or the reduction of the Government of India to a purely Imperial administration by the devolution among the Provincial Governments of most of the power and responsibilities centred in Delhi and Simla." If Indian and Anglo-Indian opinion jointly urge on the Government the importance of the latter view, the change of Capital will prove a most beneficial reform.

Electric installation at Taj Mahal

WRITING about the conservation of ancient monuments Dr. J.H. Marshall, Director-General of Archaeology, refers to the Electric Installation at the Taj Mahal, to provide for the lighting of the tomb and its approaches. The new installation has been connected with the gold and silver lamps over the Royal cenotaphs presented by Lord Curzon and with larger hanging lamp at the gateway. This latter was specially constructed for Dr. Marshall at the Lahore School of Art and he says it is "one of the most perfect pieces of brass work ever produced in India." These lamps were rightly designed to shed a dim, subdued light in harmony with the sacred surroundings, and care has been taken not to intensity the light which they previously gave. 

ARTICLE

Positive signals from Iran
Time for a final deal on the nuclear issue is now
Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton (L) and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wait for the start of talks in Vienna on May 14, 2014. — Reuters

Iran and the P-5+1 (China, France, Russia, UK and USA and Germany) reached an agreement at Geneva on November 24 last year on the steps to be taken by Iran to roll back its nuclear programme in return for limited easing of sanctions. This interim Joint Programme of Action (JPOA) went into effect on January 20, 2014 and had to be implemented by July 20, 2014. The consensus emerging from Iran's implementation effort is positive. Iran has so far adhered to the steps it had agreed to implement under the JPOA. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a report on April 17, certifying that Iran had lived up to its obligations. Iran has, however, been unhappy and has complained that not all Iranian funds, frozen abroad because of sanctions, have been released.

Negotiations on a final agreement on Iran's nuclear programme began in Vienna this week. This phase is likely to be the most difficult and negotiators can expect blood on the floor during the allotted five days, though both sides seem eager to succeed. The moot question is how far Iran is prepared to roll back its nuclear programme and what it gets in return. Iran may have to make difficult concessions and the P-5+1 will have to also satisfy Iranian concerns about lifting of sanctions. The JPOA was a credible confidence-building measure and should lessen the lack of trust and confidence between the two sides.

There are many pitfalls in these difficult negotiations and several wolves lying in wait to pounce on any deal. Hardliners in the US Congress, egged on by the Israeli-Jewish lobby, had threatened to impose conditions through legislation that would compel the US Administration to demand in the final negotiations the complete dismantling of Iran's nuclear programme, even those parts that Iran is allowed to have legitimately, as a signatory to the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This was a killer move, premised purely on political opposition to President Obama and not on merits of the JPOA. Fortunately, this anti-Iran lobby in the USA failed to muster support for a binding legislation that could have sabotaged the negotiations prematurely. The Obama Administration has had to work overtime to prevent this lobby from upsetting this major foreign policy move. But the story does not end here since the anti-Iran lobby could find another legislative manouevre to hobble the Obama Administration, as the final deal with Iran gathers momentum. As a collateral advantage, Congressional opposition helps the Obama Administration in leveraging the negotiations to put pressure on Iran.

Iran too is not immune to domestic criticism. Hardliners in the Iranian establishment have raised the decibel level in its criticism of the JPOA. Such criticism is the usual refrain that Iran is giving away too many concessions. Those critical of Iran's negotiating strategy have demanded that any final deal must guarantee Iran's rights under the NPT, sanctions must be lifted under a definite time schedule, the final deal should be made public and should be ratified by the Majlis. The opposition of the hardliners in Iran stems from the agenda of governance adopted by President Rowhani which has several features of political and economic liberalization - greater freedom for the media, lesser role for the public sector companies and restrictions on security agencies and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The criticism, however, has lacked the stridency, primarily because the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has blessed the nuclear negotiations, while at the same time introducing caveats and "red lines"

The main issues in the final agreement will revolve around the extent of rollback of the Iranian nuclear programme. Thus the number of operational centrifuges that Iran can retain for the enrichment of uranium, curbs on advanced research and sensitive technology, intrusive inspections by the IAEA, timeline for implementation and satisfactory relief from sanctions. Negotiations for the final deal will be extremely delicate and any excessive pressure or counter pressure, crossing red lines on either side, could easily derail them. The P-5+1 must realize that they should not let this opportunity slip, by pushing Iran beyond what it can accept honourably, since there is bound to be domestic opposition. Russia and China can be expected to act as moderating influences to keep the deal palatable to both sides.

Whether the final deal is successfully concluded or ends in failure, Israel is sitting pretty. For Israel, the only country in the region with nuclear weapons and proven delivery systems, the threat from Iran will diminish considerably, if the final deal succeeds in rolling back Iran's nuclear programme, at a time when the Arabs are in disarray with Egypt, Libya and Syria struggling with domestic upheavals. There is dissension among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states as Saudi Arabia, the major player in the GCC, has developed differences with Oman, Qatar and the UAE on what approach to adopt towards the Iranian nuclear deal. The smaller countries in the GCC favour accommodation with Iran. Of late Saudi Arabia appears to have shifted its stand and is no longer opposing the Iran nuclear deal and has made moves to reach out to Iran.

There is a growing global consensus that the window for a final deal on the nuclear issue is now, with the moderate President Rowhani and the internationally respected Foreign Minister Javad Sharif at the helm of affairs in Iran. Peace and stability in the region cannot be achieved by boxing in Iran with international sanctions and both sides have a chance of a win-win solution. China, India and Japan, as major energy consumers, will certainly welcome a final Iranian deal on the nuclear issue that takes care of proliferation concerns and allows Iran to re-integrate economically into the global economy.

The writer is a former Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs and has served in diplomatic assignments in West Asia/Middle East

MIDDLE

A general election to remember
Lieut-Gen (retd) Baljit Singh

I had arrived home on winter vacation from school and witnessed at first hand the initiative of a diligent District Collector-cum-Magistrate who criss-crossed his district from dawn to dusk, in the week preceding the polling day. He wanted to ensure that all his subordinate revenue functionaries down to the patwaris in the mofussil and the police constabulary at each "thana" understood the import of the historic change-in-the-making and their onerous responsibility to create conditions for a fair and free polling. Though strictly not his duty but that is what had made the District Collector in the first half of the last century, the corner-stone of the administrative frame-work in India. And his inspirational leadership had so enthused the common man that they decorated the polling booths with ethnic artifacts such as priceless "Phool-Karis" and brass and copper kitchen utensils, adding a festive touch to the somber exercise. The turnout was impressive even though the larger majority had no comprehension of franchise, per se. That was when public servants were truly looked upon and addressed as "Mai-Baap".

Then there is the recently published account of an officer of the Indian Forest Service whose entries for December 21-22, 1951, make a poignant reading. He had set out to establish a polling booth in a remote village of Madhya Pradesh. A timber contractor's truck conveyed him, his clerk, two unarmed police constables, one sealed ballot-box and some stationery up to Pathera village, a 106-km bumpy ride over an unmettled road.

The next 32 km to his ultimate destination were covered in a bullock cart through a dense forest, now a part of the Kanha Tiger Reserve. It was therefore expected that any lurking predator would pick up their scent and sure enough, by dusk-time the bullocks alerted the party by swishing their tails like pendulums gone berserk. The DFO jumped down to walk by both sides of the cart shouting, clapping and throwing stones randomly, both to be-calm the bullocks and induce caution in the stalking tiger. The revenue authorities had alerted the headman of Baikal village to expect the DFO's party. All the 20 huts had been given a fresh coat of mud and lime-wash for the big day. At the weekly market in their vicinity, the villagers had even acquired three pieces of the national flag which were already aflutter, one each atop the hut of the headman and over the two huts vacated for the election party and the election booth! They also mounted vigil by night to protect the two bullocks against the tiger who naturally owed no allegiance to the election code of conduct.

By 10 am the next morning, the entire village of about 30 Indians of all ages had gathered outside the election booth when in utter humility and solemnity, the women first applied "Kum-Kum" on and then garlanded the ballot box! The DFO then called out to the 12 eligible listed voters of Baikal and explained the object of the election, who the candidates were, what they stood for and the significance of their vote. Of course, we shall never know what passed through their minds but when the last ballot was cast by 11.30 am, they all arose in unison and led by the headman returned to their huts cheerfully chorusing aloud "Bharat Mata Ki Jai Ho!" Two days later, the sealed ballot box was matter-of-factly deposited at the district headquarters treasury building. 

OPED SOCIETY

Of censorship and submission
India has shown a constant downgrading on the international rating of the Press Freedom Index, leading to a higher degree of self-censorship. This is true not only of the media but also creative expressions, academic pursuits and the social media. These are disturbing signs for the growth of a healthy democracy
Vandana Shukla

Books are being banned. Authors are gagged. We don’t like to laugh at ourselves, nor do we allow others to make us aware of our idiosyncrasies. Political parties, publishers, filmmakers, academics and even artists are giving in to the illogical demands of fundamentalists. Sometimes, even before the fundamentalists chart out their wish-list. The trend is dangerous for any democracy, more so for a developing democracy. Ironically, censorship receives approval in the name of strengthening democracy.

It ends up empowering the extremist and intolerant forces is a different matter. Instead to standing for the law of the land, parties with different shades of ideology are buckling under pressure. Even journalists are made to feel constrained. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 16 journalists have been murdered in India since 1992, more than two-thirds of them while covering the political beat or exposing corruption. Those who love their life, opt for self censorship.

Dirty jokes are rarely good grounds for censorship, but they are even worse when the public feels the government is far from clean. In 2012, the Information Technology Minister, Kapil Sibal, tried to purge of websites and social media platforms such as Facebook, of content that was deemed “offensive.” This offensive content was, in fact, a political cartoon. Two girls were arrested the same year over their Facebook post, questioning the shutdown in the city for Shiv Sena patriarch Bal Thackeray's funeral. The comment also led to an attack on the clinic of an uncle of one of them by Sena activists. Unfortunately, as we prove our democratic credentials to the world by holding peaceful elections involving over 814 million voters, a number larger than the population of Europe, incidents of censorship grow in equal proportion. Media site ‘Hoot’ has a Free Speech Hub Tracker which has recorded 53 instances of censorship in the first three months of the year, a little less than one a day.

What makes it alarming is, the censorship incidents involve books, newspapers, films, Facebook posts, telecasts, release of films and staging of plays. And the move to exercise different degrees of censorship has come from actors as diverse as the courts, student organisations, state governments, publishing houses, the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the Central Board of Film Certification, a lawyers’ association, Hindu groups, including the Shiv Sena, the RSS, and the Hindu Jan Jagruti Samiti, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Tamil groups and individual industrialists. Notwithstanding the recent controversy over Prasar Bharti’s autonomy to run Doordarshan, free of ‘shadows.’

Free speech, a must

A free Press defines a country’s index of freedom and spirit of democracy. The definition of a self-governed society rests on its ability to make its own decisions. It shall define its boundaries of freedom. But, does that mean that a minuscule minority, having earned notoriety for hooliganism should be allowed to squeeze this boundary in the name of protection of a certain culture? A society can draw its limits with a sense of freedom in case it is well informed and where everyone is allowed an open exchange of opinions. Freedom of speech and expression is the inseparable element of a democratic society and should not be hijacked by a few, under any pretext.

The Constitution of India (articles 19, 20, 21 and 22) provides the right to freedom with the view of guaranteeing individual rights that were considered vital by the architects of the Constitution. The right to freedom in Article 19 guarantees the freedom of speech and expression, with six restrictions placed in clause 2, enabling the legislature to curtail the freedom guaranteed under constitution if it jeopardises the security of the State, affects friendly relations with foreign States, disturbs public order, decency and morality, or causes contempt of court, leads to defamation, incitement to an offence, or threatens the sovereignty and integrity of India.

Measured information

None of the 53 incidents of censorship cited by the Free Speech Hub Tracker are based on the perception of serious threats like sedition, most incidents invite censorship under the vague ideas of “decency and morality.” The maximum incidents of throttling freedom of speech have come from the government and its agencies and from the right-wing Hindu groups. At the third number is the publishing industry. It’s ironical, most of these gagging demands originate from a lack of informed debate, yet they demand ban on books at a time when reading habits are on a decline and publishing industry is fretting over its survival. Certainly, it does not present India as a knowledge society, something it would like to get projected as.

The most noticeable blackout this year was by the Lok Sabha Secretariat of the final moments of voting in Parliament for creation of a new state, of Telangana. On February 17, 2014, the Lok Sabha TV telecast was switched off just as Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde began speaking when the AP Reorganisation Bill was taken up for consideration. Claiming the bill had been passed “democratically”, the Lok Sabha secretariat said the telecast disruption was being probed. Later it claimed that the LS proceedings couldn't be telecast live due to technical reasons. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, termed it a “tactical glitch”, instead of a technical one. The incident made the government look suspect for its credibility as saviour of people’s freedom.

Cultural policing

In as many as 12 different incidents, books, films and theatre performances were banned between January and March, mostly by militant Hindu groups. They felt emboldened by the mighty Penguin Books’ decision to withdraw Wendy Doniger’s controversial book, The Hindus and pulp the existing copies. The agreement, which stated that Penguin “submits that it respects all religions worldwide”, was drawn up with a group called Shiksha Bachao Andolan, based in Naraina Vihar in New Delhi. The same organisation had filed two criminal complaints in this matter in Hauz Khas in 2010, and 2013. Encouraged by this success, they targeted another publisher, Aleph, which had published a book by the same author On Hinduism. Though the publisher said it would not succumb, its offices directed the withdrawal of copies from bookstores in Bangalore.

Under pressure, the Mumbai theatre Globus refused to screen The Gujarat Promise, a film that explores whether development in Gujarat is indeed touching the lives of those at the lower rungs of society or whether the figures are skewed and inflated. The filmmakers said it was a special screening by invite but the multiplex management changed its mind. In Thrissur, Kerala, RSS workers stopped the screening of Ocean of Tears, a Kashmiri documentary film in February, at the ninth edition of the VIBGYOR international short and documentary film festival. The film festival organisers were also attacked. The film was later screened after the police removed the RSS activists from the theatre, underscoring the point that effective enforcement of law and order can combat such censorship attempts.

In March, the Hindu Jan Jagruti Samiti (HJS) demanded a ban on the movie Ragini MMS 2 as well as deportation of Bollywood star Sunny Leone from India in its memorandum submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The organisation threatened to agitate in front of movie halls that screen the film, if the film, that is “an assault on Bharatiya culture, dignity and Hindu deities” was not banned. The HJS said the movie begins with the chanting of the Shree Hanuman Chalisa which is sacred to Hindus and held the CFBC responsible for “increase in communal and social tension”. RSS workers also attacked Caravan magazine’s offices for publishing an interview with Samjhauta blast accused Aseemanand.

Snooping cyber space

Five reported instances of cyber censorship within three months reflect the growing unease of politicians with the social media and the freedom it enjoys. The worry also reflects their inability to tap the new communication channels of the young. A complaint was filed on a Facebook post that had allegedly made an anti-BJP messages. The cyber-crime cell of the Goa police registered a complaint against Facebook user Devu Chodankar. The complainant feared the post could trigger enmity between two communities and instil fear among the minority communities if BJP came to power. The post was later deleted. In January, a Dalit musician was barred from performing at the famous Guruvayoor temple in Kerala. The Kala Ghoda Arts festival was forced to axe Ali J, a play loosely based on Mohammad Ali Jinnah, after the right wing group Hindu Jana Jagruti Samiti protested that it was ‘anti-national’. The producers moved it to YouTube, proving futility of such moves in the age of technology. The Shiv Sena, which leads Mumbai’s civic body, attacked a press conference by a Pakistani band at the Press Club of Mumbai. Sena workers demanded that the Sufi band, Mekaal Hasan Band, be sent back to Pakistan. This much for affecting ‘friendly relations’ with foreign countries.

Politics of division weakens all factors meant for strengthening democracy. Most censorship drives are aimed at saving a community from hurt against another. With each fraction, the ability to get hurt by a social segment is used as a tool to assert its political significance. In the times of epidemic of hurting sensibilities, if pleasing all is the only pill available, it will certainly be suicidal for a healthy democracy that should seek consensus through intelligent debates. A free society should have many streams of thoughts merge into each other to help it flow effortlessly. When Kabeer, a 15th-century mystic poet advised, “Nindak niyare rakhiye aangan kuti chhawaye;Bin sabun paani bina nirmal karat subhaye,” (Keep your critics close by, let their abode be in your courtyard, then you won’t need soap and water to cleanse your conscience), he didn’t know, a simple word of critical observation would lend thinking people in jail, in the 21st-century democratic India.

Yes, me Lord!

• The Delhi High Court allowed the release of Bollywood film Gulabi Gang, only with a disclaimer that the film bore no resemblance to the life of Gulabi Gang founder Sampat Pal.
• The Bombay High Court directed producers of the Marathi film, Khairlanjichya Mathyavar (On Khairlanji’s forehead), to seek a fresh CBFC certificate, responding to a privacy protection plea by the only survivor of the 2006 massacre, Bhaiyalal Bhotmange.
• The Supreme Court ordered the controversial UIDAI not to share details of the Aadhar scheme so as to protect privacy.
• The Madras High Court banned a whistleblower website Savukku, run by Achimuthu Shankar, reportedly because it published some of the 2G tapes.
• Defamation notices and a case in the Kolkata High Court were used as handy weapons for controversial Sahara chief Subrato Roy to stop the publication of a book Sahara: The Untold Story by Mint editor Tamal Bandopadhyay.
• Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and retired Supreme Court judge Swatantra Kumar, accused of sexual harassment by a law intern, also took the defamation route, the latter obtaining an order from the Delhi High Court restraining media coverage.

Democracy barometer

• Freedom of Press works like a democracy barometer. India ranks 140th worldwide in Press Freedom Index-2013 (falling from 80th in 1998), according to the estimates of ‘Reporters without Borders.’
• While not mentioning the word "Press" anywhere, Article 19 provides for "the right to freedom of speech and expression." However this right is subject to restrictions under subclause (2).
• On June 25, 1975, the Emergency was declared in violation of the natural rights of Indian citizens. It lasted for 21 months. This was the only time when Indian media had to face censorship.
• According to the Information Technology Rules 2011, objectionable content includes anything that “threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states or public order." Obscenity and sexual content also lead to censorship.