Censorship
“Censorship” tracks incidents where the government or authorities engage in suppression and prohibition of speech, action, writing, and so on, under various pretexts, including “harmful material” “threat to society”. We track censorship in the following areas: Academia, the Arts (including cinema, music, stand-up comedy, theatre etc), News Media/Documentaries, Protests/Meetings, Publications, Self-Censorship, and Social Media.
Predictably, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITy) came up with the excuse of national security to reject requests for information on the blocking of social media accounts and digital news platforms during Operation Sindoor. In response to RTI applications filed by Venkatesh Nayak, the Director of the New Delhi-based Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, […] Read More
The CBFC stamp of film censorship: Infantilising the public Despite a firmly established judicial convention of trusting the “wisdom of the street”, administrative processes are turning towards infantilisation, says Sukumar Murlidharan, discussing the manner in which the CBFC has pandered to politics and the mob in ‘Janaki versus State of Kerala’. It was a court-room […] Read More
– By Geeta Seshu The Haryana State Women’s Commission issued a summons to Ashoka University professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad for two of his social media posts, alleging that he made statements that allegedly “disparaged women officers in the Indian Armed Forces and promoted communal disharmony”. Prof Mahmudabad has contested the allegations and said they constitute […] Read More
The film, directed by British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri, has travelled the globe, earning accolades and acclaim from festivals like Cannes to the Oscars. However, when it aimed to return to its homeland and reach the audience it is based upon, it faced a setback. Santosh was banned because the creators refused to comply with the Central Board of Film Certification's demands for edits that would cut out vital scenes. Read More
by Vinta Nanda (First published on The Daily Eye, 16 February 2025. Republished with permission.) As censorship tightens and expression is choked, storytellers face an existential crisis. With creativity shackled by morality and control, is the death of storytelling inevitable in a world that fears free thought, asks Vinta Nanda. The death of storytelling looms as censorship, […] Read More
In a shocking instance of blatant muscle and might, activists of the right wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, forced the cancellation of the peacefully and legally organised Udaipur Film Festival on November 16, the second day of the grassroots film festival. Here is a statement from […] Read More
The FIRs lodged against freelance journalists Zakir Ali Tyagi and Wasim Akram Tyagi for tweeting that a scrap seller, Firoze Qureshi, was a victim of mob lynching, have confirmed fears of the new criminal laws being misused to curb free speech. They also underscore the lacunae in the new provisions on mob lynching. On July […] Read More
The prestigious Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) has taken its censorship of student activities onto a new level: it has suspended and debarred student leader Ramadas Prini Sivanandan for participating in protests against the BJP’s policies! Ramadas, a Dalit PhD scholar and first-generation learner, is a member of the central executive committee of Student […] Read More
“I Too Am Rani Chennamma”, a national campaign to commemorate 200 years of the courageous rani of Kittur in present day Karnataka, was disallowed by Uttar Pradesh police on the specious claim that it violated the model code of conduct! The programme, which included a poster exhibition of stories of women who fought against the […] Read More
In a shocking development, the entire editorial board of the Murty Classical Library of India series has been dismissed! The chair of the Oversight Board Prof Parimal Patil of Harvard University dismissed the editorial board “without cause, explanation of documentation”, says a statement by well known scholars and academics Prof Whitney Cox of the University […] Read More
“That reporting now needs prior permission, and is guided by district authorities is a worrying measure of our democracy. ” Sabah Gurmat’s account of government attempts to restrict access and control narratives of violence and administrative failure in Haldwani is disturbing. Republished from Article 14 with permission. “We’ll figure something out. But please sports shoes pehenkar aana, notebook-bag […] Read More
On Feb 2, 2024, students of Pune University’s Lalit Kala Kendra were subjected to attacks and harassment by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and the Bharatiya Jan Yuva Morcha (BJYM) when they were making an examination presentation of a play of a Ram Leela rehearsal. Acting on a complaint by ABVP member, […] Read More
Students and faculty from IIT Bombay held a unique protest of the abrupt cancellation of the lecture by linguist scholar Ganesh Devy on Thursday. Here is an account by Shyama Iyer. They read out extracts from his book outside the venue of the meeting. The institute canceled the talk, on ‘The crisis within: On Knowledge […] Read More
The Indian government’s over-sensitivity towards adverse global media coverage just found another target: a French journalist with an OCI card! In a surprising move, the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Indian government issued a notice to French journalist Vanessa Dougnac to cancel her Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, citing “malicious” and “biassed” reporting. […] Read More
In a partial victory for journalist Shyam Meera Singh, Justice Jasmeet Singh of the Delhi High Court, in a hearing on Jan 10, 2024, ordered the removal of the video from all social media platforms within 24 hours but permitted him to upload a fresh video with a disclaimer stating that the ‘offending’ portions and […] Read More
On Thursday, Jan 4, 2024, journalist Shyam Meera Singh faces a court in Delhi to decide whether his Youtube programme “How Gurmeet Ram Rahim fooled his Bhakts?” should be taken down, pending hearing of a civil defamation case filed by the chief of the religious order, the Dera Sacha Sauda. The case comes up before […] Read More
Even as the bail application of Kashmir Walla editor Fahad Shah comes up before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on August 25, the news portal’s website has been blocked and all its social media platforms have also gone blank. In a statement, Kashmir Walla’s team of journalists said that: On Saturday, August 19, 2023, […] Read More
(Editor’s Note: The unrest in Manipur since early May 2023 has shown no signs of abating, with violence and tension–between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki-Zo groups – continuing to run high amidst a potentmix of state apathy, collusion and abetment. The media has faced many challenges in this polarized atmosphere, with lack of mobility […] Read More
Having just shaken off a regime that was notoriously intolerant of criticism, citizens of Karnataka might have thought they could breathe – and speak – freely. Not so. On the same day that Siddaramaiah was taking oath as Chief Minister, one Shantanamurthy MG, a government school teacher in Chitradurga district received a suspension order for […] Read More
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June 23rd, 2025
Censorship - The Arts, Commentaries
The Second Silencing of Jaswant Singh Khalra