Multiple bans doled out, where is India heading?

The past one week was no ordinary week for the country. There were several protests, heavy criticisism, thanks to multiple bans that the country doled out.

While the ban on BBC documentary ‘India's Daughter', based on Dec 16, 2012 gangrape incident sparked massive outrage across the country including our Parliament, the ban on beef in Maharashtra came in as a rude shock for many.

From foodies to movie goers, certain bans pinched all of us. We take a look at the bans that were handed out in our country in the past one week, making it a ‘Banned Week' for us:

Govt bans airing of BBC Documentary on Indian television

Little did filmmaker Leslee Udwin realize that her documentary ‘India's Daughter' featuring the interview of one of the accused rapist, would be banned from being aired on Indian television. Many reasons were given for banning the documentary, including that the filmmaker had violated rules and that she failed to comply with them.

Some even said that the documentary glorified Mukesh Singh, one of the accused rapist and showed India in bad light. The government went ahead and banned the documentary from being aired on television.

But despite the ban, the film was screened on BBC Four channel and was uploaded on YouTube. This however irked the government even more and the documentary was pulled down from YouTube.

Ban on beef in Maharashtra

Meat lovers were in for a rude shock after the Maharashtra government last week banned beef in the state. As President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Bill, 1995, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted:

Many criticized the ban as beef is a part of the poor man's staple diet. Meat traders said that the government had snatched their livelihood and would give rise to illegal business.

The new Act will ban the slaughter of bulls and bullocks, which was earlier permitted on a fit-for-slaughter certificate. The law calls for handing down five-year jail terms and a fine of Rs 10,000 to anyone found in possession of beef.

Fifty shades of Grey banned in India

The much anticipated movie ‘Fiffy Shades of Grey' that generated a lot of buzz internationally, hit a roadblock as it was banned in India.

Even though the producers of the film made all the necessary edits including removal of all nude scenes, the movie did not get clearance from the Censor Board.

Meanwhile the Censor Board refuted reports of the movie being banned and said that the ‘movie was not banned from screening. Many mainstream movies don't get clearance in the first step. The producers can appeal against the decision and go for the revising committee's opinion.'

Multiple bans raise a question

With so many bans, it makes us think will others tell us what were are supposed to watch and eat? Is this what India is made of? Aren't there other important issues that need to be addressed rather than banning a documentary that portrays a clear picture of the society?