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Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Smoking banned in movies.....
...but allowed in real life!
This stinks of hypocracy all the way from New Delhi to Bangalore (where I am)...You are allowed to smoke in real life, while guzzling on Beer/Whisky or whatever is your preferred poison, but you are NOT supposed to show smoking in movies, or advertise alcohol on TV. The explanation, presumably, is that you cannot allow media to promote these evils. Well intentioned, Maybe. Stupid, Yes. Double-standards, Most certainly!
Why not simply ban the production and sale of Cigarettes and Alocohol?
Of course, the govt will not do that, considering that it derives huge revenues from the cigarettes & liquor manufacturers as Excise duty and Sales tax. In fact, in some of the states, these two sectors account for the highest revenue from excise duty. Not to mention, the large amounts that grease the palms of many political big wigs. Therefore, the govt can not & will not even think of banning them. But then what's a govt that doesnt want to get reelected? And how can it get reelected without showing that they care, and are the moral guardians of the society? So, they go banning advertising of these products.
I believe that any product thats gets manufactured & sold, has a right to get advertised. That's quite fundamental, right? The above action of the govt seems to remind me of one of the popular lines of "Loin" Ajit: "Isko Liquid Oxygen mein dhal do. Liquid isse jeene nahin dega, aur oxygen isse marne nahin dega" ("Throw this fellow in Liquid Oxygen; Liquid will not let him live, and Oxygen will not let him die")
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