The Hindu Business Line : Khushboo...<br>A soft target

Whether one agrees or not with her views, the actress should be free to express them. The Khushboo episode will blow over sooner than later, but what about the double standards practised in our society?

Khushboo

Moral policing by our Janus-faced politicians is nothing new; we see it in Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai, from time to time. And this is one issue where the bitterest of political foes — the Shiv Sena and the Congress-NCP combine find common ground. Whatever one's personal views on pre-marital sex and an increasing number of parents' dilemma on how to deal with it, the fact remains that the Indian society can no longer hide behind the veneer of our "cultural heritage" or the Indian tradition of purity, chastity, and the like.

Along with our booming economy, thriving BPOs, call centres and other IT-enabled services, where smart young men and women with good skills in English language can snap up well-paying jobs, has also come in an avalanche of western values. Talk to top executives in the ITeS industry and they'll give you graphic details of what goes on in several of our hi-tech centres where young men and women are obliged to work late hours and night shifts.

Or peep into the discos and bars of some of our five-star hotels, not in Mumbai or Delhi, but in the Tamil-heartland Chennai, and watch the behaviour of our youngsters, and you'll discover a thing or two about how disconnected they are from our traditional values and culture.

Members of Dalit Panthers of India (DPI) protesting against Khushboo's statement in Chennai. - S.R. Raghunathan

But like the proverbial ostrich we'd like to bury our heads in the sand and mouth piety and chastity mantras. Particularly, our politicians. This came to the fore once again when Tamil film actress Khushboo, on invitation from the Tamil edition of India Today, which recently did a survey on sex and the single woman, wrote a column on the subject where she spoke her mind on pre-marital sex. Perhaps she went a little far... and many of us may not agree with her... when she said that today "no educated man would expect his wife to be a virgin." But the rest of what she said — about the level of pre-marital sex and free sex prevalent in Indian society today, and the need for women to protect themselves against dangers of unwanted pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases — was pretty much in line with what is happening in some sections of our society today.

But whether one agrees or not with her views, surely the actress has the freedom to express them. Particularly in an era where every other magazine and newspaper is working overtime to grab the attention of "the young reader" with colourful images of scantily-dressed actresses and models. So explicit has become the content of our newspapers and magazines that recently a reader had to go to the court and seek a directive declaring a couple of newspapers he had named as "Adult"! Something akin to the certification of films by our Censor Board.

When this is the reality staring us in the face, the moral police in Tamil Nadu, comprising the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and the Dalit Panthers of India (DPI), and a section of the Tamil film industry, were up in arms against Khushboo's views. In a high decibel and ugly campaign, adverse comments were made about her character, as she was supposed to have maligned the chastity and goodness of Tamil womanhood, had betrayed the decent people of a State that had first accepted her in their film industry and then later as a bahu (she is originally from Mumbai). And, she was given her marching orders and asked to relocate to Mumbai!

Khushboo received so much flak and so many threats... one even heard of a ridiculous threat by some group to send an animal to her house — perhaps to symbolise her "bestiality"; and loads of condoms because she had given women the sound advice of using condoms and practice safe sex.

So ferocious was the attack on Khushboo that she had to appear on a television channel and tender an apology saying that it was not her intention to hurt anybody's views. But this has not impressed the protestors, who have cleverly made their women's wings take on a lead position in condemning Khushboo's views. So and so the PMK chief Dr S. Ramadoss wondered at all those criticising the protest and asked if this did not amount to gender discrimination in silencing the views of their women members! One only hopes our politicians show similar concern for women when it comes to women's reservation in our legislatures and giving women important posts within their parties.

Commenting on the issue, Cho Ramaswamy, Editor of Tughlak, and a Tamil cinema veteran, said, "While I do not agree with what she has said, she is entitled to her views. Now those who are agitating against her have accused her of having defamed or maligned Tamil women. In her article she has not said a single word about Tamil Nadu or the women of Tamil Nadu. Her opinions were generally about women. What the agitators accuse of her saying is totally wrong. India Today has been publishing surveys again and again which claim to record the opinion of women of Tamil Nadu. And in these surveys they claim about 20-25 per cent of these women say they are for free sex or pre-marital sex. Now I don't know whether this is truly their opinion or that of the person doing the survey."

He wondered why the protestors "have not said a word against India Today which did the original survey. So I feel the entire protest against Khushboo is motivated, perhaps politically."

Coming down heavily on the serials aired by TV channels, Ramaswamy said these TV channels "regularly put on air serials which malign women in a very devastating manner. Nobody seems to care, perhaps because they are being telecast by Sun TV. So while neither India Today nor Sun TV has been targeted, Khushboo was chosen perhaps because she is a soft target; and they somehow wanted to claim a victory."

Those who watch Tamil serials are disgusted at the manner in which "many of these serials show men having a wife and not one but even two mistresses. Why don't these protestors target such themes? Because the one indulging in free sex is a man," asked a young media professional. She is outraged at the vulgarity in not only Tamil soaps but also Tamil films, and said, "Just look at the posters of Tamil movies. Why are these protestors not targeting those? Or, why are they not agitating against the filthy language, the sexual innuendos and double meaning in the lyrics."

When asked to comment on the portrayal of sex in Tamil cinema, particularly the vulgarity in the dialogue and the innuendos in the songs, Ramaswamy said, "Tamil films are as good or as bad as the Tamil journals of today... in fact, there are no Tamil journals today that are not related to films and they publish pictures from films which have been cut by the censors. We have to blame these publications more than the films because while the filmmaker is subjected to censorship the publications are not."

While the Khushboo episode will blow over sooner than later, what is worrying is the double standards and hypocricy practised in our society and selective hitting out at soft targets. And, an extreme intolerance of views that do not fit the goody-goody image that we have of our society and culture. So when a Khushboo comes out in a forthright manner to air her opinion, the least she deserves is support and solidarity when confronted with such ugly protests. Even if one does not agree with her opinion.

Response may be sent to rasheeda@thehindu.co.in

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